What car do you drive?

Mike1

I can go off road in my mobility scooter if that counts (well, onto grass verges anyway) 😁

Crookesey

Is it a 3x3 by any chance? 😅

Mike1

stickywicket

“When I see someone squeezing themselves in or out of a car that is obviously unsuitable for them I’m forced to ask myself why? Do they sleep in a bed that doesn’t suit them or sit in a chair that they can’t easily get out of”

I’m sure you don’t mean to sound patronising, Crooksey, but it’s not rocket science.

Disability is expensive. So are cars. Adapting to far less than ideal situations is part and parcel of learning to cope with arthritis because few of us can afford ‘ideal’.

I learnt to drive on Motability minis back in the ‘70s. Minis because they were the cheapest and a succession of them because Motability required that they were changed every three years, and to buy new adaptions (a pull-on / push-off handbrake and foot pedals switched to my better foot) for a different car would have been far too expensive. Having the current ones taken off the old car and fixed onto the new one was much less so. I still struggled getting in and out but then I did and do with all cars. By then, I'd had RA for about 11 years with no modern DMARDS on offer.

When I had to give up driving I became a passenger in my husband’s car. My husband is approximately the same age, weight and height as you. (77, 15 stones and 6'2") I am approximately 5’2” and half his weight. We needed a car that was OK for both if ideal for neither. He has driven an Avensis ever since. I can get in OK if the seat is as far back as it will go and I can get out as long as we’re not parked too close to a kerb. My ancient TKR needs the added depth of a gutter (I know my place!) but still I have to hang on to the door to steady myself. Last time we bought a car, about ten years ago, my husband walked away from the Mazda that he really coveted because I couldn’t get over the footplate. He is a good, kind, thoughtful  man. He has never had a brand new car in his life because we only had his modest wage coming in plus my disability benefit. He has never complained.

Our son in L.A. used to have an SUV - a Jeep Cherokee. I required a step to get in and two arms to steady my slide out.  We solved the step problem with a 10 pack of beer. That worked until we drank the step.

Nothing is perfect. Nothing is a perfect solution for all. You ask if people on here  “sleep in a bed that doesn’t suit them or sit in a chair that they can’t easily get out of”. I think many on here probably sleep in unsuitable beds. Again, money is a factor. And, for some, the difficulty of getting to a store to try beds. As for chairs – I think the chair that I can easily get out of has yet to be invented. My husband has used a sawn-in-half banister (half on each side at the base) to raise mine up to a reasonable height but, even so, I have little strength in my arms to ‘push off’ it and I wobble dangerously on standing. Possibly I’d achieve the standing position better with a riser recliner but I have tried them and, if the battery failed, I’d be marooned. I value my independence such as it is. Also, although it’s hard for me to stand by my own efforts, I believe in ‘use it or lose it’. My friends, famly and loved ones accept my decisions. I don't care what other people think. They haven't tried living my life.

I hope this answers your question.

YvonneH

1 post has been deleted. YvonneH Admin

Mike1

Thought I would add a touch of levity, I like levity!

Airwave!

Hybrid cars use two sources of power, an internal combustion engine and an electric battery pack with an electric motor, the additional weight of these system and the inefficient way it is used uses more fuel than a straight petrol engined car.

a small electric motor and a small battery pack cannot power a car for more than a few miles, as the energy in the pack gets used up, a range extender in the form of an internal combustion engine takes over, often also charging the battery pack depending on which type of hybrid is chosen. Hybrids are a marketing mans delight offering buyers a way to think they are being green which they’re not. If these vehicles are not made then that is being green.

The only way to stop polluting our planet is to stop using fuels which power our vehicles, petrol, diesel or gas, making new electric cars causes pollution too as does producing electricity to recharge them.