If you have limited mobility, including perhaps being confined to a wheelchair, do you feel that certain forms of vehicle rental are off limits to you?
What are your options?
Definitions
The term ‘limited mobility’ is not always understood in the same way by car rental companies.
Some people may use it simply to indicate that they are unable, due to age or other medical conditions, to walk more than a short distance. Others use it to indicate situations where the individual is bedridden or confined to a wheelchair in terms of moving from ‘A’ to ‘B’.
Obviously, your transportation requirements can vary greatly depending on your particular situation in what is a wide spectrum of possibilities. However, assuming your transportation needs are not necessarily very specialized, such as an ambulance providing medical care during transport, you may be surprised to learn that renting a luxury limousine could be a real option.
specialized vehicles
Some luxury vehicles have been specially adapted with ramps to allow wheelchair access and restraint once in place. So that could be an ideal solution if you’re permanently confined to a wheelchair once you’re away from home.
Some luxury limousine rental companies may offer assistance to help you get into their vehicle from a wheelchair. The wheelchair itself can be folded and transported in the trunk.
Of course, some vehicles may have insufficient space to carry a large chair in the trunk and even those that can, may require your chair to be of the lightweight ‘push’ variety and not the typically much larger motorized type with heavy batteries.
The bottom line is simple: call a local luxury limousine rental service provider and talk to them about your unique position. Most will be extremely eager to help where possible because there is no reason why most forms of mobility restriction should automatically exclude you from using luxury vehicles for special events.
Points to consider
However, there may be a few points worth considering as they may influence your choice of vehicle or the ability of the limousine rental company to provide one.
Some vehicles may not be suitable, from a safety point of view, for people with significantly limited mobility. An example would be two door coupes where access to the rear of the vehicle is potentially difficult and perhaps impractical. As mentioned above, these cars may not be able to accommodate larger wheelchairs in their trunk.
In other circumstances, the insurance may specify particular requirements for certain vehicles that may exclude their use for passengers with limited mobility. Again, this is primarily a safety issue and relates to the speed and practicality of an evacuation of the vehicle in the event of an accident.
However, these can be a relatively small percentage of the luxury limousines available for rent, so it’s worth making that initial investigative call.
Summary
If you have any kind of limited mobility, don’t give up thinking about renting a luxury limousine. There will be options and people willing to do whatever it takes to help.