Hi Joy,

        When I was looking for a vehicle that could handle Amber and her
stroller/wheelchair - Ford and Volkswagen both offered rebates of up to $500
on adapting their vehicles - plus and I don't know if it true anymore -
Plymouth Voyager could be made to kneel!! I got the Voyager , unfortunately
when the "old" man skipped out on us - he took it - and left me with the -
now 21 year old Cadillac then 15 years old. Amber braces and other
paraphernalia quickly annihilated the leather seat she sat in. So when
looking at vehicles consider the upholstery.

        Get a car you can handle safely before you learn to drive - you
don't want to hurt, maim or kill someone else - new drivers are big enough
risk as it is. Driving is not a right - its a priviledge and responsibility.
Cars aren't cute toys they are lethal weapons - from 1 ton and up - human
bodies are no match for them. Just last June my foster daughter(?) got her
license and I tried to give her a real respect for what cars can do - when
the driver is a novice, drunk or just plain doesn't think. I have been
driving - almost 26 years and have never hit anything ( knock on wood). When
I drive the Cadillac - I remember I am piloting 4400 pounds of metal and
that todays car are as strurdy as coke cans next to it. When I drive my new
98 Escort - I drive remembering at my height the airbag inflating will knock
my head off and into the next county ( I am under the height thing - 4'10".

                        Brightest Blessings
                                Trisha


>Hi,
>
>I'm getting my learner's permit soon, hopefully over this summer.  I had
>my first lesson tonight, with me steering and my dad sitting on the
>shift working the gas and brake, since I don't have reliable control of
>my feet.  That's not safe, legal, or fun... so, I was wondering what
>adaptive devices you guys use for driving.  I'd like to have a regular
>car if possible, not a van with a lift.  I use a wheelchair, so I'm also
>interested in ways to haul that in and out.  Thanks!
>
>~Joy~