The municipality of Tilburg refuses to let people in a scooter into the city hall and the city shops. For example, 81-year-old Will is standing in front of the new city center store in his scooter. He has to collect his driver’s license but is not allowed to enter. “I’ve never experienced this before, even in shops I can always enter.” Political parties react with surprise and the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights previously ruled that this is discrimination.
“You are not allowed in,” says a security guard at the city shop on Koningsplein. “You must leave your scooter outside. They are prohibited.”
“I can barely take a few steps.”
Will sits a bit distraught in his scooter. “On Wednesday I was here to renew my driver’s license,” he begins. “When I succeeded, I was told that I can no longer enter with my mobility scooter. What should I do now? I also have to pick up my driver’s license and I can barely take a few steps.” Will wants an answer to that question, but it’s not that easy.
He can enter in a wheelchair. “I got this scooter through the municipality. I don’t have a wheelchair and I’m not going to buy one.” Will’s driver’s license will be ready on Tuesday. “Should I wait outside the door?” The doorman indicates that there may be a wheelchair inside that he can use.
According to the municipality of Tilburg, a mobility scooter is not allowed inside by insurance. “It has to do with fire safety. Such a thing can catch fire and then we are not insured,” says the spokesperson. “The scooter can leave Will outside and then walk in. There, a hostess can help with a wheelchair.”
“Our buildings must be accessible to everyone.”
According to the UN Handicap Convention, the municipality of Tilburg may not refuse a scooter at all. The treaty that the Netherlands has signed states that people with a chronic illness or disability must be able to fully participate in society and must not be discriminated against.
The Netherlands Institute for Human Rights previously ruled that a shopkeeper had a scooter should not refuse. And the library of Tilburg was also whistled back by that college. Helping someone in a wheelchair or pushing a wheelchair by a hostess is also discrimination. “Then someone loses their independence,” says the Board. The spokesman for the municipality knows nothing about that. He can only report that a mobility scooter is prohibited in the town hall and the city shops.
“Huh, that is not possible”, is the first reaction of Helma Oostelbos of the SP in Tilburg. “As Tilburg, we have our mouths full about an inclusive city. Then someone with a disability should also be able to enter our city shop.” 50PLUS also reacts indignantly. “This can not be true. Our buildings must be accessible to everyone,” says Henk van Tilborg.
In the meantime, the municipality of Tilburg is sticking to the ban on mobility scooters. “One condition is that people who get a mobility scooter must still be able to walk a few meters.”