Warranty Sought To Help Disabled

Manufacturers should stand behind expensive devices that disabled people need to help them hear, read or walk, Sen. Denton Darrington said Thursday.

Darrington, R-Declo, persuaded the state Senate to vote unanimously for his legislation requiring a one-year warranty on such devices. “In states where this has been enacted, there have been no more problems,” he said.

Upstairs from the Senate chambers, Pennie Cooper, executive director of the state Council for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, demonstrated a TDD device that costs $400. With its keyboard, electronic readout and tiny printer, the device allows people who can neither hear nor speak to use the telephone.

“Some of this stuff is really expensive,” Cooper said. “It’s frustrating to spend money on these things and not have them work properly.”

The legislation, if it passes the House and is signed into law, would cover devices that malfunction because of a manufacturing defect within a year. The manufacturers would be required to either repair or replace the item or give the customer his or her money back.

, DataTimes