Scott System

The Scott System for adapted vehicles

The "Scott System" is made up of a couple of main parts.

Part one is the whole control box thing. There are buttons on the box attached to the driver's door, and more buttons (most are actually just repeated buttons from the big box, but the most common ones you use while you're driving) in the center of the steering wheel. Yes, those button operate just about everything (and light up real colorfully at night), from the windows to changing gears to the wheelchair lift, the heater, the headlights, everything. They're all in close proximity so you don't have to go reaching for them (which I really can't do, so that's bonus).

Let's reference the photo and take a look as we go, shall we?

Actually, that control box really makes me drool.

I see you can control the heater / AC from this box. Not so on my old van. All you could do was turn it on and off. So you have to set it to what you want before you start driving. Same with the radio. Back when my A.M. radio still worked (for a while there it was just jumping wildly all over its volume and cutting out, and I had to stop at red lights, undo my seatbelt, lean forward and literally beat on the dashboard to try and get it to cut back in), I could only turn it on and off. Couldn't change the station or change the volume (good thing it would change on its own, then, huh?)... again, would have to set that up before driving, because I can't reach the radio when all strapped in. This was particularly maddening on 9/11/01 when I was driving to work listening to news as the towers collapsed.

Back to the Scott System...

The buttons on the steering wheel operate the cruise control, the blinkers, the horn, the shifting...

The main thrust of the system is driving - the steering, gas and brakes. As you can see on the photo, the smaller-than-normal steering wheel is set up on a pillar or column, and the whole thing operates much like an airplane. You push forward on the whole thing to give it gas, and you pull back on it to use the brakes. In theory.

The steering itself is really cool. It's ultra-ULTRA sensitive steering. You move it a hair, and you're turning. I barely move the wheel at all when I'm driving.

My stepfather, when I'd gotten my first van and moved to Arizona, figured he could drive the thing to me there from Sacramento instead of towing it. He'll never get in that van again. He was terrified, and almost rolled it a couple of times.

Takes a lot of training to drive one of these things (I had to have 20 hours of training back in '92 before I could get my license). It takes a lot of practice, being able to accelerate and brake without moving the wheel and swerving all over the road. But I'm quite used to it. However, each of these vans has its own little settings for steering sensitivity, etc, so part of the 4 days I'll be spending in Van Nuys when I get the thing--mainly for measuring and adjusting the whole thing to properly fit me--will be lots of test-driving to get just the right settings for me and for me to get used to the new steering.

So that's how the Scott System works, in a nutshell. Basically, it's designed for people like me, with limited strength and range of motion. Which is why I need this system and can't really use your typical adaptive vehicle. Lucky me, I need the expensive one.

 

DSI - Scott System, Van Nuys, CA

 

Paying Back Grandma

My Grandma stepped in when I was about to miss my only chance to stay mobile and working.

If she hadn't, I would be looking at unemployment and not being able to get around.

She put herself into debt to the tune of $30k just for me. I'd like to pay her back.

Although I work, it isn't exactly a highly paid job. If you can help me, and my Grandma, with a small donation, I would appreciate it very much indeed.

Thank you.