Disability Cars Development
Disability cars have been around for decades. Yet the stylish, user-friendly disability vehicles available today from major suppliers like Allied Mobility, have come a long way in recent years – both in quality and affordability.
Looking back, our modern disabled cars are part of the wider evolution of transport for disabled people. Some of you might remember the once-ubiquitous ‘Ministry Blue’ Invacar – a Health Department issued three-wheeler, famously seen around the perimeter of football grounds on match days in the 1970s. Or the big, bulky ‘welfare buses’ that were once the norm for hospitals and local authorities (some still use them to this day).
Disability Vehicles for Sale – Your Options
Since those days, thankfully, transport for disabled people has advanced massively. Disability car suppliers today offer both standard-type cars which have been adapted for use by disabled drivers and a wide range of mobility cars, MPVs and minibuses specially converted to make them fully wheelchair accessible vehicles.
Allied Mobility aims to cater for as many different disability-related transport needs as possible. Our solutions for disability cars today include a wide range of vehicle adaptations and wheelchair accessible vehicles, including the lowest Advance Payments available on the UK Motability Cars Scheme.
Disability Transport Barriers
Even a few years ago, disability vehicles for sale to accommodate people travelling in their wheelchairs were relatively rare, not least because of the high cost of such conversions.
During the 1980s, 90s and early 2000s, disability vehicles with wheelchair access were largely provided by smallish local disability car suppliers, undertaking one-off conversions. Unfortunately this approach could be time-consuming and costly, with the result that conversions for disability cars were often too expensive for most disabled people, even where they were eligible for the Motability Scheme. Motability Advance Payments ran into thousands of pounds, meaning that owning your own disability car was beyond the reach of most disabled people.
This meant most wheelchair users were left with no option other than public transport. Of course for many disabled people service buses and even taxis – especially the traditional London style taxi – are not easily accessible, with wheelchair passengers commonly left to travel facing sideways, wheelchair unsecured and with no passenger seat belt.
Special transport, such as dial-a-ride schemes, provided a welcome lifeline yet often this was or still is infrequent, has to be booked well in advance and takes the form of high, awkward, square ‘welfare buses’ that very obviously shout ‘disabled vehicle’.
Evolution of Disability Cars for Sale
Fortunately, disability transport options have improved by leaps and bounds over the past few years.
- Some bus and train service providers have become much better at providing for the needs of wheelchair users (though there’s still plenty of room for improvement).
- Taxi services in most towns and cities have also improved greatly thanks to new, modern-style mobility cars like the Peugeot E7 taxi, which provide much more flat-floor space in which to rotate and safely secure wheelchair passengers.
- Community transport providers are increasingly using more manoeuvrable and comfortable wheelchair accessible minibuses and people carriers and offering more demand responsive disability transport services.
- Disability cars for individuals have improved almost beyond recognition in terms of appearance and quality. Crucially they have also become much more affordable to the average disabled person.
The Right Disability Car Conversion for You
Perhaps the biggest transformation in disability transport has been in the number of disability vehicles owned by individual disabled people and their families. This has come about as a result of advances in technology and manufacturing efficiency among larger disabled vehicle adaptation companies like Allied Mobility, working closely in partnership with the UK Motability Scheme.
Not so long ago, disability cars were unwieldy-looking, awkward to use and expensive to own. Nowadays:
- Allied Mobility offers a range of stylish disability vehicles, MPVs and minibuses that look no different from a standard vehicle.
- Our modern range of disability cars provides easy and comfortable wheelchair access, legroom and headroom, thanks to the wide selection of makes and models available for you to choose from.
- We are now able to offer first class mobility cars with Motability Advance Payments of as little as a few hundred pounds. Grant support can also be available from Motability to help with the cost of larger wheelchair accessible vehicles.
- Disability cars for sale are also available from Allied Mobility at highly competitive factory-direct prices. Low-cost finance packages are also offered for non-Motability Scheme customers.
Disability Car Hires
Nowadays you can even hire a disabled vehicle, thanks to Allied Mobility’s wheelchair accessible rentals service. This offers competitively priced disability car hire by the day, week or over an extended period, with a variety of collection and home delivery options.
Hire of disability cars is popular with disabled individuals planning a holiday or trip to visit friends or relatives and with relatives of disabled people who would like to take them out somewhere for a day trip or breakaway.
Click here for more on wheelchair accessible vehicle rentals