Bakersfield College’s transport service, designed to help disabled students, might not be as beneficial to students as some people originally believed.

Prior to my own experience with the service, I would have said it was a wonderful idea. However, after my own clumsiness ended with me hopping around campus with only the assistance of crutches, I discovered that this transportation assistance service might not be as useful as someone might think.

In order to qualify to use the transport service, a student must have a doctor’s note stating that they are “temporarily or permanently disabled.”  I find this aspect completely understandable, as you wouldn’t want someone who does not “need” the service to misuse it.

However, due to drivers’ fear for their own safety, it is against their policy to drive farther than the disabled parking spots at the edge of the parking lot, according to one driver. She went on to explain that most of their clients would have a disability placard allowing them to park in those spots anyway.

What bewilders me is that not all students qualify for a disability placard. Students who are temporarily disabled with a broken leg, or any other ailment, would still have to use their crutches, for example, to get from the disabled parking spots to wherever else they might need to go. Anyone who has ever had to use crutches knows how painful it can be, not just pain from the injury, but also pain from the other side of your body having to compensate for it.

Even students with a disability parking placard might get caught in this dilemma if the front disabled parking spots are taken.

My primary concern in this situation is that students who need the assistance would still have to go through all the motions of seeing a doctor just to get doctor’s notes to qualify them for a short ride, just to get to the edge of the parking lot.

The policy requires a doctor’s note even if the student has a visible disability preventing them from walking. Although, in some cases the transport service is kind enough to make a “one-time exception.”

I think it is completely within drivers’ rights to put their safety in the forefront, but, at a collegiate level, I find it completely obscene that the drivers have to worry about students “intentionally trying to run them off the road.”

My suggestion to students with a temporary disability would be to have a friend or family member pick them up from the front of the parking lot after class in order for the service to be of use and avoid the issue altogether.