Riders easy after ban on tricycles for disabled

Luo, disabled since childhood with infantile paralysis in his right foot, used to drive one of the now illegal motorized tricycles in Huangpu District.

"Though I earned more at that time, I felt unsafe without necessary insurance and no respect from society, even from my friends," he said.

Luo is now working as a medical assistant in Renji Hospital, one of the best hospitals in Shanghai, which earns him 800 yuan ($96) a month besides four kinds of insurance.

The municipal government cracked down on the illegal use of motorized tricycles as taxis last August.

Why they were banned

The use of these vehicles can be traced back to the mid '70s when many people who had been left disabled from the disastrous earthquake in Tangshan City, Hebei Province, came to Shanghai to buy prosthetic limbs.

Many of them stayed in Shanghai and began later on to drive paying passengers in their tricycles when they realized they were faster and cheaper in crowded traffic, said Zhang Guozhong, in charge of the office designated by the government to deal with the vehicles.

Since then, both disabled and able-bodied people have followed their example.

Before the ban on the vehicles was put into effect, there were 10,000 disabled persons of Shanghai origin and several times more disabled or able-bodied persons from other parts of China making a living from the vehicles.

"They were an eyesore in the city and also caused discontent among citizens, especially taxi drivers, bus drivers and pedestrians," said Zhang.

"They (the disabled) are to be pitied, but not to be spoiled," said a taxi driver of Shanghai's Nonggongshang Taxi Company who would not give his name.

"Many of them drove the tricycles without abiding by traffic rules at all, but often escaped punishment just because they were disadvantaged," the driver said.

"The situation needed to be urgently rectified at that time," said Ren Huidian, vice-chairman of Internal and Judicial Committee of Shanghai Municipal People's Congress.

In July 1999, the Regulations of Illegal Use of Motorized Tricycles were compiled and put into use. Shanghai Star had a front-page story about the event in early August.

The new regulations said that carrying of passengers in a motorized tricycle would be strictly forbidden, no matter whether the driver were disabled and the other person his nurse or not.

"The rule in 1997 permitting nurses to ride as passengers in the tricycles was taken advantage of by some people," said Ren.

Promised new jobs

According to the new regulations, State-owned enterprises, government departments and institutes are required to employ disabled people to make up 1.6 per cent of their total employees; those which do not are required to pay fines.

The government acted to ensure disabled drivers who surrendered their jobs driving tricycles would be found a job with a minimum income of 480 yuan ($58) per month or 370 yuan ($45) per month if laid off, plus four kinds of insurance, and other subsidies if needed.

"Before the ban was implemented, many disabled people implicated felt worried and restless," said Ren.

Some of them staged large protests against the ban in May and June before the official implementation of the new regulations.

"But most of the protesters felt relieved after the law was worked out, which made clear the disabled persons' duties and also rights," Ren explained.

After the ban of the use of the tricycles for profits, most disabled persons chose to be provided with jobs in "work units," either their former units or new ones.

"They seldom chose to start their own business even if offered financial support from the government," said Zhang Yan'er, the person in charge of enforcing the new regulations in Huangpu District.

"We know our weak points which can make business a more risky proposition," said Luo Guohua, who had been in business before driving a taxi tricycle.

While all of the 9,061 disabled persons have been provided with jobs, staff with the Shanghai Association for the Disabled (SAD) admitted that many of them were still in urgent need of financial and other support.

Some were given jobs but quickly laid off again.

"In principle, those disabled persons who formerly had work and were laid off later should be re-employed," said Wu Zhongwei, vice-chairman of the association.

Some fall through the net

"But many units are themselves in financial straits and cannot provide positions for them at all, forcing them to lay off the new recruits."

Zhang Guohua, one disabled man living in Xuhui District, was one of them.

His former unit could not afford to keep him on and he was laid off recently.

He and his wife, a migrant woman from outside of Shanghai, had to rely heavily on the 370 yuan ($45) income for laid off disabled persons and other governmental subsidies.

The association has been working hard to find job opportunities for those who are in the same situation, said Wu.

"But the number is great."

Zhang's wife has been granted permanent Shanghai resident's status in accordance with the preferential policy for the disabled in Shanghai, allowing their spouses this privilege after five years of marriage.

"Hopefully, she can now find a job to help the family out of its financial straits," said Wu.

Life for the disabled

Since 1990, a majority of disabled men from Shanghai have married girls from other parts of China. "The policies give some hope," said Luo Guohua, single and considering marrying a girl from outside Shanghai.

"We not only seek a little financial stability, but also the warmth of a stable family," he said.

"Warmth from society as a whole is also urgently needed," said Zhang Guozhong, a municipal government official.

His office, after six months of regulating the use of motorized tricycles, is likely to be disbanded at the end of this month.

"But the work will continue, depending on SAD, disabled people themselves and also the wider spectrum of social support," he said.

Shanghai Star