Liberty Staff Portable Hand Controls For Vehicles, Cars, Disabled Driving - Updated Version

I'm a paraplegic who drives. Without my own personal transportation, living in a rural area, I would be reliant on other people constantly for all my daily work and living errands. With this tool I'm self-reliant. The company touts this set of hand controls as "Portable", and yes they are. Comes in it's own little suitcase. I have two sets. I have enough money to have a professional set of hand controls installed in my truck, and frankly, that's what I always intended on doing. I confess, I'm unorthodox, I usually look at a tool or thing and then find out my best use for an item, and sometimes my use is not the prescribed method. So...I use the Liberty Staff Portable Hand Controls in a different manner than the company prescribes. I hook them up backwards. In other words, I don't use them with my left hand, I use them with my right hand. There are advantages to setting them up this way and there are disadvantages.The Advantages: my steering wheel auto speed controls are on the left side of the steering wheel, this has become the default of auto speed control position on newer automobiles. Being on the left side, when speed control is set, this frees my right hand to use the center console controls: AC, heat, radio, media selection, map functions, etc. However, due to the flexible nature of the unit itself (tied to the proper location with nylon strap and quick disconnect around the steering column), I have learned how to use the hand controls with my right thumb, and due to their flexible nature, use the other fingers on my right hand to access features on my center console also. With a static professionally mounted set of hand controls, this would be more difficult.The disadvantage(s): I find one. It's a matter of geometry concerning how the controls are linked to each other and to the break pedal and the throttle (gas pedal, soon to be an archaic term.) This point is complicated to describe without the use of a picture, but suffice to say when pulling on the hand controls there is a one to one correspondence of pressure exerted to the pedal as applied by the pulling force of the hand. When pushing on the handle there is a doubling of pressure applied to the pedal as applied by the hand. In other words, the human hand, with this set of hand controls, can apply more force when pushing than when pulling. The significance of this; when the hand controls are mounted for left hand use the greater force is applied to the break pedal (where it is needed), and when the hand controls are mounted for right hand use there is less available leverage for break control. Also on newer models of cars, the throttle pedal is often not as sturdily constructed as the break pedal. With right hand mounting, this translates to added forward force on the throttle pedal, which is not designed for this type of force. You have been warned that I am unorthodox and that this is not the manufacture's intended setup.All in all, I have been using this set of hand controls in a continuous nature for four years without any problems. I check them constantly for sag or loose nuts before driving. I have also drilled and inserted a safety screw through the base of the hand controls where they join the pedals for extra precaution.

I have a broken right ankle in a cast and was ordered by doctor not to drive. I worried it would be too flimsy to be safe. Not at all! I did a little research and feel this is the best on the market. A lot of thought has gone in them that has addresses the complaints I've read on some of the inferior brands. A little more expensive but worth the added costs. For example, instead of wing-nuts that come loose and catch on clothing they used jelly-stop bolts that won't catch on anything or work their way loose. Very easy to install. Others I've seen require you to use your thumb to accelerate and a lever to brake. Scary! This is truly one lever operation. The side lever. Forward to accelerate; back to come off the accelerator; back further to apply the brake pressure. I few cycles (including simulated emergency stops) I was driving as smoothly as ever. And you can set it up for how it works for you. Me, I have it resting with a bar on each side of my knee with the side lever off to the right. Also came with a travel bag. If I were permanently disabled this would be a Godsend if traveling and needing to rent a car. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Easy to install, but supplied nylon strap to hold it to the steering column is trash, as it will NOT stay tight. I bought some heavy duty HVAC vinyl zip ties.

Just as others have said, the steering knob is junk. It broke off the 2nd time I used it. Buy another.But on the positive side I like the controls. It took a little getting used to it but it's second nature to me now. I was also uneasy with the portability. Because of the shape of my Mazda's gas pedal I was afraid they would slip off. Easy fix though. I made it a permanent install by drilling a hole in the pedal and securing it with one of the nuts and bolt they came with.And get a prescription from your Dr. You'll need it for the DOL. (In WA, anyway) I had to take the driving test and get my license updated. Now I am only allowed to drive cars with hand controls and a steering knob. My friend is a cop and said steering knobs are very visible to them and it's illegal to use them without proper documents.Update: I bought this in 2016. It's now 2025 and it's still working great. I bought it for way less though. I'm buying a new vehicle and need another. The foam grip is breaking down, but hey, it's been a decade. I'll probably fashion a new grip with paracord.

Ordered these off Amazon when my neuropathy took so much of the feeling out of my feet that it was no longer safe for me to drive with them. I considered getting mechanical hand controls professionally installed but with limited funds and no one to drive me around while I went through driver rehab, and since driver rehab is not mandated for hand control use in my state, I opted for portables and self teaching. Most portables looked hard to use but the basic push/pull mechanism of these is really easy and almost natural to use. I was able to pick them up right away and within the course of a weekend had managed to master them well enough to pass my test to legally use them. They are very easy to install, it really only takes about 5 minutes. The biggest thing I wasn't a fan of was the spinner knob that came in the kit, it's a hard plastic. Though the design allowed me run some kinesiology tape that I had in my purse through the gaps and pad it. Doing that also improved the grip. Braking is very easy but accelerating, especially to high speeds, takes some getting used to. If you are in need of hand controls and low on money check with your DMV to see if you have to do driver rehab if not buy these. If you drive with mechanicals but need portables for driving someone else's car, buy these.'EDIT: If you're going to order these order a different spinner knob. I had these for a month and the knob came apart in my hand today. Completely unsalvageable.

Con él pude aprender a conducir ha e 3 años y ahora manejo mi carro diariamente con él.