People with motor disabilities are often limited in their ability to explore places that many of us take for granted. While most normal wheelchairs do allow a user to gain a greater degree of independence, they are often only able to travel on sidewalks or on other flat surfaces. Even some buildings can be difficult to enter if they have not been made wheelchair accessible with ramps.
One man decided that this wasn't good enough and, along with his wife, they have created an off-the-road wheelchair that allows a user to travel almost anywhere, including over country terrain! Zack Nelson and his wife Chambry, who has been a wheelchair user for most her life, created the new transportation device as they wanted to be able to explore the great outdoors together, and the prototype is now giving hope to millions. In the US alone, there are 2.7 million wheelchair users.
The machine that they call a 'Not-a-Wheelchair' is built with electric bike parts and large rubber tyres that can tackle almost any obstacle. After working with a Utah based bike company for over a year they eventually had a working model.
Zack told boredpanda:
"The toughest challenge when developing Not-A-Wheelchair is the price. We wanted to create something that is affordable for everyone. Finding quality components, and a simple enough design at the cheapest price possible took quite a bit of time. But I think we have something now that everyone will be able to enjoy, at a fraction of the cost of other 'off-road wheelchairs' currently on the market."
Amazingly, the new 'Not-a-Wheelchair' costs far less than a traditional wheelchair. While a normal wheelchair can cost around $10-20,000, the Not-a-Wheelchair model costs just $4,750, thereby putting it into the price range of a lot of people.
The new vehicle can travel up to 20 miles and go at 12mph, overcoming harsh terrain such as snow, ice and fallen obstacles. As it runs entirely on electric it is almost entirely silent, which means that users aren't deafened by an engine and animals are not scared by its presence.
Since getting her new vehicle, Chambry has travelled over 1,000 miles and has been able to visit and explore places such as Hawaii and the great American outdoors in a way that would have been impossible before.
It is hoped that, in time, mass production will begin and as many people as possible will be able to get their own vehicle. This ingenious idea is giving hope to millions who would otherwise have never dreamed of ever travelling like this again.
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