Plager was injured in a 2003 car accident that left her a quadriplegic, said the report. She is able to drive a modified vehicle using hand controls [image-nocss] anywhere she needs to go, but when it comes to refueling that van, the metal fuel nozzle is too heavy for her to lift alone.
There is another problem at the pumps, the report added. "The buttons are too high on the gas pump itself," Plager said. "I can't reach the buttons to push a credit card number or anything like that, I just can't reach them. I'm too short." She said if stations would outfit just one set of their tanks with a simple device called "Fuel Call," it would enable drivers with disabilities to become loyal patrons. "It's an invention--basically, it's a larger button," she said. "It actually comes off of the fuel pump itself so you can reach it. It's lower and this also goes back to the full-service stations and tells when people are available to come help you put gas in your vehicle."
While full-service stations are now uncommon in Iowa, as elsewhere, Plager said she also wants to change how gas station and convenience store employees are trained, as many of them are not aware that they are legally obligated to lend a hand to those who can't pump their own fuel. She said, "By law, if there is more than one employee at a gas station, the other one is supposed to be able to come out and help you pump gas, but in the training of employees at gas stations, they don't know that, so it's a huge oversight."
In one of her jobs, Plager is an "independent support broker," someone who helps people with disabilities use an allowance of public funds to gain their independence.
Plager was crowned the new Ms. Wheelchair Iowa over the weekend in an event in Iowa City. It is not a contest based on external beauty, said the report, but instead it is based on a woman's accomplishments since the onset of a disability, in addition to communication skills and other elements.
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