Florissant Asks Gas Stations to Comply with ADA Standards

Florissant is calling on local gasoline stations to provide services at the fuel pumps for customers who are seniors or have disabilities.

City officials announced they are sending out letters to Florissant gas stations and asking them to commit to providing the services. They've also askef gas station owners to fill out a questionnaire on the services their stations provide for those with disabilities.

“We’re not trying to put pressure on (service stations), but we’re asking them to sign up and tell us they’ll provide these services,” Lowery said.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) does require gas stations to provide those services for those with disabilities.

People with disabilities often find it difficult or impossible to use the controls, hose or nozzle at self-serve pumps. As a result, they might be forced to use higher cost full-service pumps where they are available.

Mike Nazemi, owner of the BP gas station at New Florissant and Dunn roads, said he already provides service for those with disabilities and has signs up indicating he does so.

“Several of our clients are disabled, and one has a portable oxygen tank,” Nazemi said. “A couple of them even call the station before they come.”

Customers with disabilities also can pull up to the gas pumps labeled for those with disabilities and honk, he said.

Kim Barge, an attorney for Paraquad, said the ADA requires all gas stations to have policies and procedures to provide service to those with disabilities. Paraquad is a nonprofit, community-based center for independent living.

Barge said there are many ways to do provide services at the gas pumps, such as:

• Posting signs stating employee assistance is available and how to get that help
• Installing a special gas pump that enables those with disabilities to more easily pump their own gas
• Installing a call button on the pump to ask for employee’s assistance

“A big part of this is training for employees, so that they are aware they are supposed to provide this type of service,” Barge said.

Gas stations that operate on a remote control basis with a single employee are exempt but are encouraged to help people with disabilities, if possible.

Convenience stores also need curbs, restrooms and aisles that are accessible for wheelchairs, she said.

Lowery said efforts like this can help keep seniors or people with disabilities living independently.

“They’re perfectly capable to drive, they just can’t reach the controls,” Lowery said. “We need to get them as much help as we can."

Last July, the QuikTrip Corp. reached a settlement agreement with the U.S. Justice Department in a lawsuit filed against the company.

In the settlement agreement, QuikTrip agreed to provide free refueling service and install call buttons on the pumps to alert attendants. During the next three years, QuikTrip agreed to provide at least one pump that is accessible to individuals in wheelchairs, make other indoor and outdoor modifications and meet other requirements.

Some of the pushes to get gas stations up to ADA standards have come as a result of the lawsuit, said Xochitl Hinojosa, an ADA spokesman with the Justice Department.

“A lot of times, the gas station owners just don’t know what to do in order to comply with ADA standards,” Hinojosa said. “Generally, it just takes some education.”

Barge stressed that the federal Department of Justice is responsible for enforcing ADA requirements, but there are no “ADA police” who come around checking on accessibility issues.

“It falls to local inspectors to enforce ADA requirements,” Barge said.