The Nice People Thread, No.16: A Universe of Niceness.

SingleSue

My issue is that I need a car (whether privately purchased or via Motability) that is not too low, has a big boot for the wheelchair, has an electronic hand brake, is automatic, is big enough to ferry people/stuff around and has a reversing camera.

Trying to find all those things (either privately or through Motability), is proving difficult on a tight budget.

Just a small note, there are a lot of people who receive PIP who also work full time, the mobility element allowing them to do so.

PasturesNew

SingleSue wrote: »

.... has a reversing camera..

... now you just want your own Posh Alert don't you

Just get a towbar - if there's anything behind you that'll give it a nudge out of the way.

SingleSue

That made me laugh PN, a friend used to do that very thing when people boxed her in.

PasturesNew

You'd think somebody would have created a 1000 question car finder... where you can put in as few/many options as you'd want and it'd come up with the shortlist.

Everything from length/width ... to features ... price ... age ... mpg .... all sorts.

GDB2222

I hadn't thought of the handbrake needing to be electronic! I hurt my shoulder once, and I could drive okay as long as a passenger released the handbrake.

hjd

SingleSue wrote: »

My issue is that I need a car (whether privately purchased or via Motability) that is not too low, has a big boot for the wheelchair, has an electronic hand brake, is automatic, is big enough to ferry people/stuff around and has a reversing camera.

Trying to find all those things (either privately or through Motability), is proving difficult on a tight budget.

Just a small note, there are a lot of people who receive PIP who also work full time, the mobility element allowing them to do so.

Try a post on https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/threads.htm?f=2 where they know about car things..

Pyxis

I've never heard of an electronic handbrake!

And of course some people might need steering column controls rather than pedals, or special driving seats, or all sorts of other adaptations, all of which bumps the price up, and those adaptations may only be possible in certain types of cars.

Plus I don't think anyone one can underestimate the independence that having a car can give to someone who would otherwise be pretty much housebound.
And yes....it could enable someone to work who otherwise wouldn't be able to work.

I can't understand how anyone could begrudge a disabled person getting a car.




Just had a read about the electronic brake.
Unfortunately,Sue, with such a one you will no longer be able to do handbrake turns!:( :rotfl:

Also, just wondering about the technique needed for hill starts, and the like.

chris_m

Pyxis wrote: »

I've never heard of spalling. Is that chunks falling off? I dunno.
Delamination is when pots flake off in layers, which is different from chunks falling off.
I have had pots which have started to flake in layers, starting with the rim in particular, after icy winters. So I now have a few rimless pots!
The layers that flake can be very thin and sliver-like, a bit like slate.

Spalling is more more commonly used for part breaking off one face due to an impact on the other face, whether or not the entire thickness is ruptured.

It's the principle used for anti-tank rounds. Even if the round cannot penetrate the armour, due to the shaped charge used it causes spalling - resulting in sharp, very hot bits flying around inside the tank. Not very pleasant for any occupants of the compartment hit.

Modern armour is designed to avoid this - either by layering the armour with ceramic and other fancy stuff between layers of steel and/or by using active armour, which is basically an array of shaped charges which detonate upon impact to create a force in the opposite direction to that of the round that hit it thereby reducing or, better, negating the force from the round exploding.

chris_m

Pyxis wrote: »

I've never heard of an electronic handbrake!
Just had a read about the electronic brake.

I had one on the Merc. Good once I'd got the hang of it, although I did have a spell when I kept reaching for nothing between the seats though.

One handy thing in the Merc implementation was that if you dabbed the brake pedal after coming to a stop, thereby activating the "Brake Hold", when you turned the ignition off it automatically applied the parking brake instead.

Also, just wondering about the technique needed for hill starts, and the like.

Many cars nowadays have Hill Start Assist built in, especially those with the electronic parking brake. Basically, if the car senses that it's pointing up a hill greater than a certain gradient when the driver releases the brakes the car holds them on for a second or so or until it senses forward movement to give the driver time to get their foot across to the accelerator pedal and/or engage the clutch.
It generally works well but can be a bit of a pain when reverse-parking on a hill, because you have to wait for it to disengage.

Pyxis

chris_m wrote: »

Many cars nowadays have Hill Start Assist built in, especially those with the electronic parking brake. .

Ooh how boring! I really like doing hill starts!

It looks like all the fun's being taking out of driving.