+Accelerating and Braking with the Cruise Control Stalk?

[Angel And The Wolf]

I'm 71, and statins and diabetes are making my legs less responsive. I've been researching handicapped aids to allow accelerating and braking using the hands, but none of them allow one to keep both hands on the steering wheel when applying the brake.

My 2010 Prius has a cruise control switch mounted on a stalk that can be set anywhere above 23 mph, and raised by pushing up on the stalk.

I'm thinking the cruise control can be reprogrammed to allow activation at zero mph, and then used to accelerate from a dead stop. That would solve the acceleration part.

The stalk, when pushed down, allows the car to cruise down, and I'm thinking if this action could instead apply the brakes, I'd have the whole thing in one stalk without having to take either hand from the wheel. (The stalk rotates with the wheel)

What do you think?

[Xist]

I wonder how many thousands of uses cruise control setups are designed to. The windshield wiper stalk broke off in my first car.

[Xist]

I want a go kart, drive-by-wire, and controls routed to an SNES controller.

I also want a supply of turtle shells and banana peels.

[Angel And The Wolf]

Actually, I COULD live with a mechanical brake lever, (and the mechanical part of it may be a legal safety requirement,) but does anyone know if the cruise control circuit can be reprogrammed to be activated at 0 mph, instead of 23 mph? THAT would give me a hand operated accelerator control.

[M_a_t_t]

Why the requirement to have both hands on the wheel? Also there would have to be some range in the brake operation, not just an on or off like is most likely present in the stalk.

The closest thing that comes to my mind is one of the knobs/pegs on the wheel and a hand lever with the gas and brake on it. I saw a setup similar to this on tv before. A quick search wouldn't pull it up though.

Edit:
Like this, except instead of a clutch cable a throttle cable. The handle is connected to a relocated master cylinder (or a series of linkages)
https://www.jegs.com/i/TCI/890/61800...saAoTBEALw_wcB

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Having a full-mechanical linkage to the brake pedal, preferably through some rods arrangement instead of cables, would be desirable for safety. When it comes to throttling with the cruise control adjusts, once an interstate bus driver told me he could go from Florianópolis to my hometown Porto Alegre nearly not having to touch the pedals in a bus built around a Scania frame fitted with an AMT and cruise control. Not sure if he could throttle it from a standstill with the cruise control stalk, but since so many Diesel-powered equipments and some vehicles (mostly military) are still featured with an auxiliary hand-throttle it seems to be doable.

[Angel And The Wolf]

Originally Posted by M_a_t_t

Why the requirement to have both hands on the wheel?

The steering on my Prius is so sensitive that if I take one hand off, the weight of the other hand pulls the car that way. (Remember, I'm 71 and only getting older.)

Originally Posted by M_a_t_t

Also there would have to be some range in the brake operation, not just an on or off like is most likely present in the stalk.

Agreed. That's why I'm willing to go with the console mounted brake lever. I wouldn't have to take my hand from the wheel for long, and stopping is usually done when the car is going straight.
Just seems that if the cruise control activate point could be reprogrammed from 23 mph to 0 mph, I could take off from a stop with the cruise control stalk.

Originally Posted by M_a_t_t

The closest thing that comes to my mind is one of the knobs/pegs on the wheel and a hand lever with the gas and brake on it. I saw a setup similar to this on tv before. A quick search wouldn't pull it up though.

Yes, there are a number of these systems available, but most are several thousand dollars, and I'd like to do it much cheaper.

Originally Posted by M_a_t_t

Edit:
Like this, except instead of a clutch cable a throttle cable. The handle is connected to a relocated master cylinder (or a series of linkages)
https://www.jegs.com/i/TCI/890/61800...saAoTBEALw_wcB

Yeah, that might work, if I could mount it where my thumb could engage the cruise control while squeezing the throttle handle.

[iikhod]

Originally Posted by Angel And The Wolf

The steering on my Prius is so sensitive that if I take one hand off, the weight of the other hand pulls the car that way. (Remember, I'm 71 and only getting older.)

I don't mean to be rude or anything but what you just described sounds like you should consider to quit driving.

[Angel And The Wolf]

Originally Posted by iikhod

I don't mean to be rude or anything but what you just described sounds like you should consider to quit driving.

Just my legs, not my mind or upper body.

[me and my metro]

You need to contact a mobility specialist shop in your area to see what is already available. They have made joystick controlled vehicles for years for disabled drivers. I realize cost is an issue but the software may already be out there on the market. Let us know please.