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Victoria has been waiting a year and a half for a disabled car and the wait is not over | India | DR Every fifth municipality spends at least one year deciding on disabled cars. Of Today it is 568 days ago that Victoria Viby applied for support for a disabled car at Nyborg Municipality. The case processing has not been completed, and she does not know when the disabled car might stop in the driveway. Victoria Viby is 22 years old and born with a spina bifida and is in a wheelchair. the disabled car. It is frustrating and annoying that you have to depend on a lot of paperwork to get out to drive a car and become more independent, she says. The waiting time to have a case about a disabled car processed has increased from about 32 weeks on average for ten years ago to 42 weeks in 2020, the latest figures from Statistics Denmark show. In 19 municipalities, the waiting time is on average more than a year. are desperate because their lives are stalling. They stay in their own home and can not take part in the life they want to lead, says Jeppe Kerckhoffs, who is professional and political head of the Danish Handicap Association. He points out that people with disabilities in many cases can not use public transport . That is why the disabled car is so important for their lives. Jeppe Kerckhoffs believes that long case processing time and many errors show that some municipalities have difficulty lifting the task.4. August 2021, Victoria Viby was told that she is entitled to an interest-free loan for a disabled car. Now she is waiting to decide which car she needs. Afterwards, she will have to wait for the municipality to finally approve the car and wait on that the car is built. She must also spend time taking a driving license in a specially built handicap car, which is only controlled with her hands. In February, Victoria Viby began educator training in Odense. She believes that everyday life without a disabled car is difficult. If a municipality approves a disabled car, it does so in the form of an interest-free loan. At the same time, the car can be exempt from weight and registration tax. People with disabilities have to pay back part of the car loan, and they also pay bills for the workshop and for petrol. How much of the interest-free loan is to be repaid depends on the income. The municipality can choose for the sick and unemployed to wait to repay the car loan or forgive the debt. People in education can get a grace period on the car as long as they study. Nyborg Municipality must investigate whether she can use public transport. In a letter to Victoria, the municipality wrote that according to løberuter.dk it is 3.6 kilometers from the home in Nyborg. to the train station, which can be done in 22 minutes in an electric wheelchair. Then she can take a train and bus to the studio in Odense, which takes a good hour each way, if she orders a wheelchair space no later than two before. Victoria Viby believes that everyday life is not connected with two hours of public transport, which must be planned in advance. It also happens that buses do not take wheelchair users with them. - I would like to be able to take care of my studies, take an education and contribute to society. But when I do not know from day to day how I get to and from the studio, it affects me a lot, she says. Nyborg Municipality pays for a taxi to and from the studio until an employee has had time to follow Victoria when she takes public transport. The municipality will investigate whether Victoria can in practice take the bus and train or continue to need support for a taxi. In 2019 and 2020, it took over two years on average for Nyborg Municipality to process a case of disabled car. Afterwards, the car had to be ordered. Chairman of the Elderly Committee, Kaj Refslund (V) believes that the waiting time has been too long. - It is not very good. People who need a disabled car should not be left in uncertainty. We have not had an intention of a long waiting time, he says. Kaj Refslund says that at the beginning of last year, extra money was set aside to get a shorter case processing. The waiting time has been managed by hiring an employee. The long case processing time previously was due, among other things, to employees being too busy, and there used to be a hump of cases, he says. Victoria Viby's case about a disabled car lay dormant for 7-8 months before the municipality began to process it. Since then, it ran aground for half a year because there was a lack of communication between the municipality and Victoria. Today, the case is with, which also has a waiting time. Victoria Viby is looking forward to the day when she finally gets a disabled car. Today, transport takes place by taxi, or she has to get friends and parents to drive her if she wants to go somewhere.- I think I miss a lot now. It is important to have the freedom to do as I please, she says and does not know if she still has to wait months or more than a year for the disabled car.