Fear of rolling down my staircase...?

[C5QuadGuy]

Hi Guys,

Just wondering if anyone lives in a house where there is the possibility of falling down steps in their wheelchair….? (e.g. wheelchair being at the top of a staircase ).

I have a hallway that runs past a staircase going down to a lower level… I’m a power chair and sometimes I worry I’ll drive poorly and potentially fall down… if I'm drunk :-)

Does anyone have a good solution for this…? But not some ugly stair gate… (other able bodied people use the stairs as well)….

I’m currently in the process of having to put in a new stair case so it would be the perfect time to adapt it….

Any automated type solution maybe … or maybe more practically....an extended first top step maybe…?

Idea...below ?



Problem...!

[SCI-Nurse]

There are a lot of fairly attractive "baby gates" that you could put there, or have a swing type gate custom made.
Don't drink and drive!

(KLD)

[baldfatdad]

Seems pretty simple. Don't get drunk.

[pfcs49]

Seems pretty simple. Don't get drunk.

Yes! It worked for me. And I learned that if I didn't take the first drink, I'd never get drunk. Haven't been drunk since 1983.

[C5QuadGuy]

Yeah, I actually don't drink a lot at all but I do drive my power chair as if I do sometimes... so any other ideas welcome please!

[SCI-Nurse]

http://thelovenotesblog.com/2017/05/diy-baby-gate/

How do you get upstairs? Do you have an elevator?

(KLD)

[funklab]

Seems pretty simple. Don't get drunk.

This doesn’t seem like a realistic solution.

[endo_aftermath]

I don't know what the regulations would say about a safety gate, but I believe that if you had a door at the top of the stairs then the std building code would require a landing on the other side of the door, i.e. the threshold cannot be the top step. It applied to a gate I installed at the top of some exterior stairs I built.

[C5QuadGuy]

How do you get upstairs? Do you have an elevator?[/URL]

(KLD)

There is a lift that I use.

[SCI-Nurse]

Lift (UK)? Elevator (USA)? It sure would be helpful to have your location indicated in your profile. (KLD)

[ChesBay]

I like KLD's solution.
If you fell down those stairs you could break your neck.

[gjnl]

I would be concerned that a 300-400 lbs. out of control power wheelchair may plow right through some gates at the top of staircases. Most pre-made plastic or wooden staircase gates are built to prevent crawling and toddling children from falling. Likely not as attractive, but possibly a steel mesh/rail security gate could be attractively fabricated.

NL