Advocates for the wheelchair-bound in Connecticut are angling for new handicapped signs, saying the old ones are discriminatory because they feature a sedentary figure.
Calling the familiar sign “outdated,” the coalition of advocates are trying to get state lawmakers to change the sign to feature a stick figure leaning forward, elbows in the air, in a more dynamic, active pose instead of the old sign featuring a figure in a more helpless sitting pose.
A non-profit group going by the name The Arc of Farmington Valley is also lobbying the legislature to change the language on handicap parking signs from “handicapped” to “reserved.”
Arc of Farmington Valley is not asking for all signs to be changed immediately, but if the law is passed to make the change, the group expects replacements as needed.
The group also started a Change.org petition that has garnered more than 1,200 signatures.
The move to change handicapped signs isn’t relegated to the Nutmeg State alone. The State of New York, among others, has already adopted the new signs featuring the more active stick figure.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston, or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.
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