The most frequently asked question by those who are going to buy a power wheelchair is – “How fast do I need to go in my power wheelchair?” Does the maximum speed of the wheelchair benefit the user in any way? Is there a big difference between a 5mph, 8.5 mph or even faster wheelchair?
If you already have a power wheelchair or are considering getting one for yourself or a loved one, we are going to answer these questions and more about power wheelchairs.
The first question you need to ask is – What kind of lifestyle will the wheelchair user have? Knowing the user’s lifestyle will help to put the speed of the electric wheelchair into a real-world perspective.
We’ll take a look at the lowest maximum speed of a power wheelchair. The top speed for rehab products is usually 5 mph. That is more than enough speed for someone who might be using the chair mostly indoors, be it at home or in another facility and they have other means of transportation like a van or another vehicle. This is an ideal speed for moving around indoors and from a building to parking lot and back again.
For those who have a more active lifestyle, then a faster wheelchair might be more practical for their purposes. So who might benefit from having a faster wheelchair? Those who use public transportation like buses or subways or students on large campuses who have to go from one class to another. Although 6.5 mph might seem like a fast speed, it is about the same pace as someone jogging.
For the user who has to travel longer distances to do errands around their neighbourhood or if they spend most of their time outdoors, then it might be more practical to have a wheelchair with a maximum speed of 8.5 mph. If this speed doesn’t seem fast enough, there are power wheelchair models that go 10 mph or even faster.
Speed does not determine the quality of a wheelchair, just because one model can travel at 8.5 mph and another at just 5mph, the faster one isn’t necessarily the better one. Speed is only one aspect when choosing a power wheelchair. Choose the speed of a power wheelchair based on your lifestyle, not only on how fast it can go.
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