Small car that you can have a wheelchair next to driver..

Stubod

Hi all, asking for a friend who has a disabled son. Needs a smallish car that can accommodate a wheelchair next to the driver??

Any suggestions welcome 🙏

Okell

Stubod said:

Hi all, asking for a friend who has a disabled son. Needs a smallish car that can accommodate a wheelchair next to the driver??

Any suggestions welcome 🙏

Not sure what you mean by "next to the driver"?  Do you mean in place of the front passenger seat?

Might you get better opinions posting here?  Disability money matters — MoneySavingExpert Forum

Stubod

..sorry, yes, next to the driver, ie in the passenger seat rather than "in the back"...

born_again

Going to depend on how small the wheelchair is as well.
This is one of these, that suggests a trip to a car supermarket to look at the many brands & try the cars.
I know a std wheelchair will not fit in a Niro, which is far from a small car or a BYD Dolphin. Which would be classed as small.
Best option I have seen was one that lifted a wheelchair into a roof box. 

400ixl

If you mean replacing the passenger seat then I don't believe there will be any, and I doubt anyone has done a legal conversion for such a set up either. Have seen it done for the driver, but not in anything small.

Modifying the passenger seat to allow for a disabled passenger such as allowing it to swivel for access or have support added then there are examples I have seen, but not for the passenger to stay in their wheelchair.

Swivel seat example https://alfredbekker.com/product/swivel-seat/

Example of the driver one which shows why it would not fit a small vehicle, even if it was for a passenger. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQciKyUnJBw

Herzlos

I don't think there's anything off the shelf that would be suitable. There will be plenty of cars you can take the passenger seat out of and attach mounting points to restrain the chair, if that's even legal. 

Then you're going to need to do something to get the chair into the car in the first place. chair access is usually via a ramp at the back, and it's possible a front door won't open wide enough to allow the chair + kid to be lifted into the front.

Can I ask why the disabled son needs to sit up front? I've got a wheelchair kid (ambulatory, admittedly, so this issue doesn't apply) and all of the adapter vehicles I'm aware of allow for a wheelchair in the 2nd row.

Small might also be an issue because of ramps or lifts or whatever.

The most common vehicle for adaption seems to be something like the Pugueot Partner, which is a fairly blocky MPV but I've got the Citroen equivalent Berlingo and it's not as big or bad to drive as it looks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FwUxuYFrps

Baldytyke88

Stubod said:

Hi all, asking for a friend who has a disabled son. Needs a smallish car that can accommodate a wheelchair next to the driver??

The car would need to be specially adapted, I don't recall ever seeing one like that.

Adapted vehicles usually have wheelchair access via the rear doors. Having a special wheelchair space next to the driver wouldn't be practical.

Or perhaps you want a place to store the wheelchair?

Stubod

..many thanks for all the feedback. looks like it may not be possible then. They were keen to have them sit "up front" in the wheelchair. 

I have see conversions for drivers in a wheelchair access from the rear, but nothing for a passenger..

Mildly_Miffed

The answer is probably to talk to the drive-from-wheelchair converters, and look at having the wheelchair ramp/position on the passenger side instead of driver's.

I think the only smaller van they base those on is the VW Caddy - everything else tends to be larger. I suspect width for the driver would be your issue.

born_again

Stubod said:

..many thanks for all the feedback. looks like it may not be possible then. They were keen to have them sit "up front" in the wheelchair. 

I have see conversions for drivers in a wheelchair access from the rear, but nothing for a passenger..

Is there any reason why they can not sit in the front & just place chair in back?

Stubod

born_again said:

Is there any reason why they can not sit in the front & just place chair in back?

..yes, it's complicated...!!