49 CFR Parts 37 and 38 -- Transportation for Individuals With Disabilities at Intercity, Commuter, and High Speed Passenger Railroad Station Platforms; Miscellaneous Amendments, Preamble

Comments

Disability community commenters favored retaining the requirement that a direct threat can only be a threat to the health or safety of others. A number of transportation industry commenters, however, believed that the definition should be modified to permit consideration of threats to the safety of the disabled person him- or herself. Both in the interest of protecting passengers with disabilities from potential harm and of protecting the transit authority from potential liability, these commenters believed that transportation providers should be able to impose certain restrictions on the transportation of some passengers with disabilities if there was danger to the passengers themselves. One example that some commenters cited was a paratransit passenger with dementia who, once dropped off at his or her destination, could become disoriented and wander off if no one at the destination was present to take care of him or her.