Automotive News Canada - May 2019 - v2 - 15

* MAY 2019

RICK HANSEN TO DEALERS:

Dealership
accessibility
opens the door
to new business
Showrooms that
welcome the
disabled are also
welcoming a
potential labour pool
of 500,000 people

ket pool in this country, I'd say
that's a huge opportunity."
The three-time Paralympic
gold-medal winner is best
known for his Man in Motion
World Tour. From 1985 to 1987,
Hansen circled the world in
his wheelchair with the hope
of raising awareness for people
with disabilities. He leads the
Rick Hansen Foundation, an
By JOHN IRWIN
TORONTO BUREAU
organization dedicated to that
cause.
During the conferNIAGARA FALLS, ONT. -
ence, organized by the
The leaders of two of Canada's
Trillium Automobile Dealers
new-vehicle dealer associaAssociation (TADA), Hansen
tions pledged to
met with leadwork with automakers such as John
ers to make showWhite, president
rooms more accomof the Canadian
modating to people
Automobile
with disabilities
Dealers
after Paralympian
Association
Rick Hansen deliv(CADA), and
ered an impasTADA Executive
sioned appeal to do
Director Todd
what's right, and
Bourgon.
in the process, take
Hansen, who
Greater accessibility
advantage of "an
delivered the keyin the showroom
opportunity."
note speech at the
is "something
"The opportuevent, urged dealthat we could help
nity can be servers to determine
facilitate" with the
ing their customer
auto manufacturers' how accessible
base the next time
their stores are
associations,
they're looking for
and take steps to
said John White,
someone to work
boost accessibility.
president of
with them," Hansen the Canadian
He said that doing
said at a roundtaAutomobile Dealers so would advance
ble discussion at the Association.
both the bottom
FILE PHOTO
recent Automotive
line and human
Conference and
rights.
Expo, which attracted retailers
According to the Hansen
from across Ontario.
Foundation, about one in
"There's a half a million
seven Canadians has a disabilpeople in this country that are
ity. That number is projected
ready, willing and able to work to increase to one in five adults
that happen to have a disabiliby 2036 as the population ages.
ty. In a dwindling labour marDealerships focused on

Rick Hansen, with former TADA President Susan Gubasta, said people with disabilities are
potential customers and potential employees. "There's a half a million people in this country
that are ready, willing and able to work that happen to have a disability." P H O T O : J O H N I R W I N

accessibility open their stores
to customers who otherwise
would not consider the dealership, and better accessibility paves the way for potential
employees.
The Rick Hansen
Foundation has an accessibility certification program,
based on LEED certification
for green design in a building,
that Hansen said dealers could
use to make improvements to
their stores. Many changes are
small, including reducing clutter and installing voice recognition technology in computers.
The auto industry has
been "in many ways key early
adopters for mobility solutions with people with disabilities for a long time," Hansen
said. "You're involved in the
community. You do so much
great work. You do so much as
a dealership in being able to
provide products and services
that are important to have that
quality of life.
"This tool can help you
access those emerging demographics but also be a leader in a sector that needs some
energy to show us moving forward."

DEALERS CAN LEAD THE WAY
Dealer leaders signaled they
would work with automakers to update their image standards to increase accessibility.

"Normally, with the new
standards, there are some
accessibility standards that
are required at a base level,"
said CADA's White. "But I
think there might be an opportunity to talk about this with
the head of the manufacturers'
associations ... and it's something that we could help facilitate."
Hansen said "there has
never been a better time"
for dealers to take the lead
on accessibility issues, and
TADA's Bourgon agreed.
"This is a business opportunity as much as it's the right
thing to do," Bourgon said.
Businesses are often

unaware of the economic benefits of updating their stores,
Hansen said, adding that
increasing awareness about
those benefits was crucial to
making progress.
"Aging [baby] boomers are
here, and people are starting to
pay attention at another level,"
he said.
"Not that they shouldn't be
paying attention to the humanrights component of this
issue of accessibility, but you
need all four legs on a table of
change. You need the charitable sector, you need the human
rights sector, you need the economics sector, and you need
the cultural sector." - ANC

ACCESSIBILITY FACTS
Seventy per cent of Canadians say new buildings should be
"universally accessible," according to a January study by the
Rick Hansen Foundation and the Angus Reid Institute.
Other facts:
* 53

per cent want national standards for accessibility.

* 47

per cent "have a relationship with someone who has a
physical disability or challenge."

* 24

per cent of Canadians have a mobility, vision or hearing
disability/challenge.

* 30

per cent consider accessibility when deciding which businesses
to visit.

Source: Angus Reid Institute, Rick Hansen Foundation

Hansen: Autonomous vehicles can give freedom to the disabled
By JOHN IRWIN
TORONTO BUREAU

NIAGARA FALLS, ONT. -
Autonomous vehicles (AVs), smart
technology and ride-hailing apps have
the potential to drastically increase
a disabled person's mobility, former
paralympic athlete Rick Hansen says.
Hansen, a keynote speaker at the
recent Trillium Automobile Dealers
Association's Automotive Conference
and Expo, said AVs, combined with
other technologies, could enhance the
lives of quadriplegics, blind people and
others with disabilities who cannot
drive.
People are "going to be able to con-

verge technology, leave your
ing autonomous and conhome and as you go out the
nected-vehicle technology.
door, the lights shut off,
While the technology has
door will open, close behind
progressed, fully autonoyou, the car will deploy, it'll
mous vehicles have yet to
strap you in, set your GPS
be developed. Major hurcoordinates and off you go,"
dles, including technoHansen said during a queslogical, regulatory and
tion-and-answer session.
ethical obstacles, must
Paralympian Rick
"And meanwhile while
be addressed before they
Hansen says AV
you're there, you're actualbecome commonplace.
technology holds
ly working on your business
Vehicle design is key to
promise for people
and you're working on setdetermining whether AVs
with disabilities.
ting up a date with your wife P H O T O : J O H N I R W I N
will benefit those with disor girlfriend."
abilities, according to a
Automakers, suppliers and techreport by the Intelligent Transportation
nology companies have invested vast
Society of America.
resources in recent years to developReleased in April, the report called

on automakers, health-care companies
and electronics companies to develop
"accessible designs" for AV systems
and to develop universal design standards.
For example, companies must determine how a disabled passenger will be
able to interact with an autonomous
vehicle to "regain proper control" in an
emergency situation.
While it might take years before
AVs are a common sight on the roads,
Hansen said their development is a goal
worthy of pursuit.
"Why shouldn't that reality be there
as technology converges, and especially
if we put it to good to remove barriers?
It's a powerful opportunity." - ANC

Automotive News Canada - May 2019 - v2

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