Afternoon all,hope you’re well.
I’m after some advice,I’m missing my left arm now and want to do my class 1 but can’t find any driving schools with an adapted vehicle or any manufacturers of adaptions that do anything more than car or light commercials.
I’ve looked online and locally (north ■■■■■■■■ but I’m hitting a brick wall.
The adaption is a stick steer/lodgesons remote steering aid type of thing.
Has anyone on here any places to try or know anyone that has a unit that’s been adapted at all?
I’m desperate to get it done so any help/advice is sincerely appreciated.
Regards,
Rob.
Sorry, not about your specific case, but Renault, MAN and Scania trucks exist that have been adapted for wheelchair users.
Adapting a truck for single armed use can`t be as hard as that, can it? So doable of course.
Does a kit exist off the shelf?
I don`t know. Have you tried contacting the manufacturers of kit for smaller vehicles?
Would a school use such a bit of kit on their own truck?
Again I don`t know.
Try contacting schools directly. Get yourself down the page onto the “Newby” section. The sponsor is there and some other experienced trainers.
Even if you can find an adapted truck to learn to drive in and pass the driving test. Unless you are planning to buy and run your own adapted truck, I think youll struggle in the current economic climate to find a potential employer whos willing to spend the additional money to adapt one of the trucks in the yard for you to use and gain experience.
peirre:
Even if you can find an adapted truck to learn to drive in and pass the driving test. Unless you are planning to buy and run your own adapted truck, I think youll struggle in the current economic climate to find a potential employer whos willing to spend the additional money to adapt one of the trucks in the yard for you to use and gain experience.
Experience isn’t a problem,when you lose limbs you have to be re assessed to drive any vehicle,my cars have all been done and I’m reassessed to drive them.
Cheers.
Franglais:
Sorry, not about your specific case, but Renault, MAN and Scania trucks exist that have been adapted for wheelchair users.
Adapting a truck for single armed use can`t be as hard as that, can it? So doable of course.
Does a kit exist off the shelf?
I don`t know. Have you tried contacting the manufacturers of kit for smaller vehicles?
Would a school use such a bit of kit on their own truck?
Again I don`t know.
Try contacting schools directly. Get yourself down the page onto the “Newby” section. The sponsor is there and some other experienced trainers.
Good luck!
I’ve seen such trucks but wheelchair users tend to have both upper limbs to operate all controls.
I’ve contacted the suppliers of the off shelf plug and play units I’ve had fitted to my cars but as soon as you mention hgv they all shy away,no one wants to mess around with the multiplex wiring on the newer vehicles.
I’m waiting for a reply from the suppliers that are in Europe but I’m chasing my tail with them.
I’ve tried all the locals schools and they’ve rung around too but no joy.
Cheers for the reply though.
Franglais:
Sorry, not about your specific case, but Renault, MAN and Scania trucks exist that have been adapted for wheelchair users.
Adapting a truck for single armed use can`t be as hard as that, can it? So doable of course.
Does a kit exist off the shelf?
I don`t know. Have you tried contacting the manufacturers of kit for smaller vehicles?
Would a school use such a bit of kit on their own truck?
Again I don`t know.
Try contacting schools directly. Get yourself down the page onto the “Newby” section. The sponsor is there and some other experienced trainers.
Good luck!
I’ve seen such trucks but wheelchair users tend to have both upper limbs to operate all controls.
I’ve contacted the suppliers of the off shelf plug and play units I’ve had fitted to my cars but as soon as you mention hgv they all shy away,no one wants to mess around with the multiplex wiring on the newer vehicles.
I’m waiting for a reply from the suppliers that are in Europe but I’m chasing my tail with them.
I’ve tried all the locals schools and they’ve rung around too but no joy.
Cheers for the reply though.
Sent from my SM-A715F using Tapatalk
I can see that the integration of all systems, and the type approvals required in modern vehicles make for a complicated and expensive installation. The market wouldn`t be a big one either: more Skoda drivers than Scania drivers.
Have you approached manufacturers themselves?
They don`t need to reverse engineer the systems as an aftermarket manufacturer would.
Might be a long shot, but a few e-mails are worth a go.
peirre:
Even if you can find an adapted truck to learn to drive in and pass the driving test. Unless you are planning to buy and run your own adapted truck, I think youll struggle in the current economic climate to find a potential employer whos willing to spend the additional money to adapt one of the trucks in the yard for you to use and gain experience.
Experience isn’t a problem,when you lose limbs you have to be re assessed to drive any vehicle,my cars have all been done and I’m reassessed to drive them.
Cheers.
Sent from my SM-A715F using Tapatalk
I think by experience he’s referring to commercial HGV driving experience, rather than general driving - actually doing the job, in other words.
peirre:
Even if you can find an adapted truck to learn to drive in and pass the driving test. Unless you are planning to buy and run your own adapted truck, I think youll struggle in the current economic climate to find a potential employer whos willing to spend the additional money to adapt one of the trucks in the yard for you to use and gain experience.
Experience isn’t a problem,when you lose limbs you have to be re assessed to drive any vehicle,my cars have all been done and I’m reassessed to drive them.
Cheers.
Sent from my SM-A715F using Tapatalk
I think by experience he’s referring to commercial HGV driving experience, rather than general driving - actually doing the job, in other words.
All I want to know is if anyone knows of a truck that’s been adapted,I’ve done the job,I’ve driven the vehicles,what I do afterwards is irrelevant…I’ve lost limbs,have PTSD,Tinnitus,been stabbed,shot,burnt…I’m sure I’ll manage driving a class 1 again.
Cheers anyway.
peirre:
Even if you can find an adapted truck to learn to drive in and pass the driving test. Unless you are planning to buy and run your own adapted truck, I think youll struggle in the current economic climate to find a potential employer whos willing to spend the additional money to adapt one of the trucks in the yard for you to use and gain experience.
Experience isn’t a problem,when you lose limbs you have to be re assessed to drive any vehicle,my cars have all been done and I’m reassessed to drive them.
Cheers.
Sent from my SM-A715F using Tapatalk
I think by experience he’s referring to commercial HGV driving experience, rather than general driving - actually doing the job, in other words.
All I want to know is if anyone knows of a truck that’s been adapted,I’ve done the job,I’ve driven the vehicles,what I do afterwards is irrelevant…I’ve lost limbs,have PTSD,Tinnitus,been stabbed,shot,burnt…I’m sure I’ll manage driving a class 1 again.
Cheers anyway.
sarge500:
All I want to know is if anyone knows of a truck that’s been adapted,I’ve done the job,I’ve driven the vehicles,what I do afterwards is irrelevant…I’ve lost limbs,have PTSD,Tinnitus,been stabbed,shot,burnt…I’m sure I’ll manage driving a class 1 again.
Cheers anyway.
Sent from my SM-A715F using Tapatalk
Ah! See now, that could be useful - did you already a) have a class 1 and b) have civilian driving experience using it commercially before this happened? Reason being, you might be better looking for a supportive potential employer rather than a driving school. Do I gather you’re ex-military? I actually know of a few companies who might be worth an approach, but they’re up here in the North East.
I met a driver at TPN in Minworth one night who only had one arm. Can’t remember which one. Despite it being a very windy night he politely declined my offer to help him with his double-decker curtains. We got chatting and he told me he had lost his arm in a motorcycle accident. I didn’t ask him what modifications his truck had, if any but obviously it is doable.
Might be an idea to post this in the “new and wannabe” part of the forum as that’s where the driving instructors tend to hang out.
