Motoring after a stroke(view report contents)
Products and techniques
Many drivers who have had a stroke are able to drive with only automatic transmission, power assisted steering and some simple adaptations. If your friends or family also drive your car, make sure your adaptations do not prevent them doing so or do not get in their way unreasonably.
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:
Getting a wheelchair into a car for:
- hoists which lift a manual or powered chair into a vehicle
- rooftop hoists which winch a manual chair up and on to the roof of a car
- racks which carry a wheelchair on the back of a car
- trailers and ramps.
People lifters for:
- hoists which lift and lower you on to a car seat
- lifting seats which swing out and into the car, lowering and locking into a position to suit you
- wheelchair systems which are a specially designed wheelchair that slides into the car while you are sitting in it and becomes the car seat
- wheelchair accessible vehicles (WAVS) which you travel in while in your wheelchair.
Primary controls
Steering
Think whether you will be able to adequately control the steering wheel with both hands. If not it is likely you will need a steering ball or spinner so that you can steer one handed. This is best combined with power assisted steering. Sometimes if your left side is only mildly affected, you can use a spinner with the right hand while you change gear with the left.
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 – such as nudging the gear stick – without having to use the clutch.
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 your right leg is affected, the most likely solution for you will be to have an automatic car and a flip up left foot accelerator fitted on the left side of the brake pedal (around £300).
The original accelerator can be flipped down so that the car can be driven
conventionally by other drivers. It is recommended that a twin flip type
is used so that when one accelerator is flipped down, the other moves
up out of the way. You are strongly recommended to take driving lessons
to learn to drive with a left foot accelerator, especially if you are
in the habit of using your left foot to work the clutch.
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.
Other equipment is available: footrests fitted and shaped to suit you
(from £60); a guard to keep your foot from touching the pedals accidentally
(most from about £80).
Hand controls
Hand controls for the accelerator and brake are only rarely suitable for people who have had a stroke. See our Car Controls guide for more information.
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 used for things like lights, indicators and horn. After a stroke it may still be possible for you to operate the indicators with your weaker hand if you have an extended indicator stalk fitted. It may help if you can combine these with rain sensitive wipers and light sensitive lights.
Otherwise it is often necessary to fit an infrared system which has easy to use switches for all secondary controls, including lights, horn, indicators and windscreen wipers. These systems can be fitted and adjusted to meet your particular needs. They are most commonly placed close to the steering wheel, but can be fitted elsewhere if this would suit you better. Getting used to an infrared control can take 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 to control several functions by pressing until you reach the one you want. Voice control systems work by spoken command and are programmed to act on only your voice.
Prices of these vary widely depending on how complex the adaptations
are and also on the type of wiring system your vehicle has. They start
at about £750. We strongly recommend that you check the potential
cost of any adaptation you are considering and its compatibility with
your car with an adaptation specialist.
Other ways of driving
It would be very unusual for you to need any of the more complex adaptations
described in Car controls, following
a stroke. If you use a wheelchair and find transferring extremely problematic,
you may find a vehicle adapted to be driven from a wheelchair useful,
but the controls you need should be relatively simple.
Report Contents
About
this guide
Driving
after a stroke
Choosing
a car
Plan
of action
Products
and techniques
Finance
Further
information
Helpful
organisations
