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-   -   Which Special Needs car in India? For the disabled? (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/9301-special-needs-car-india-disabled.html)

Gentlemen

We need to buy a car for a person who has partially lost movement in his legs. Is there any car sold in India (or available on request) that can be operated entirely by hand (accelerator on the steering wheel + hand-operated brakes?

If yes, kindly send me the contact details. If no, can existing cars be modified for such purposes and if so which company does this job professionally? Which small car would be best for such a purpose? I am assuming that a Zen auto or a Santro auto should be best suited for the job, with the Santro being preferred for ease of ingress.

Also, will the person using the car have to apply for a special license to run the vehicle?

I know that Maruti used to make such vehicles once upon a time, but do they still make these?

Finally - does the Reva come with foot-operated controls? If not, that could be a possible choice too except for the fact that it would attract attention - we\'d prefer some ubiquitous-looking vehicle that doesnt attract attention in any way.

Please post replies that are relevant, keeping in mind that the person in question is a 60+ gentleman who simply loves driving around.

Steer, i once read on indiacar in the Q and A section that Maruti can customise the Zen according to specific needs of the disabled person. I\'ll see if i can dig up some more info.

yeah, the Zen, Alto, 800 and Omni are avalible in diffrent configurations for special people.

Steeroid, I did a small project on this when I was in college. I fabricated hand operated throttle and brakes and installed them in my Uno. It was very rudimentary but was functional.

I am sure you can dig up some material on the net and get them fabricated yourself. In the project I did, I used a lever attached to the steering colum which operated the brakes and the accelerator was through a stalk mounted on the steering wheel.

But this would mean that if the person wanted to change the gears and or brake at the same time, one hand will be on the gear lever and the other on the brake.

I would suggest he get a automatic car and get the brakes adn accelerator modified. I found out some detailed plans on googling and used the same. You can do this in case you dont get anything in the market.

PS - It cost me about 500 RS five years back to get that done. I had it on for 6 months and it was working fine.

Harrie, while what you worked out definitely sounds interesting, the first thing which comes to my mind is how safe and reliable is this option. Considering the fact that the person who is to use the vehicle would rely complete on hand controls and also that the purpose is long term daily usage, i feel an OE fitted option might be better, even if it costs a few thousands more. As far as i know, Maruti does supply such vehicles on request.

PS: Congrats on your wedding Harrie.

Steeroid,

There is only one man who can do the job professionally - Ferdi Rodrigues. His work numbers are : 418.1283, 418.1291 and 417.1086. You must add 022-2 before these numbers as they are Bombay based.

Ferdi has a huge circle of handicapped individuals, some of whom are his best friends. Over the last 10 years, he has precision prepared Esteems, Gypsies, Accords and the like for people with varying difficulties. Hes also built an entire bungalow which is 100% accessible to the handicapped.

Call him. Hes the absolute best.

GTO

Thanks GTO - will call him in a few hours to discuss this case.

Meanwhile, please keep the replies coming in - its good to know all the options available!

the special license and govt. rules regarding such vehicles is still unclear. anybody knows how RTOs handle it?

Hai,
Found this through Google.
but you have to check if it is valid now.Anyways the link says that this is being done on order basis,so better give a try.

http://www.indiacar.com/index2.asp?p...drive/info.htm

regards,
raj

In Mumbai you have to get a fitness certificate from the a Government Institute. Only then will you allowed to aquire a license. Ferdi is the expert as GTO said. He customizes the cars to suit all types of disabilities.

Maruti carries out such mods in the zen AT i believe.
You can get a used zen At and carry it out.
Oh and for the numbers that GTO posted, add 2 before them.

Jraj, thats exactly what i was referring to in my earlier post. You beat me to the webpage though.

If you are going to buy a car and then have it modified, then I\'d suggest a Santro automatic. Its a 4 speed and the tall boy stance gives easy ingress-egress.

I couldn\'t agree more... The Santro is one car which most people with health problems find very easy to get-in and out of. MotorMom always praises the Santro for this... She has severe arthiritis.