BOSTON - The Massachusetts Senate on Thursday passed a bill to reduce the amount of time people using wheelchairs have to wait for repairs to be made to their chairs when they break down.

When Pamela Daly was getting ready to come to the State House on Thursday, she climbed into her wheelchair, something she relies on to get around after she lost the use of her legs in a car accident.

When the brakes on her wheelchair came loose, she fell to the ground, something that she has been dealing with for weeks, forcing her to call paramedics for help to get her back in her chair once again.

“I was on the floor of my bedroom at home when I should have been on the floor of the Senate here while the bill was being passed,” Daly said.

Daly has been waiting for the brakes to be repaired, but she expects to wait months - and she’s one of the lucky ones.

When a wheelchair gets broken, there are only two companies to turn to. Neither one, advocates say, are quick to help. A more complicated chair could keep someone completely immobile for months. 

Like a car, a wheelchair breaking down is common. But unlike a car, it’s incredibly difficult to fix because of the amount of time users have to wait.

“If you stop anyone on the street using a wheelchair and ask if they have problems getting their chairs fixed, and you are going to hear stories," Daly said. "And this is all across the country."

That’s why the bill introduced in the Senate and passed on Thursday requires a maximum of four days between a reported breakdown and a consultation for a repair. It also requires a loner chair to be provided.

“It’s very expensive and there are two dominate companies that control the market across the country, so there really is no incentive to improve customer services, and we believe this law is going to do that,” said state Sen. John Cronin, D-Middlesex and Worcester.

The bill will now go to the state House, where state Rep. Jim O’Day, D-Worcester, said he will champion it and hopes it will pass.