Re: Fail-safe for keyless entry

["Robert Green" <robert_green1963@xxxxxxxxx>]

"Larry Moss" <moss@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:slrnht393d.4g3.moss@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> On 2010-04-23, Robert Green <robert_green1963@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > [stuff about Braun wheelchair conversion]
> >
> > It's a great system, but it's got its flaws.  Number one is that you
need
> > almost a full car width worth of space to deploy it and maneuver the
> > powerchair off the ramp.  I can't tell you the number of times I've come
> > back to find the side completely blocked off.
>
> I've gotten into arguments with people that park in the striped off spaces
> next to the handicap space. Some people refuse to believe that space is
> striped off to keep you from parking there. "The wheelchair is painted on
> the other space. This one isn't being used and I need it."

When that happens to me I think back to a very old, original Outer Limits
where scientists fake a creature from space (the recently departed Robert
Culp).  I remember, as a kid, being very impressed by the special effects.
He points his ray gun at a station wagon and a moment later, there's nothing
but a burning outline of the car left on the ground.  One time, I blocked an
illegal HC parker (a doctor's Mercedes, no less!) until the police arrived
and the result was they let HIM go and tried to give me a ticket until I
told them my sister was the county ADA.  That shut them down *quick.*  As an
aside, I believe the cops where I live have learned that harassing people
who call them lowers their workload because they know they'll never call
them again.  But I digress.

> > I'd love to hear suggestions about how to keep the space next to me
> > unoccupied.  I used to keep a traffic cone in the van, but it got stolen
the
> > third time out.  The second time out, someone just moved it aside.
>
> I often park at an angle, covering part of the striped off space (or
> another adjacent space if there are no van accessible spaces available).
> That way, there's still room for the ramp and the chair, but not for
> another vehicle.

That's a good idea.  Angle parking would allow more maneuvering room with
the ramp, too, even if no one parked in the shaded zones.  II'm a little
fearful of doing that because some parking lot vigilante might take
exception to the disorderly look of a diagonally parked car and key me.

Most of the times, (ironically) I just go to the far end of the parking lot
and look for a space where I won't be easily blocked off.  Since I'm in the
powerchair, being parked far away is not so much of an issue except for the
way some people zoom around in parking lots to get the closest space.  The
more distance you have to cover in a parking lot means the more you have to
worry about some yahoo slamming into you.  They hardly see the huge van, let
alone me in the tiny powerchair.  Still, it's better than having to pull the
van out into the open lanes to effect the transfer, which I've been forced
to do when some bozo parks in the lined space between the HC spots.

This thread has reminded me to install the two xenon flashers I got from
Allelectronics on long fiberglass rods so that the powerchair is easily
visible to motorists as I scoot through the parking lot.  If I had the room,
I'd install some truck-sized air horns, too.  Especially for the families in
the mall who walk 6 abreast at about 2 mph, stopping suddenly whenever
something shiny catches their eyes forcing me to stop precipitously while
they stand there like statues in the middle of the walkway.

> > The other problem is manuevering out of the powerchair and into the
driver's
> > seat.  It would be a lot better if there was no driver's seat and you
could
> > maneuver the chair directly in front of the steering wheel.  I know such
> > conversions exist - maybe on the next van.
>
> There are advantages to having a driver seat since you're able to do the
> transfer. The biggest one is that someone else can drive, if needed. While
> it may be your vehicle and no one else needs to drive most of the time,
> there are emergency situations where just having that ability to
> accommodate another driver is nice.

Sadly, I am all too well-aware of the tradeoffs.  But now that both knees
have totally "blown out" the transfer problem has become a real issue.
Moving from powerchair to driver's chair requires contortions that I am less
and less able to accomplish.  I may have to pull the driver's seat and have
the EZ-lock moved from the van center to the driver's slot.

> That said, I'm actually very interested in driver side power chair lock
> down systems right now. The problem we've run into is that the ones I know
> of (EZ Lock and Permalock) require a special chair and/or a modification
to
> the chair. In the case of the EZ Lock, the mod is a non-retractable pin
> that reduces ground clearance. A lot of people talk about getting hung up
> on threshholds, stones, broken sidewalks, etc. The Permalock is only
> available for Permobil chairs. I'm open to suggestions on this one. (I'm
> also open to a more appropriate place to ask this. I'm not looking to
> hijack a thread. But the OP brought up the topic.)

I have, but do not use, the EZ-lock for that reason as well as others.  The
last thing I need is more problems.  Just recently, the chair has locked its
brakes when going over something that has a different surface.  I was coming
out of the hospital, and the flying bridge to the parking lot has a metal
expansion joint about six inches wide.  When the chair's wheels come off the
concrete walk and onto the smoother metal, the brakes apply.  It nearly
threw me out of the chair when it first happened.  It's really a problem
when it's rainy and some surfaces become exceptionally slick.

As for a proper group to post this is, I only found one wheelchair support
group on Usenet, but it has very few posts.  I'll crosspost there just in
case it's just slow and not abandoned.

(I re-activated the cross-post to AHR because a) the people there have a
very wide range of experience on a lot of matters and b) are mostly adults
that don't go ballistic when a thread is not directly on topic, especially
if they can contribute something to the thread that's useful.  Since most
ISP's have dropped Usenet, the volume of posts have lowered enough that
people don't seem to mind OT as much as they used to.  In fact, CHA has gone
so moribund that I often wonder who's left to post!)

Crossposted: comp.home.automation,alt.home.repair, alt.support.wheelchairs

--
Bobby G.