|
How to go about obtaining hand controls
If, like me, you feel you need hand controls fitted to your vehicle. Motorbility or Access to work can put you in contact with your local installers. The hand control installers are not experts in knowing exactly what you may require, with your disability.
To find out what you require a driving assessment is required and this is carried out at an assessment centre. If this is all needed to continue with your work, your local Job centre will put you in contact with your local access to work. They will arrange and help with payment for most of this.
I did this back to front. For piece of mind I changed my car to an Automatic, and had the hand controls fitted the weekend before my assessment, paying for the assessment and the hand controls myself.
The advantage of this was that when I informed my company that I could no longer drive my van, the day after my assessment. I was still mobile.
When I changed my car to an automatic I found it easier to drive with one foot on the accelerator and one foot on the brake. I was told at my assessment this was called paddle action and it was legal provided my feet were capable of controlling the pedals correctly.
|
