Disabled Access Rules

Regarding Sam Hall Kaplan’s March 1 column on handicapped accessibility: The comments by Lou and Yvonne Nau are certainly one reason that they may be treated like “pariahs.” I found it hard to believe that you accepted their views unquestioningly. Does Sam Hall Kaplan, the healthy skeptic, suddenly become all mushy and condescending when he deals with the handicapped?

Haven’t you ever seen the Title 24 “Disabled Access Regulations”? Everything from the minimum number of accessible campsites to the maximum size of nosings on stairways is covered. And these regulations are as rigidly enforced by the City of Los Angeles as any part of the building code.

Unlike most provisions of Uniform Building Code, the disabled access regulations lack a strong sense of common sense. Any architect can relate examples of ridiculous extremes.

Part of the problem is that the regulations have leaped into being over the past decade rather than gradually growing over time, the way most building codes are developed.

I have always felt that if building officials were given control over automobile safety we would all be driving giant cream puffs at 3 m.p.h.

DAVID R. WEAVER

Los Angeles