The Different Types of Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles

When we talk about wheelchair accessible vehicles, we usually think straight away about the handicap vans that are custom built to allow a wheelchair user to get in and out using an electric ramp and that is fitted inside with either a special area where the wheelchair itself is locked in position so the user stays seated in their chair, or fitted seats that are the correct height to allow a user to transfer from their wheel chair to the van's seat comfortably. Once seated, either in the van's seat or in their wheelchair, they can also use seatbelts for additional safety. But these are not the only types of vehicle that fall into this category.

There are also wheelchair accessible RV derivatives that have been custom built or retrofitted to similarly allow a wheelchair user to get in and out using a powered ramp and that has an extra wide aisle inside so the user can easily navigate through the RV's interior to gain access to all its areas. Indeed, the handicap RV itself can be driven by a person with physically disabilities allowing them the same kind of freedom of the road and the ability to stay over anywhere you want that is afforded by regular RVs.

So we have motorhomes for handicapped that enable wheelchair users to enjoy a great RV vacation on the open road in their own wheelchair accessible RV that enables them to do just about everything an able bodied person can do with an RV, but just in a specially adapted handicap accessible RV built for that purpose. But what other types of wheelchair accessible vehicles are there?

Well, there are also wheelchair accessible busses that provide a public transportation service that allow easy access for wheelchair users that make use of special low level ramps that extend from the bus door down to ground level to enable the wheel chair users to easily roll on or off the bus. There are also wheelchair accessible coaches and trains with similar extra wide doors and powered ramps that allow easy access for wheelchairs.

Often when we think of vehicles, we tend to ignore the water or even the air, but most ferries, ships and cruise liners are wheelchair friendly with ramps leading to all decks that the wheelchair user would need to access. In the air, while most modern budget airline aircraft are designed to cram in as many people as is possible with very narrow aisles and seats that are so close together that anyone with longer than average legs is in for an uncomfortable flight. But wheelchair users can still fly; they just have to be assisted on board and off again using a narrow wheelchair that will fit in the aisle. Larger aircraft that have more room of course don't have this problem.

So there, as you can see are a number of different classes of wheelchair accessible vehicles that allow access to enable people with disabilities to travel in comfort using a variety of different modes of transportation.

Handicapped RV

Articles

Resources

Handicap Products

Wheelchairs