Hand Controls

The automobile is many things to many people, but it's fair to say that for most of us, it is a source of personal mobility above all else. Having access to a car gives us the capability to go where we need or want to, when it suits us to do so.

Probably no one appreciates that gift of mobility more than those whose personal mobility is limited to begin with. I'm talking here about people who don't have the use of their legs, or only limited use, due to injury or illness. They might need braces and crutches or a wheelchair to get around--but they can still drive a car or van with the help of an ingenious aftermarket accessory known as the hand control.

I first encountered the hand control in college in the fall of 1980. A friend of mine who used a wheelchair had one in her brand new X-body Buick Skylark. It was a double-acting lever clamped to the steering column, made out of welded tubing and bar stock. As mounted in my friend's car, the lever stuck out straight to the right. Two pushrods connected it to the accelerator and brake pedals. The linkages were attached so that you could still operate the pedals in the conventional manner without your feet getting hung up on them. Pushing the lever in toward the firewall worked the brake pedal; pivoting it toward your lap worked the gas. It was spring-loaded to return to its "neutral" position, and the spring rates were such that it was easier to apply the brakes than to open the throttle. If I remember correctly the springs and linkages were also rigged so that it automatically let off the gas if you applied the brakes.

As I learned in the course of researching this article, there are many different designs of hand controls, making it easier for a vehicle to be set up to fit the preferences, capabilities, and limitations of each individual driver. (There's even an SAE Recommended Practice governing their design and installation.) The lever type that I describe above seems to be the most common; it can be mounted with the lever to the right or the left of the steering column. (The catalog photos show them mounted left-side, but all the ones I've ever seen in person pointed the other way.) An alternate style of linkage results in a "push-pull" motion in a single plane--push for brakes, pull for throttle. Another type works the throttle by a "twist" control like a motorcycle, and the brake by a lever motion. Still another type mounts the control on the driver's armrest and actuates the throttle and brakes with pneumatics. 

Hand controls for the brake and throttle are often combined with special steering grips, low-effort power steering, power seats, lift systems and power-operated doors, and other specialized equipment. There are even robotic arm systems to stow your wheelchair in the trunk for you. All this ingenuity makes it possible even for those with very limited physical abilities to drive themselves wherever they need to go.

What kind of vehicles can be fitted with these systems? If you didn't know any better, you might think only of a van with a wheelchair lift--but the correct answer is, "What've you got?" Hand controls and associated devices can be used in any car, truck, or van, and I do mean any. One can find them in more than a few hot rods and classics. I once did some work for a man who had modded his Harley-Davidson with adaptive controls and a sidecar to carry his wheelchair. There are portable hand controls for use in rental cars, and even (I was pleasantly surprised to learn) adaptive clutch systems for cars with manual transmissions..

I like a good subwoofer or a well-executed engine swap as much as the next guy, but I think adaptive hand control systems and other mobility aids are the neatest mods of all. They don't make the car louder or flashier or faster through the cones at the autocross course. Their purpose is far more important: to make personal mobility available to those who need it most.

If you know someone who might need adaptive controls in their vehicle, or just want to learn more about the subject, the website of the National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association is a good place to start. Another good resource is New Mobility magazine, which has dozens of articles on adaptive vehicles and their drivers.

The illustrations in this article are from the websites of Mobility Works and Drive Master, two businesses which customize vehicles by adding hand controls and other mobility aids.

--Cookie the Dog's Owner

Comments

[That Car Guy on November 13, 2009 at 01:51 PM]

I can't think of these controls without remembering the TV show "Little People Big World" starring the Roloffs. They were able to be mobile with the help of these attachments, and drove quite well.

http://tlc.discovery.com/fansites/lpbw/lpbw.html

[Clara on December 03, 2009 at 07:49 PM]

My mother has a set up very similar to the pictured, and it's worked great for her! Such a blessing for this sort of system to exist for the disabled. I remember she had to go through training classes to use it to drive... I tried to use it once and almost crashed her car. So disorienting.