OEM's Don't Make Accessible Products

Ford, Chrysler, GM, Toyota and most other vehicle OEM's (Original Equipment Manufacturer) don't make accessible products.

Most of them will admit that they don't make accessible products. It simply isn't possible to make one-of-a-kind items on an assembly line. Ford, the inventor of the assembly line, made all his Model-T's one color, black. You could have any color you wanted, as long as it was black. This product uniformity gave him the ability to reduce the cost of the cars and bring them to the common man.

Over the years, however, the car business has changed. Now manufacturers must offer dozens of colors, many different models, and meet complicated safety and environmental standards. Building a car is no longer a relatively simple thing. So, you would suppose accessibility could be built into new vehicles as easily as voice-activation or an MP3 connection.

Unfortunately, exactly the opposite is happening. Under the pressure of meeting federal safety regulations and avoiding potential lawsuits, the OEM engineers are running for cover. Every time a safety item is added no consideration is given to adapting the vehicle for use by a person with a disability. When engineers from the vehicle converters ask, they are told not to remove any of the safety equipment to do their modifications.

It is a never-ending Catch-22. Ford's Econoline series full-sized vans, GM's full-sized vans and Chrysler's Sprinter all have parked their airbag control systems under the front driver seat. As the result, adding a power seat base or removing the seat and modifying the floor so someone could drive from the wheelchair is much more difficult. And, all of the manufacturers don't want the control systems moved.

Ford has limited the availability of Econoline conversion-ready chassis for lowered floors. Ford also has added a new Roll Control System (RCS) to the Club Wagon version of it's Econoline series. In order not to interfere with this computerized stability system, Ford does not want tops or cargo doors raised. GM's large wagon, the Savanna, now has side impact airbags which cannot be removed so the side cargo door can be raised or modified so a lift with an upper support, like the Braun Vangater, can be installed.

The list of these problems is endless. The solutions are expensive. The guys who modify these vehicles to accommodate people with disabilities are forced to re-do the work of the OEM's and assume liability for the safety of that part of the vehicle.

This is an expensive proposition, and usually exceeds the $1,000.00 allowance the automakers give for modification assistance.

On top of everything else, the new hybrid, electric and fuel-efficient vehicles are not capable of receiving any extensive modifications, like a lowered floor or raised top. This leaves the severely disabled motorist with very few options, except to drive gas-guzzlers with expensive hand-made conversions.

This scenario will only change in one of three ways, a lawsuit against the OEM's, which is very unlikely, government assistance, or constant pressure on the manufacturers by disabled consumers.

My recommendation would be for consumers with disabilities to apply pressure to the automakers wherever possible. Ultimately, accommodating persons with disabilities will make their vehicles more friendly to use and increase their sales. In the end, they will be helping themselves, they just don't know it, yet.