Wheelchair mobility: Modifications go modern

BILL TAYLOR FOR THE TORONTO STAR

A remote control helps Bob Hunn get in and out his Chevy Express van.

Bill Taylor

SPECIAL TO THE STAR

Bob Hunn still has his old Chevy Monte Carlo, the last of the big, two-door "boats" that could accommodate both him and his wheelchair.

"That used to be the only way to go," he says. "You'd get yourself on to the driver's seat and then pull your wheelchair into the back. But as you get older, your muscles start to give out."

Hunn's wife, Jean, still drives the Monte Carlo but he sticks to their 2006 Chevy Express van. It has hand controls similar to the car's but also is equipped with a small crane to hoist the wheelchair aboard, with Hunn still in it.

At that point, the driver's seat moves back and turns sideways to give him plenty of room to transfer himself. All at the touch of a remote-control button.

"We've come a long way from the days when, instead of hand controls, a driver might use a broom handle to work the pedals," says Joe Allen.

What?

"I'm serious," he insists. "Maybe 40 years ago but that's what used to happen."

Allen is president of Kino Mobility, across from Downsview Park, one of North America's leading adaptors of vehicles for drivers with special needs. It's where Hunn bought his van, already partially converted, and had it finished to his specifications.

He could, for instance, have had a ramp installed. But he likes the hoist much better because he doesn't have to worry about having a couple of metres of access space beside the van when he parks.

The van's regular controls remain in place so Jean can drive it, too.

Allen has been in this business for 11 years, starting when, as a management consultant, he was hired by Los Angeles-based Ricon to revamp its branch here. At the end of the year, he went into partnership with Lorenzo Casullo, VP of production, and Terry O'Neill, general manager, to buy the Toronto operation. There are 15 people on staff and Kino now also has a branch in London, Ont.

The company, Allen says, may be the only one on the continent that can handle every aspect of conversion from $900 mechanical hand controls to a $120,000 "drive-by-wire system" that can enable a quadriplegic to get behind the wheel.

"As long as there's some movement in the hand or arm, the person can drive from their wheelchair," he says. "We install a stud on the bottom and it clips on to the vehicle floor like the fifth wheel on a tractor-trailer. The seatbelt is preset and comes around and locks automatically.

"You have voice controls for heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, windows etc. Not for the driving controls. It's not, `Faster, faster, faster – stop, stop, stop!'

"We can even work with a double amputee who has no arms. The steering wheel goes on the floor with a cuff for the driver's foot.

"Safe? Absolutely. No matter what the modification, the person has to pass exactly the same driver's test as everybody else. And go to a certified driver rehabilitation specialist for evaluation and training."

Evaluation is key, he says. You can't just stop by the shop and order a modified vehicle.

"If it's simply for passenger access, then sure," says Allen.

"But if it's for driving then customers have to be assessed to see what kind of gizmos they need and we fill the prescription.

"You have to pay for the assessment so people do come in and they'll sometimes get quite heated about it: `Oh, I don't need an assessment because it's not for me. It's going to be shipped overseas for my brother.'

"We just say, `Nice try.'"

Casullo is checking out the installation of a robotic arm in the trunk of a BMW 750i with Massachusetts licence plates.

"This comes from Israel and Kino is the only place in North America that's doing them right now," says Allen. "It'll take a wheelchair out of the trunk of a car or the back of a pickup truck and place it right by the driver's door.

"Everything's so specialized and sophisticated now. Ten or 15 years ago, we'd weld something up and paint it black!"

He shows off a basic mechanical hand control that a driver pushes to apply the brakes and rocks back for the accelerator.

"Simple, foolproof and precise enough that you can feather the throttle nicely," he says. "And only a few hundred bucks. But, generally, this isn't cheap to have done. As well as everything, you have the vehicle to buy in the first place."

Hunn, 59, has a spinal condition that, since his late teens, has left him immobile below mid-chest level. He has $60,000 wrapped up in his van and regards it as money well spent.

"The hoist alone was $10,000," he says.

"Fortunately, the modifications are tax-deductible as a medical expense."

Allen says various charities have money available to help the neediest cases "but there's never enough. It can be difficult."

He demonstrates how the floor has been lowered in a Chrysler minivan and a ramp installed. The interior has been refinished "so it looks like it just came from Chrysler" but there's a lot of hidden structural reinforcing.

"Everything has been crash-tested," he says.

"The safety standards in this industry are very high. We belong to the National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association and they have a thick book of guidelines you have to follow. And we're audited twice a year by an independent source to make sure we're doing a cracker job."

There are several conversion companies around the GTA. To find one, visit the dealers association web site, nmeda.org.

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