Blog: Motability scheme is not helping my mobility at all

Blog: My life is full of small frustrations since the halo traction system was fitted to support my dodgy neck two months ago, writes Emma Suddaby.

These frustrations include: Not being able to brush my hair (I might have mentioned this once or twice before!), not being able to bathe at all, or wash or dress without help, not being able to eat without having to spend the next half-hour fishing out the morsels of dinner I've dropped down the front of the rigid jacket the halo system's attached to.

But by far the worst of them all is the fact that I can't drive . . .

I'm sure readers can sympathise. Most of us would be lost without a car, but for someone with a disability, losing the car means losing mobility, full stop.

My car is not just a means of getting from A to B; it gives me choices, opportunities I wouldn't otherwise have access to, and it's my safety net, my independence.

For all these reasons, the government-run Motability scheme - providing cars on lease to people with disabilities which severely restrict their mobility, in return for a good chunk of their monthly Disability Living Allowance payments - is a godsend.

The trouble is, red tape and silly rules mean many of those most deserving of such a vehicle are unable to use the scheme.

Take Private Aaron Shelton, 26. After losing a leg in Afghanistan he learned to walk again using a prosthetic limb and with much pain and discomfort can now manage 400 yards unaided.

But rather than congratulating his bravery and fortitude, the Department of Work & Pensions ordered him instead to return his adapted Motability car, as he is now too able.

He's far too honest, if the truth be known - maybe he should just join the throngs of idle hypochondriacs who are happy to embellish their medical problems and know how to bend the truth enough to fool the doctors.

I'd love a Motability car too, but my problem is that I'm too disabled!

Not only would I have to pay a costly, non-returnable 'deposit' in order to get a car suitable for my disability, whichever car I chose would also need adaptions to cope with the limitations of my arms.

Frustratingly, there is little help to be found within the scheme to fund upper-limb adaptions so I'd have to pay for it to be adapted, then unadapted at the end of three years, as well as adapting its replacement each time.

To cut a long and nonsensical story short, this would cost £3,000 - £4,000 every three years, on top of the monthly payments.

So remind me, who was Motability created for again? Because it's not much use at all to the disabled . . .