Hand controls for aging drivers?
December 18, 2014 7:47 AM   Subscribe

An older relative has been diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy in his legs. It isn't debilitating, but it is causing problems with driving, as some days he can't feel the pedals well enough to control the car safely. Would hand controls help him stay independent?

An older relative has been diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy in his legs. It isn't debilitating, but it is causing problems with driving, as some days he can't feel the pedals well enough to control the car safely. When this happens, he stays home, or if it happens while he is out, we use Uber to get him home and get the car later, so to his credit he is staying safe. This is a problem just with feeling in his legs, he is still mentally fine.

We are looking into alternatives to keep him independent, and one possibility that came to mind is to install hand controls into his car (an older Ford Explorer with an automatic transmission). We have no experience with hand controls, but there is a place in Northern Virginia that can install them, and I have found some on Amazon that seem to be well reviewed.

We have no experience with controls like these. Do you have any advice on if they are likely to help, and if so how to work through the transition process for them?
posted by procrastination to Health & Fitness (2 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: This is a thing that works and there is a process for getting the right ones installed and getting your relative trained up on them. Are you in the US? AAA suggests getting an eval by an occupational therapy-driver rehabilitation specialist. This website has a lot more information about what they do and links to a lot of resources. Hand controls can allow people with no feeling/movement in their legs at all to drive cars and this is certainly an option for your relative.
posted by jessamyn at 8:02 AM on December 18, 2014 [2 favorites]


Mostly it'll be a question of whether the old dog can learn new tricks. Hand controls work just fine (my wife uses them), but there will be a learning curve.

You might consider getting better (and yes, considerably more expensive) controls than the ones you linked to, from a dealer that specializes in adapting cars for the disabled. The ones on Amazon are far less robust than what I'm used to seeing, look to be designed for temporary use with easy installation and removal, but more awkward and tiring to use.
posted by jon1270 at 2:31 PM on December 18, 2014


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