Room To Roll

By: Connor Lenahan

There’s an underrated, great part about London. Their taxi cabs are superb. Very spacious, very kind, goofy looking in the best possible way. They’re actually quite nice when it comes to getting around the city, especially given that there is no discernible pattern to roads whatsoever.

The other part of them that are terrific? That spaciousness I had previously mentioned comes in very handy for me. It is exceedingly easy for me to get my wheelchair in any British cab. Now, given that I stand and walk out of the chair frequently, we normally just pop the chair up with the driver. However, this allows for my five person family to sit in the back of the car fairly comfortably. Every cab is like this too. In the United States, we’d have to try and flag an SUV as opposed to a common sedan. Here we have no issue regardless of make and model.

What’s even nicer is the knowledge that I would still safely be able to take a cab even if I was unable to get out of the chair due to an injury or any other reason. There are ramps built into the side of the cab that will allow for complete wheelchair access. The level of accommodation is otherworldly, even when considering that the United States isn’t half bad with making sure disabled people are attended to.

This is one of many ways that London – and all of Europe that I’ve visited – has shown an incredible advancement when it comes to handicapped accessibility. It’s heartwarming to see such a delightful city take such serious needs into consideration and have overwhelming success. This is, oddly, one of my favorite things about visiting Europe. I never have to fear about trouble with the wheelchair. I know I will be taken care of.

This is a great city. I just wanted to point out that they are also more caring than you would ever realize. It’s a really touching thing.

Connor Lenahan (@ConnorLenahan) is a sophomore at Boston University, majoring in journalism.