The national charity Driving Mobility and its Herts Ability Driving Assessment Centre in Harlow, have hosted a popular Open Day dedicated to helping drivers with disabilities.
Jointly organised by Herts Ability, East Anglian DriveAbility and South East DriveAbility, the event offered the opportunity for public and professional visitors to discover the latest driving adaptations and wheelchair friendly vehicles for people with restricted mobility. Several vehicle adaptation companies and an NHS wheelchair team worked alongside Driving Mobility staff to offer a varied showcase of assistive equipment. The day attracted a healthy number of visitors and VIPs including Councillor Sue Livings and charity patron Jonathan Goodwin.
Injured celebrity stunt performer Jonathan, a Herts Ability client and wheelchair user, commented: “The Open Day has been a fantastic opportunity for people to come along and see the potential for driving independence. There are so many solutions these days to help overcome driving challenges especially as technology is moving on at pace. You can only start to understand what might suit you by getting hands-on with equipment – this is what today has all been about.”
Alongside exploring the array of accessible vehicles, specialist controls, equipment hoists and mobility scooters on display, visitors were able to experience driving with adaptations on the unique test drive track located on site. This facility was busy all day with clients and occupational therapists testing various methods of driving and different vehicles first hand.
Sean Lawrence, CEO of Herts Ability, concluded: “Today has been a success on many levels. We have engaged with local NHS staff who will now signpost more people to our services and in terms of end users, we have helped a wide range of different people get behind the wheel. As Jonathan said, there are so many ways you can drive these days with a medical condition or limited mobility and it is our job to advise and make more clients aware of these possibilities. Our Open Day has been the perfect platform for this and so we would like to thank all our exhibitors and supporters for making it happen.”
