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Posts Tagged ‘wheelchair’

Aavans.com Crash Testing and Wheelchair Vans

The mobility industry is an interesting one, for many reasons, but mainly because it’s somewhat elusive.What I mean is that information is sometimes difficult to gather.   For this post, I will concentrate on crash testing because it is interesting to look at differences between buying a regular vehicle and buying a converted van for wheelchair accessibility. 

When you shop for a regular vehicle, let’s say a Honda Odyssey minivan, do you question whether the vehicle has passed all the government safety requirements?  Probably not, I never have.I have purchased 4 cars in my life and never once asked if the vehicle had been crash tested.  It is something I think the majority of us just assume, that the vehicle we are buying has been crash tested, and has passed.

Did you know that all modifiers of vehicles, like VMI, have to re-crash the vans we build after they are modified.  Since we change the structure of the original vehicle, by cutting off the floor, NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) requires the van be crash tested again.

When you are shopping for wheelchair accessible vans, ensure the van you are looking at passes all NHTSA crash test requirements.This especially becomes important when shopping the manufacturers who sell wheelchair vans direct and don’t use a network of Mobility Equipment Dealers.How do you verify that these companies have passed all federal regulations in terms of crash testing the van?I would first contact NMEDA (National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association) and determine what is required.  I would then contact the manufacturer of the van you are looking at purchasing and ask them

Aavans.com  – Crash Testing and Wheelchair Vans

Wheelchair Vans – Mobility Vans

Take a look at Aavans.com today!

When I returned home from the hospital, I was greeted by a cheering, crying crowd of friends and relatives. I attempted to smile, but when my wife and little girl came before me,i started crying. It had been over a year since I had seen my daughter in the flesh, and I couldn’t contain myself. Even though soldiers are supposed to be tough, fathers and husbands can afford to shed a few tears every now and then. I was not aware what i should look forward to or how she is going to feel about my new mode of transport. Last fall I was injured by a roadside bomb in Iraq and since then I have been paralyzed from the waist down. My daughter, Sarah, just smiled and said “Daddy.”

It has been several months since then and I still worry about my family. I worry about how they are going to take car of me. To start wth, i had no clue on how they are going to move me into our van. That’s when my wife looked into handicap lifts.Handicap lifts are devices that help disabled people get from their wheelchairs into their vehicles. It looks a bit like your own private swing that is attached to a luggage rack. You just have to sit in your lift and you will be easily moved to your car. All handicap lifts have wheels on the bottom, so it is easy to move someone on the driveway right up to the car seat. Handicap liftsalso have hand cranks that allow you to lift someone as high as you need to easily transfer them into the vehicle. Once the person is safely in the car, most handicap lifts will fold up for easy storage in the trunk or backseat. They do not even need to be disassembled.

Although it hasn’t been easy for me or my family to adjust to my new condition, handicap lifts have made for a smoother transition. At least we don’t have to worry about how to get daddy into and out of the family minivan. And mommy need not go about doing strength training or eating raw eggs so that she is fit enough to carry me into my seat.This new handicap lift is a great addition to our already installed stair lift in the house, and makes every day easier.