Worries for disabled drivers

As a disabled driver with limited mobility, I was interested to read the letter from Andrew Little about the difficulties that some disabled drivers might experience with charging an EV (10 March).

For me, this subject can be expanded in respect of the current migration towards both EVS and

SUVS. My car is my lifeline to the wider world, as it is for all disabled drivers. Manufacturers are far too consumed with looking superficially at trends in buying practices; if you’re ablebodied, you probably would follow these trends, but we have far greater considerations than these.

I find SUVS notoriously difficult to get into. I had to buy a step to aid my ingress and egress from my friend’s Hyundai Tucson, while getting in and out of my brother’s Volvo SUV has always proved to be extremely challenging indeed.

The prospect of having an EV is one that fills me with dread, frankly. If the infrastructure can’t keep up, I will be doing my level-headed best to avoid one for fear of ending up stranded and at the mercy of some of the limitations that my disability has given me. I’m even more worried about the drivers with much more severe physical disabilities than me.

My plea to manufacturers, therefore, is don’t leave disabled people like me in a situation where finding the most suitable car becomes a very frustrating experience and make us feel as though we’re possibly being excluded from being part of the motoring fraternity in the future. At least have some flexibility by keeping some cars in your line-ups that aren’t SUVS and can be easily accessed by those who have disabilities.

Tony Buchan Via email

A recent survey of disabled drivers found that 54% would find charging an EV difficult or very difficult – KC