any good idea how to drive a manual with right leg in cast?

[midnight911]

I'm trying to negotiate a deal to have my right leg swapped with o' buddy, Darth Vader. But 'til then, my right leg, knee down, is in cast. Has anyone mastered a way to drive a manual with right leg in cast? Knee down, so i have free moving knee. Left leg in working order. I'm told I can't dose myself a vodka so ideas not brewing...

looking for practical ideas, not overly creative, you see?

[9dreizig]

I hear alot of old ladies use a cane for the gas pedal ..braking's gonna be tough

[DasBoot]

Cut to fit...

[Zeke]

Well, you won't be any better off in an automatic, so rig up some knee throttle or something.

Hah! Motorcycle twist grip on the shift lever.

[red-beard]

I would say the best way would be as a passenger. Seriously, that is dangerous and stupid.

[Laneco]

I had to drive using only my left leg for about four weeks. Alot of your success will depend on your vehicle. I drove a Dodge Neon and an Isuzu Amigo. The Neon was the harder of the two to drive like this.

Bump the idle speed up a couple of hundred RPM. It's not forever and it will make it much easier. You are going to operate all three pedals with your left foot (one at time unless you are exceptionally talented). Flat ground is a piece of cake. Roll up in neutral, stand on the break. At the light change, push the clutch in, select a gear and ease the clutch out. This is where the increased idle speed is very beneficial.

Hills are a little tricky. Make good friends with your parking break. On a hill, roll up in a low gear. At the stopping point, pull the hand brake, then push the clutch in when the brake begins to drag the engine down. You should be stopped with the clutch in, in gear, parking brake applied. Reasonably safe. If you're waiting for a light, pop it in neutral and stand on the foot brake (so your lamps operate). If you're not confident with that and it's daylight, flip on your headlamps so that at least your running lights at the rear pop on and warn the guy behind you.

To take off, get off the foot brake, push in the clutch, get the low gear and (depending on the torque you have and steepness of the hill) either ease it out while simultaneously releasing the hand brake or do some quick hand brake release while swapping between the clutch and the throttle. Hills are tough, think about avoiding them if you can. Especially the steep ones. They are do-able though.

I had to drive in traffic every day. Yes, I did stall out a few times but it turns out that you can't actually die of embarassment. Good thing or most of us would have never survived high school!

angela

[Dantilla]

Years ago, I drove my 924 this way. Because I could not bend the knee to sit in my truck with the automatic tranny, I had to drive the 924 or stay put.

I was able to rotate the ankle enough to use gas and brake with the right leg. usually it was easier to use the left for braking, but if I needed brakes and clutch simultaneously, I could.

It may be stupid, but I did it anyway. Just don't try it for the first time on rush-hour traffic.

The physical therepist (physical terrorist?) was angry when he found out I'd been driving. He told me that I shouldn't be driving with a broken leg: "You could get hurt if you get in an accident!". Ummm...... I'm already hurt, and in an accident, I could get hurt either way. What's the difference?

[Jim Bremner]

I drove that way for 5 months. My kids ranger truck didn't work well. My silverado worked fair and the che'vette was the easy to drive with the right foot in a cast up to the knee. the back brace for a compressed t-10 vertabrae made it a little ackward getting in and out of the car. When I would pull up in the handicap spots, then hop to the rear of the car to get crutches people people looked at me strange.


My wife tried to drive me, I'm not a good passenger.

[Heel n Toe]

I think your best bet might be to trade vehicles for awhile with a friend who has a vehicle with an automatic. It shouldn't be too hard to do brakes and throttle with your left foot/leg after you get past the mental thing.

Kinda like left foot braking... only different.

[speeder]

I drove my Volvo wagon (automatic) w/ right foot in soft cast for quite a while. It was easy once I got used to using left foot for both pedals. My right foot was completely inoperable at the time. Driving a manual trans w/ no right foot would be impossible, IMO. Even if you can use your right foot in the cast, it would be really dangerous and invite a *1986 Audi/60 Minutes* type situation where you unintentionally apply gas when you are trying to brake. If you ever got in an accident and someone was hurt, they would own your ass even if pedal error was not involved. When you got out with your right foot in a cast you would be dead meat.

I had to sell my 911SC when my foot got crushed, couldn't work for quite a while and didn't get to drive it for months. It was a drag of a time.

Be careful.

[speeder]

I drove my Volvo wagon (automatic) w/ right foot in soft cast for quite a while. It was easy once I got used to using left foot for both pedals. My right foot was completely inoperable at the time. Driving a manual trans w/ no right foot would be impossible, IMO. Even if you can use your right foot in the cast, it would be really dangerous and invite a *1986 Audi/60 Minutes* type situation where you unintentionally apply gas when you are trying to brake. If you ever got in an accident and someone was hurt, they would own your ass even if pedal error was not involved. When you got out with your right foot in a cast you would be dead meat.

I had to sell my 911SC when my foot got crushed, couldn't work for quite a while and didn't get to drive it for months. It was a drag of a time.

Be careful.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by Heel n Toe

I think your best bet might be to trade vehicles for awhile with a friend who has a vehicle with an automatic. It shouldn't be too hard to do brakes and throttle with your left foot/leg after you get past the mental thing.

