Wessex DriveAbility
We drove to Southampton yesterday for a driving assessment at Wessex DriveAbility, a charity. We met Laura and Katy who looked after us for the 3 hours we were there. Laura is an ex driving instructor and Katy is an Occupational Therapist.
Katy checked my strength and ability to move limbs, particularly the left leg, in an organised way. That is the limb currently operating pedals. She also checked how quickly I could move it from one pedal to another, using small pedals with a PC application. I achieved around 0.77 seconds, which is regarded as acceptable. She said she could achieve around 0.5 seconds.
They were horrified that I had driven a left hand accelerator car for the first time with only 10 minutes practice in a small car park before driving on public roads. They said it was much easier to transit from pedals to hand controls than it was from normal right-hand pedalling to left-hand. One has to spend a large proportion of time concentrating on feet, leaving less available for the situation outside. I should have had a few hours of driving lessons in a similarly adapted car first.
I then had a go at driving a Volkswagen Caddy with hand controls, initially with manual linkages, then with an electronic trigger throttle. I found it surprisingly easy. The steering wheel had a knob on it, so one could twirl the wheel with the left hand, while operating brake or accelerator with the right one. After that I drove a car with ring controls, one type fitted behind the steering wheel and the other type in front. I liked the ring in front better, as it was easier to keep pressed and also that it rotated with the steering wheel, whereas the other one didn't. The experience was confidence boosting, in that I feel sure I could drive a car with just my hands.
After that we saw a Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle (WAV) in action. This was the Caddy. On the press of a button, the whole van sank downward, the tailgate opened, and a ramp was extended. This van was fitted with a 6-way driver's seat. The entering (electric) wheelchair user could either stay in the back as a passenger, or could transfer to the driver's seat, which could be moved backwards and be rotated to facilitate the transfer.
Such a van could be configured with just one seat, so that the wheelchair user could drive the car from his wheelchair, or could move to the front passenger position in his wheelchair while another person drove.
We also saw a wheelchair topper in action, which stows a manual wheelchair on the roof of a car and which can drop it alongside the driver or passenger door.
Altogether an informative and eye-opening day.
Katy checked my strength and ability to move limbs, particularly the left leg, in an organised way. That is the limb currently operating pedals. She also checked how quickly I could move it from one pedal to another, using small pedals with a PC application. I achieved around 0.77 seconds, which is regarded as acceptable. She said she could achieve around 0.5 seconds.
They were horrified that I had driven a left hand accelerator car for the first time with only 10 minutes practice in a small car park before driving on public roads. They said it was much easier to transit from pedals to hand controls than it was from normal right-hand pedalling to left-hand. One has to spend a large proportion of time concentrating on feet, leaving less available for the situation outside. I should have had a few hours of driving lessons in a similarly adapted car first.
I then had a go at driving a Volkswagen Caddy with hand controls, initially with manual linkages, then with an electronic trigger throttle. I found it surprisingly easy. The steering wheel had a knob on it, so one could twirl the wheel with the left hand, while operating brake or accelerator with the right one. After that I drove a car with ring controls, one type fitted behind the steering wheel and the other type in front. I liked the ring in front better, as it was easier to keep pressed and also that it rotated with the steering wheel, whereas the other one didn't. The experience was confidence boosting, in that I feel sure I could drive a car with just my hands.
After that we saw a Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle (WAV) in action. This was the Caddy. On the press of a button, the whole van sank downward, the tailgate opened, and a ramp was extended. This van was fitted with a 6-way driver's seat. The entering (electric) wheelchair user could either stay in the back as a passenger, or could transfer to the driver's seat, which could be moved backwards and be rotated to facilitate the transfer.
Such a van could be configured with just one seat, so that the wheelchair user could drive the car from his wheelchair, or could move to the front passenger position in his wheelchair while another person drove.
We also saw a wheelchair topper in action, which stows a manual wheelchair on the roof of a car and which can drop it alongside the driver or passenger door.
Altogether an informative and eye-opening day.
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