KNOB TROUBLE

SERIOUS WARNING: I have had to remove my knob. It has proved to be dangerous. Lorry drivers use them because their steering wheels are very heavy despite the power steering. The power steering on my Galaxy is very light and the slightest movement of my hand caused my car to swerve. It would drift in to the hard shoulder or into the other lane. I did find it very comfortable to use and very convenient that I am not prepared to kill myself or kill other people. I was stopped by the police in Scotland as I think you know because somebody thought I was drunk and the same thing happened yesterday. I arrived home and not long afterwards there was a knock at my door and it was the police saying that they had reports that I had been weaving in and out of the lane on my way home. as soon as he saw me he knew that I was not drunk but he did want an explanation and I was truthful. I told him we had been at Queensgate all day and that I was now tired and as I used only one hand on my knob it was very easy to go either left or right when I ought to be going straight. He was very pleasant about it. But he did tell me that and when I am tired I should stop and sleep. I said to him that I perfectly agree with him but I was within miles of home and I chose not to. He accepted by explanation but I think he would still expect me to stop and rest no matter how close to home I was. So please take my story seriously. This is how people die. If you have a knob, then remove it immediately. Mine was removed and is now in the bin.



KNOB TROUBLE: When I first got the Ford Galaxy MPV I remember how light I found the steering to be and I really had to adjust to it. It moved left or right with the slightest move of my hand. Then I saw a disabled vehicle which had a knob on the steering wheel and the driver happened to be reversing out of a parking space when I saw this and it gave me the idea that having my own knob would be of help to me. It certainly was a great help for reversing. I remember though having to learn to be very careful with my hand on the knob because that was most comfortable place for it to be with my left hand on my thigh. I even asked to please people a man and a woman if they were legal and they said yes of course they are especially if you are disabled and need one. So that satisfied me. However I don't know what has made it become very apparent recently but the slightest move my hand and my car veers either left or right. I have hit the curb and I have gone into the other lane not by much but enough to almost hit other cars. Now that I have taken the knob of it is not happening my drive to the swimming pool and back from the swimming pool was much steadier and I felt better and certainly feel that it gave me more control. even with power steering lorries are not easy to do big turn such as in reversing which is why they use knobs. But the power steering on cars is very much lighter or what I mean is it makes the steering very much lighter and so the addition of the knob was a serious error and I'm very lucky not to have had an accident. 

It is always a learning experience. I know that I have weakness in my hands sometimes and they are jerky sometimes but they do not affect me holding a steering wheel in the conventional manner. For some reason I just did not think about that when I attach the knob. I was so taken by how easy it was for me to reverse and reverse round round corners etc that I forgot about my other problems which may have caused problems with the knob. Disability that gradually creeps up on you and gradually gets worse as time goes on makes it more difficult to learn to change the way one does things. I have had to change the way I manage the dogs coats and I now groom them daily so that when they are bathed the drying takes much less time because I don't have to groom them through. I still do not groom and dry coat and I use sprays when I do the grooming. By by.