Driving Lessons & Adaptions: Lesson 1

When I had my stroke I was told that I would probably never walk again, and never drive a car. Well, I started walking within 6 months of my stroke and 10 years later and I've just started a course of driving lessons. And the only reason I didn't start them years ago was because I didn't have time to with my University commitments. However, I've decided it's time to get on with it now and not have to rely on friends and family all the time. The only complication to this being that I have to fit it around work now, but this isn't a massive problem, it just means I have to get up at the crack of dawn before work to squeeze it in. I will admit that I have some reservations about driving, not because I think I will be awful (time will tell on that one), but because the roads are chock-a-block with bad drivers with road rage. The weather is also less than desirable at this time of year and it's essentially pitch black when I start out, but I'm willing to persevere to get where I want to.


So, under the cover of darkness I meet my new driving instructor and we drive to a quiet neighbourhood to go through my driving adaptions and the usual things about adjusting mirror, seats, etc. Naturally it isn't possible to control a steering wheel with one hand (well, not totally impossible, there are plenty of able bodied people dangerously driving like that on a daily basis after all), which is why there is a big money making industry out there for car adaptions. You can do almost anything to change the way a car is controlled - I've even seen joysticks substituted for a steering wheel, or blowing tubes to control braking (take a look at the quick guide Motability have compiled here). However, fortunately as I am able to use my right foot and right arm perfectly well, an automatic car with an Infrared Steering Wheel Turner is mainly all I need. Hand brake adaptions may potentially be useful to make life easier, but depends on how hard the hand brake is to lift. There are several manufacturers of "secondary" or "infrared" (actually bluetooth) adaptions for cars. Elap make a 12-way adaption (left) which is programmed to interface with the car. It's all very complicated I imagine, but all you'd need to know is that when you press the left arrow button on the pad, your left indicator turns on, and you press it again to turn it off. This has to be programmed into your car so that the adaption communicates wirelessly with the electrics controlling your car. The turner ball is then attached to the steering wheel, and the pad sits to the side, so that you should (in theory) be able to steer the car with the ball and control the indicator, horn, wipers, lights etc. with your thumb. This is definitely a system that has to be practiced over and over again so that you don't have to look at which button you're pressing (this isn't really ideal when you're driving a car I've learned). For anyone planning to learn to drive with this adapation, I think it's probably a good idea if you can get some time just memorising the location of the buttons before you actually have to do it for real, but this has obvious problems as it's likely your driving instructor has the adaption installed, not you.



Another, increasingly popular adaption is the Lodgeson turner, which, as they point out on their site, is used on all adapted BSM cars, and probably in most some AA cars. which might sway your interest in buying one if you're adapting your own car. These adaptions are very much a personal choice, I'm sure there is an adaption to suit everyone if you look hard enough. The Lodgeson design (right), I think will take more time to learn than the ELAP design. The circle is possibly more ergonomic than the rectangle, but the buttons are considerably smaller and closer together, which makes it very easy to hit the wrong button. However, since I've only used it once so far, I won't judge too harshly just yet.

Ok, so which one?
If you're wondering how you find out which adaptions would suit you, there are test centres around the UK that will assess you and suggest suitable options, then let you try them out on a test track. A sort of try-before-you-buy thing really (useful since none of them are particularly cheap). Have a look at the Mobility Centres website to see where your nearest test centre is. They will normally also help you to track down a driving instructor in your area (it will be a short list). Queen Elizabeth Foundation is also a useful resource for disabled drivers, and they can provide you with a list of instructors local to you with the right adaptions.

If you haven't stumbled across Motability yet in your route to driving, they are government organisation that helps finance driving lessons, cars, wheelchair scooters and some car adaptions. They are also a good resource for information regarding disabled driving, instructors and so forth.

Anyway, after having set up my the adaptions and a run through of a little theory, there was just enough time to do a quick.. well, quite slow, 5 minute drive, and then off to work we go. Hopefully there'll be a little more driving next week - watch this space...