JACKSON, Mich — This video we obtained from JATA by a public records request shows rider David Zeitz falling over in his wheelchair while riding a Jackson Area Transportation Authority (JATA) bus. What it doesn't show are questions we sought answers to: what went wrong...and who is responsible?
WATCH THE VIDEO:
David Zeitz says a spinal illness and a broken hip from years ago have made walking difficult.
"I can't go very far. When I do go, I take it as far as I can," says Zeitz.
Last November, he was coming home with a new wheelchair that he hoped would help him enjoy life.
That's when the bus.. and life... both took a turn.
"I was having my best day up to that point. And it just took me right back to the beginning," he says of the fall. "I thought I hit my head the way my head feels because it knocked me silly, but I see what I did is my arm jammed, and it did this. 'Cause it's really ripped up in here — in my neck."
After I saw this video, I went to JATA, where CEO Mike Brown showed me how the new system is supposed to work.
"The passenger takes himself up the ramp, over to the lock-down system, and backs in. There's a green button on the side for them to push, and it activates the lock-down system. That lock-down system will come down, squeeze in on both sides of the wheelchair's wheels, the passenger seat belt is on, and they're good to go," says Brown.
I asked him: "Would you say that what happened to Mr. Zeitz…he should have done that himself, basically?"
"That is correct," says Brown.
Brown says a driver will help a passenger, but only if asked: "It's designed strictly for the passenger to be able to operate on their own on the bus."
The video of the incident with Zeitz shows the arm is not down…and, as Brown's demonstration showed, if the arm encounters an obstacle, it goes back.
But Zeitz says it's always been the driver that secured him. He says it's not obvious how the new mechanism should be used, and passengers should be aware of what can happen.
"I'm just not trying to make it anybody's fault," Zeitz says. "I just want to make it maybe we could revisit that, because I don't feel comfortable going on those, but I do have to ride them. But now I hold on tight."
