DENVER — A man in a wheelchair claims he was ticketed because he couldn’t get across the road during the signal’s allotted time and now he’s fighting the citation, according to KDVR.
Kyle Wolfe said he was passing through 19th and Lawrence streets in downtown Denver. Wolfe said he started to cross the street when the signal indicated it was his turn to cross.
Wolfe said he couldn’t make it through the intersection in the 20 seconds allotted at the light. He said he was 5 feet from the curb when an SUV struck him from behind.
Wolfe said the accident left his wheelchair totaled, and left him scraped and bruised. He received a ticket from a Denver police officer for disobeying the traffic signal.
“I was very shocked that a pedestrian that has the right of way got a ticket,” Wolfe said.
Wolfe said it takes him more time to cross because he’s in a wheelchair. Plus, that day, he was carrying stuff in his lap and it kept slipping as he crossed the street.
“When you are moving, everything is falling. I need to pick it up. People don’t want to stop,” Wolfe said.
Denver follows federal regulations that pedestrians travel at 3.5 feet per second. The time allotted for each intersection is based on the width of the intersection and how long it will take to cross traveling at that speed.
“That is not fast enough for a handicap person to get across a cross walk,” Wolfe said.
A police spokesman told KDVR Wolfe will have the opportunity to fight the ticket in court.