Manual or Power Wheelchairs

Manual chairs are lighter (no motor) and don’t run out of power – because they have no power, how far and long you can go depends on how much energy you or the person pushing you has. They cost less and are easier to maintain (fewer parts to go wrong). They are easier to load into a car or van. Many people who have power chairs also have at least one manual chair as a backup. Quadriplegics and people without enough arm strength and/or coordination need power chairs.

Power chairs save your energy and make it much easier to go uphill. They also free up one arm and hand for carrying something.

Scooters may be less off-putting to others than wheelchairs. This is unfortunate, but the truth is that some people are slightly scare of wheelchairs and scooters aren’t so strange-looking.

Power chairs, like other electrical machines with moving parts and voltage sources, can present dangers. The electronic systems can go haywire when there are thunderstorms but today's electronic packaging system usually reduce the risk of loss of control. Indeed, designers of today's chairs put them through a barrage of tests under extreme conditions.

The American National Standards Institute has promulgated guidelines that include grounding of the chairs and methods to prevent electric shocks to either the chair occupant or others.