The 311 Emergency System has traditionally been used to report incidents where the immediate presence of the police is not required, but related to security issues.
All citizens who pay their taxes punctually want things to work properly, based mainly on people with disabilities, who have been reporting the bad state of Philadelphia’s sidewalks for years and the 311 operators simply ignore them.
Attorney David Ferleger, an experienced attorney and author in the field of disability rights, says curb ramps at some Philadelphia intersections are crumbling, too steep, or missing altogether.
He files the lawsuit of a group of citizens against the city, because “it is obligated under federal law to meet certain design standards and has failed to do so for decades,” the attorney said.
Philadelphia’s sidewalks are the target of a lawsuit filed by a group of people with disabilities and advocacy groups. They want the city to make repairs so that people who use wheelchairs or canes can move around without risking injury.
“Philadelphia’s sidewalks are in dilapidated, disintegrating and teeming with obstacles,” the lawsuit stated, leaving people with mobility problems unable to move around.
“When you’re in a wheelchair or a blind person using a cane, those few inches are as if they were a mountain,” Ferleger said.
Translated by: José Espinoza