§ 18-58. Wheelchair vehicle services.

(a)

No person, business, hospital, governmental entity, agency, corporation, partnership, or association shall provide non-medical wheelchair transport services in the county without a Class F certificate of public convenience and necessity issued by the board of county commissioners.

(b)

The application, fees, investigation and other related procedures and requirements set forth in this article for ambulance services shall apply to non-medical wheelchair transport services, except as otherwise provided, and with the modifications set forth in this section.

(c)

Each wheelchair vehicle operated pursuant to a certificate of public convenience and necessity shall meet the following requirements:

(1)

Each vehicle shall have a lift, operated electrically and/or hydraulically, with sufficient capacity to safely and smoothly facilitate the entrance of passengers into the vehicle and exit from the vehicle or otherwise be constructed to safely and smoothly facilitate the entrance of passengers into the vehicle and exit from the vehicle.

(2)

Each vehicle shall have for each passenger transported a positive means of securely latching or locking to the vehicles the wheelchair in which a passenger will ride. The latching device shall be designed to prevent any lateral, longitudinal or vertical motion of the wheelchair within the vehicle.

(3)

Each vehicle shall have, for each passenger transported, restraining belts or straps designed to securely confine the passenger to the wheelchair in which he is transported.

(4)

Each vehicle shall have, in addition to the side vision mirrors, an inside rear-vision mirror which will enable the driver to view the passenger compartment, at the level at which the passengers ride.

(5)

Vehicle entry and exit doors shall be equipped with latching devices sufficient to prevent opening during movement of the vehicle.

(6)

Each vehicle shall have a communication capability which may be a mobile two-way radio, excluding C.B. radios, with all normal accessories, and shall meet all standards and requirements as specified by the Federal Communications Commission or an answering service operating 24 hours per day coupled with a pager system, or an operating cellular phone.

(7)

Each vehicle must have a minimum of 56 inches headroom from the finished floor to the finished ceiling in the passenger compartment and a door opening of not less than 56 inches.

(8)

The floor covering shall be permanently applied material, which can be maintained in a safe, sanitary and odor-free manner, and which shall extend the full length and width of the passenger compartment.

(9)

Notwithstanding this subsection (c), regulations and standards promulgated pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act shall apply where appropriate.

(Code 1982, § 1-12.5-11; Ord. No. 96-04, pt. A, 2-20-1996)