Recent deaths raise questions about wheelchair safety on Morongo Basin roads

Two recent deaths of wheelchair users in the Morongo Basin highlight ongoing safety concerns. Even on paved roads, people report hazards during wind or rainstorms, such as debris, cracks, steep ramps, and fast-moving traffic. Many wheelchairs lack lights or reflective tape, making them harder for drivers to see at night.

Residents who use wheelchairs in the Morongo Basin face difficulty navigating steep, sandy, rutted roads, whether they are paved or dirt. In bad weather, these roads can become impassable. For some, mobility devices sink into soft soil or tip over on uneven surfaces. Others cannot reach a paved road where transportation services can pick them up.

These conditions can leave people stranded for days, cut off from groceries, medical visits, and community support.

Linda Chartier lives on a paved street in Twentynine Palms and uses an electric wheelchair.

“Whenever they clean the flood debris, there’s still sand left in the path. Sand and rocks and stuff. It’s hard to get around in wheelchairs. The sand causes the batteries to die quickly.”

Chartier says her husband, who sometimes uses a manual wheelchair, fell out of his chair twice after hitting cracks in the road.

Transportation assistance organizations operating in the Morongo Basin avoid unstable dirt roads for safety and liability reasons. According to Reach Out Morongo Basin, this means some wheelchair users must travel the distance from their homes to pickup locations on their own, often without lighting or reflective materials.

Robin Schlosser, director of Reach Out Morongo Basin, said, “There are many areas without sidewalks, and people in wheelchairs have to travel in the street. Many of the chairs are dark and lack reflective tape or flags so that they can be seen, especially at night.” She said she is exploring options to provide reflective materials if funding is available.

Yucca Valley has supported Reach Out Morongo Basin by funding transportation services through Measure Y, a voter-approved local sales tax.

Chartier also voiced concern about recent incidents, including the death of a church member, Kim Hicks, who was struck and killed earlier this month while traveling in her wheelchair with her dog. She said Hicks had experienced close calls before and “was very diligent about watching where she was going.”

In Yucca Valley, Deputy Town Manager Shane Stueckle says that these concerns have been on the town’s radar for quite some time.

Stueckle added that the Town Council continues to focus on pedestrian improvements in important areas.

He points to several recent project upgrades along Highway 62, on Acoma and 247, improvements near Yucca Valley High School, and older Safe Routes–style programs as examples of ongoing efforts to improve safety for pedestrians and wheelchair users.

“We actually have to pull together numerous funding resources, federal, sometimes state, sometimes regional, through the SBCTA, the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority, as well as some of our own funding sources. It’s very common when we build a curb, gutter, and sidewalk project. There may be four, five, six different separate funding sources that go into the delivery of that project,” Steuckle said.

Securing those funds is very competitive, and each project can take years.

For residents who cannot safely reach doctors or grocery stores, transportation services are essential. Basin Transit offers scheduled pickups, and Reach Out Morongo Basin provides personalized rides for seniors and disabled residents.

Stueckle says these services will matter even more as the population ages.

As the Morongo Basin continues to grow, residents and local leaders agree: improving wheelchair and pedestrian safety on rural roads will take time, teamwork, and ongoing effort.

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