Motoring with multiple sclerosis (view report contents)
Products and techniques
If you lose sensation, strength or control from your arms or legs, consider the adaptations available. The earlier you convert to new controls, the more confidently you are likely to drive. See below and Ricability's Car controls guide, and perhaps get individual advice from a Mobility Centre.
In this section:
Getting in and out
Steering
Changing gears
Accelerating and braking
Hand controls
Parking brake
Secondary controls
Other ways of driving
Getting in and out
If your main car key is small but full of electronics, fit a chunky holder on a spare key for more leverage. They cost about £5 and are available from general aids suppliers.
Having the door hinges modified and the seat runners extended will give you more space to get in and out of the car. It may be possible to have an existing seat converted – to be higher, made height adjustable, swivel or to be powered. Costs start at about £800 from adaptation firms. If swivelling helps, there are turning cushions (mostly between £20 and £80 from general aids suppliers) and replacement swivel seats, mostly from £700 upwards, from adaptation firms. To get in, sit first then turn and bring your legs in, doing the reverse to get out.
Wheelchair users
If you have a manual wheelchair, you may be able to lift it into the back of the car and walk the few steps to the seats. However if you can’t, there is a range of devices and techniques for getting you and the wheelchair into your car. See:
Primary controls
Steering
If you steer one handed, you will need a grip fitted to the steering
wheel – a steering ball or spinner – and probably a power
assisted car. Spinners come in several shapes to suit different types
of grip and most cost between £30 and £80.
Changing gears
This is likely to be easier with automatic transmission. To stop the car rolling back on slopes, you will need to use a handbrake or have an adaptation such as brake assist. If you cannot use a mechanical gear selector, there are systems which electrically set the gear for you, but these can be costly. It might not be worth adding them to an older vehicle. A Mobility Centre will advise you.
Some cars have manual gears designed to be easy to use – all work without using a clutch pedal eg:
- nudge a lever to the right setting
- push buttons on the steering wheel
- there are other variations – a Mobility Centre will advise you.
Pushbutton clutches have a touch sensitive switch mounted on the gear stick (around £1,000 to £1,500+). Some clutches work automatically as soon as the gear stick is moved.
Types of semi-automatic clutch vary from mechanical levers to servo-assisted systems. All of these require manual dexterity so are best avoided.
If you drive an adapted manual car but your driving licence is for automatic
vehicles only, you must make sure the clutch pedal is removed.
Accelerating and braking
If the strength or control of your legs is poor, you can have more brake assistance added to reduce the effort required. There are also footrests fitted and shaped to suit you (from £60) and a guard to stop your foot interfering with the pedals (most start at around £80).
If your right leg is affected, one option is to have an automatic car
and a flip up left foot accelerator fitted on the left side of the brake
pedal, for around £300. Either this or the original accelerator
should be flipped up when not in use. It will take training and time to
get used to driving this way – particularly after years of driving
a manual.
Hand controls
Different types of system can be fitted on an automatic car. They can
be powered and the force needed adjusted. They come in various shapes.
Have a pedal guard fitted, which is easily removeable.
Combined controls:
Steering wheel mounted – push a lever to brake and pull it towards
you to accelerate, from around £350.
- a radial lever that you use clockwise to accelerate and push away to brake (from about £500).
- floor mounted push-pull levers – the height, length and strength needed can be set to suit you, from around £500.
- clamp on controls simply bolt on to the pedals – best as a short-term option and cost around £350.
Separate accelerators and brakes:
Accelerator rings need less effort than a push-pull lever and you can
steer with both hands on the wheel, from around £1,000 to £1,600.
- hand operated floor mounted brakes, around £350.
- custom built accelerators to be worked by different
parts of your body.
Parking brake
Bolt on attachments make using the brake easier. These include simple
levers to take the effort out of pressing the release button and handles
you pull to operate the whole brake. These mostly cost from £60.
An alternative is electric brakes worked by push buttons. These vary in
cost, from around £700.
Secondary controls
These are to make things like lights and indicators easier to use. There are simple attachments – such as extended indicator stalks – and switches built into hand controls.
Otherwise there are infrared systems for all secondary controls. They can be fitted and adjusted to meet your particular needs. Getting used to them takes practice as you need to find the right button by touch. Many do not have automatically cancelling indicators.
There are also bleeper and tone systems – you press just one button until you reach the function you want. Voice control systems act by only your spoken command.
Prices of these vary widely depending on how complex the adaptations
are and on your vehicle’s wiring system. They start at about £750.
Do check the potential cost of any adaptation you are considering and
its compatibility with your car with an adaptation specialist.
Other ways of driving
Nearly all controls can be altered or adapted to suit you and complete
systems built around you if necessary. Obviously the more equipment and
adjustment you need, the higher the cost. You will certainly need a thorough
assessment at a Mobility Centre and
specialist instruction for systems that involve driving in a very different
way.
Report Contents
About
this guide
Driving
with MS
Choosing
a car
Plan
of action
Products
and techniques
Finance
Further
information
Helpful
organisations
