Re: Can my CMT friend learn to drive safely?

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I drive with no probs as I have hand controls fitted to my automatic

vehicle with a steering knob fitted to steering wheel, I would be house bound if

I

could not drive. Love to all.

Jill

[Guest guest]

Yes, she can learn to drive. Rather than learn with the pedals, she should look

into having the hand controls which control the pedals from the steering wheel.

Since she is not used to driving with feet, it should not be as much of an

adjustment for her to learn with the hand controls and from what I understand,

there is training for driving with hand controls also.

I have hand controls and it only took me a short amount of time to adjust to

driving with the hand controls and i am a MUCH safer driver since i switched

since my legs were too weak to switch from gas to brakes.

Hope this helps.

Jackie

[Guest guest]

Hi Janus,

To answer your question - yes, she can learn to drive safely.

I have very limited sensitivity in my feet - I actually walked for 9

months when my right foot had 4 stress fractures. I also have been

in a few accidents and totalled a couple of cars - some though my

own talent and some with help.

She needs a really patient teacher and patience with herself. Her

body will compensate for what she can't feel. Personally, I'm pretty

hard on my brakes because I can't feel what is enough and what

isn't. I use visual cues to help me. If my friends are teasing me,

then I'm probably doing to much. I give myself plenty of space

between me and the car in front of me (my reaction time is pretty

slow)... if people cut in then I let them.

If she takes her time and is patient with herself, I'm absolutely

sure she can learn to drive an automatic. I tried to learn a stick

but I just can't get the timing down.

Good luck.

[Guest guest]

Sure,

It is possible. I drive a Mercedes and don't have any problems. Just be

carefull.

Luka

[Guest guest]

Thank you . That's encouraging. I plan to teach her if I can

get her to agree to try to learn. I'm very patient although she is

not patient with herself. So I will have to pick the right time to

approach her on this but I was hoping to hear that the body could

compensate for the the lack of sensation in the feet, somehow. The

information about hand controls is good to know but, for reasons I

won't go into, won't work in this case.

Janus

[Guest guest]

Luka,

Well, if you're willing to take a chance with a Mercedes, it can't be

all that dangerous. Now if you said you drove a Lada.....

Thanks for your help.

Janus

[Guest guest]

Hi Janus,

Yep, I'd bet money she can learn to drive safely. If she wants to email me

directly, she can - I'll ease her fears and concerns as best I can. As far as

the accident (putting the car in the ditch) while she was learning, I've

actually done much worse. I rolled Pontiac Sunbird convertable off a highway on

the way back from my parents' house to Mizzou in Nov. 1997. The next time I

drove I think was in mid-Dec. 1997 - it was absolutely gut-renching. I wanted to

throw up repeatedly and I drove about 5-10 mph (not in the city - out in rural

MO), but I got through it and she can too. If there's anything else I can offer,

let me know.

Thanks,