Hand-control system works well for paraplegic drivers

Regaining automobility after losing the use of both legs means using hand controls to replace the accelerator and brake pedals. Many hand-control systems exist, but the one that caught my attention at the San Jose Abilities Expo in November was the Kempf DARIOS system. The system was so well integrated into the steering wheel and steering-wheel module of the Toyota Camry on display that it was hard to see at first.

DARIOS stands for “Digital Accelerator Ring Optimized for Speed,” and it is both technically and visually elegant.

The visible elements of the system are a ring set slightly above and inside the steering-wheel rim and the leather-covered handbrake knob and lever.

But the “D” in DARIOS is the hidden element, and it’s what makes the whole thing work, via microprocessors sending data to the car’s own acceleration and brake systems.

The wheel ring is actually two rings: the cover, which is textured nicely to allow “grip” by the palm or fingers, and the actuator ring, which is metal and fixed to the wheel. The covering ring slides with minimal friction atop the actuator, allowing the steering wheel to move beneath it in turns while providing the driver with better control. Likewise, the braking lever requires very little downward pressure to gain maximum braking.

At least those were the claims made by company literature. After the expo where I saw the system, company CEO Martine Kempf invited me to test it in the Camry. On Dec. 13, I met her in Sunnyvale, Calif., and tested the claims by driving the Camry for about an hour on freeways and local roads.

It took all of a minute before using DARIOS was second nature. Slight palm pressure was all it took to accelerate, and the response of the system was indeed “adaptive” to speed. Within a few minutes, my brain had adjusted and allowed my right leg to relax and give up its duties to both hands on the wheel.

As we chatted in the Camry and I drove around the San Jose area, it occurred to me that I might have adapted to DARIOS a bit more quickly than some would because I’m a lifetime motorcyclist and pilot and thus used to reassigning systems-control to my hands and feet. Nevertheless, it’s clear from DARIOS’s success in Europe and its growing acceptance in the United States that my ease in using the system is far from unique.

Kempf, born in France, carries on the work begun by her late father, Jean-Pierre Kempf, who invented the first accelerator ring in 1954, because he had polio and knew firsthand what challenges faced paraplegics. “At the time of his demise in 2002,” a company brochure states, “he had adapted over 100,000 cars.”

In 1999, the original electromechanical accelerator-ring system was replaced by a digital interface, and in 2006, the current “dual-mode” system, which allows the driver to select comfort or sport acceleration modes, was installed. In 2010, speed-sensitive throttle control was added.

The main U.S. Kempf installation facility is in Tampa, Fla., not far from the Veterans Administration facility there--fittingly, because it was the enthusiastic response of the local VA rehab people to the Kempf hand controls that led to Kempf committing to the United States. Martine Kempf says that an installation like the one in the Camry runs about $9,000 and includes pickup and delivery of the owner’s vehicle. It usually takes two weeks. Prices vary according to installation; minivans are less expensive, because the company has done so many that standard components can be used.

Kempf also emphasizes that DARIOS meets all safety standards, allowing unimpeded deployment of the driver’s airbag and does not interfere with any electronic systems.

Apart from its elegance, simplicity and transparency of operation, the Kempf DARIOS system does not introduce any bulk into the cockpit, as some other hand-control systems do. This is significant, for anyone who must manually position his or her lower limbs knows how troublesome any impediments can be.

The bottom line for me was that DARIOS was intuitive, sensitive, unobtrusive and so seamlessly integrated into the Camry aesthetically and functionally that it seemed like something that came from the factory. The price is steep, to be sure. In this case at least, it seems you get what you pay for.