Kinda like left foot braking... only different.

+1. When I tore my knee up many years ago (ACL & fracture), I was in a full cast on my left leg, and driving my Supra Turbo was not an option. Sooo...I traded cars with my g/f at the time...she had an automatic 'vette!!! Unfortunately, it was a Chevette , and with the acceleration on that POS, I almost killed myself a few times merging into traffic driving around Jax. Fl. (a mixture of interstates and Nascar wannabes). Let's see, there is a 1/2 mile gap in traffic, I think I can make it...

[Seahawk]

I was hit by a car riding my bike in college, completely shattered my left tib/fib and broke my left foot.

I had a manual BMW 2002.

Even with a full cast I was able to drive.

I took an old golf club and cut it to size then attached it to the clutch pedal. I was able to manipulate the clutch with my left hand and drive actually well after some practice. The grip on the club was great.

I can't see any reason that wouldn't work with the gas pedal and your right hand.

I know it was stupid, but mobility was key. I did worry about the insurance ramifications should I have an accident while having the car configured with a golf club clutch throw, but I was, let's be frank, stupid.

[Superman]

Angela......do you have a sister and if so, is she as resourceful as you are? BTW, what's the update on the car for your Dad?

A friend from high school tipped a skidder over (Case 960) and it rolled over him, crushing his left leg at the knee. He wound up keeping the leg, miraculously, but he had to trade cars with his brother. This was a trade of a (manual) Boss Mustang for a (automatic) Chevelle.

[vash]

i tried it with a cast. no-go.
i revisited the attempt when i was downgraded to that blue boot. i could drive. then i got it all tangled up in the pedals, and couldnt stop my truck properly. i made my brother drive me about. i could have hurt someone....dumb. or broken my other legs, less dumb, but funny.

[peppy]

http://www.4x4xplor.com/handthrottle.html

My brother had one of these on his jeep.

[kimlangley7]

Broke my right leg back in 76 at Ft Bragg on a jump.. had a cast on from the knee down.. my toes were "open"

I could actuate the gas pedal with my big toe on my broken leg.. worked ok.. I had a VW Rabbit at the time...

left leg > worked brake & clutch..

[Laneco]

Originally Posted by Superman

Angela......do you have a sister and if so, is she as resourceful as you are? BTW, what's the update on the car for your Dad?
.

LOL - no sisters Superman. It wouldn't be fair that TWO men had to spend all of their lives sleeping with one eye open in fear! Dad's SS will be delivered Father's day weekend. I'll post on Pelican when it gets close.

Many fine years ago, a bunch of us used to autocross every weekend. It's a real twisty high speed course and you will shift 2nd and 3rd regularly, short geared car's going find forth if it's a quick beast. There was a real cool guy who drove an IROC Z-28 (like an 85?) with a 5 speed. The guy only had one hand. His LEFT hand. I'm telling you, I rode with him a couple of times - that guy flat out could drive. No special equipment... One or the other knee would hold the steering while while he reached across his body and grabbed the next gear.
Double-clutch, the whole thing.

The guy had SKILLS!

angela

[midnight911]

Here's a fictitious story...
Post-surgery, they put my right leg knee down in to a splint for a week. Was in swell and pain and didn't feel like driving, just needed to recover, rest... A week after, another splint, downsizing a bit, further managing swell. Still some pain, plus splint seemed bulky, figured the foot won't go into pedal cluster. Two weeks after surgery, most swell, pain gone. A male animal healthy but with a bad leg. Not being able to move just kills you. Now they put me in this "cast." I didn't know until then but when you say "cast" today, it's not plaster. They have this fiber glass bandage you put around your leg, wet, and it reacts and hardens in 5 min and becomes a "cast." very compact, light weight, yet pretty solid...very impressed. I wouldn't mind giving a little scratch or two on my beater E30, so here I go test drive this five speeder. Easy. Can drive almost normal except not being able to do heal-toe and those fine control of gas and brake. No need of those for street driving. Getting comfortable with E30, then test on 84 carrera. Braking is a little different where it requires more force than E30 but in fact, easier than E30. It has more space around the gas pedal. Street driving very doable. In fact the roar of the 3.6 you hear from the rear through open sun roof and side windows, and the breeze that hits your face as you cruise, you think as if the injury heals as you drive.
Conclusion...being in the fiber glass cast, knee down all the way down to toes, it is doable.





After being in the cast for two weeks, they take this cast off my leg. Then my right leg goes into this plastic boot. It has a sole like a space suit, wider than that lean cast I had. Finding out that the boot is too big to slide into E30's gas pedal space. If I can somehow press the gas pedal, I can do brake with the boot and clutch as usual with left foot, so probably drivable. Carrera...pedal space is a little bigger but still tight. The boot will get in to the gas pedal space but if I had to brake quickly, I'd be in trouble.

What I would need probably is to put some spacer as thick as 2 inches so the gas pedal sticks out above brake pedal. Or, route throttle cable to shift lever and fab a throttle leaver ala lawn mower or snow mobile???

[cgarr]

I just got out of my plastic boot last month, right foot, there was no way it would fit down in the peddle area of my Carrera.