Off-road motorized wheelchairs make their way to US
Terrain Hopper electric-powered vehcile technology allows those with mobility issues to go off-roading
TEMPE, Ariz – With the flick of a finger, an innovative off-road ATV-like mobility scooter is giving Americans with disability or mobility issues a chance to experience the outdoors.
“It doesn’t look like a wheelchair, it doesn’t feel like a wheelchair, it doesn’t have the limitations of a wheelchair—it’s not a wheelchair—but it does the things that a wheelchair does—but 100 times better,” said Todd Lemay, owner of TerrainHopper USA, which sells the wheelchairs in the U.S. “And, it’s really cool.”
The “Terrain Hopper,” an off-road scooter that can go uphill, downhill, over rocks and sand, and up to 12 miles an hour (with a 4 mph version, as well)—allows people to go hiking, adventure out in the woods, or journey on the beach—by using handlebars steering with one finger, or by using a customized joystick.
The “Terrain Hopper,” an off-road scooter that can go uphill, downhill, over rocks and sand, and up to 12 miles an hour (with a 4 mph version, as well)—allows people to go hiking, adventure out in the woods, or journey on the beach—by using handlebars steering with one finger, or by using a customized joystick. (Fox News)
Todd Lemay, who’s lived with bone brittle disease his whole life, wanted to be able to hold his wife’s hand while walking on the beach. He found the UK-based company through a Google search. After being their first U.S. customer and having it shipped to his Arizona home—he was able to do exactly what he set out for—he started to take it out on the beach with his wife, Letitia, and go hiking with it. People would come up to him and ask where he got it, inquiring for their family member of friend who could use one.
“I know what the other people are going through, as far as their limitations and I think people, they minimize the importance of being outdoors,” Lemay said. “Going to the beach, going hiking, going to their favorite hunting spot in the woods, or going fishing, those types of things—being outdoors and participating with your friends and family is very therapeutic. If you can be outdoors doing those things, it makes people feel better emotionally and physically.”
“This is, by far, the most rewarding [company I’ve helped run] because we're putting smiles on people's faces, we're changing people's lives,” Lemay said. (Fox News)
But the souped-up wheelchair is not within reach for everyone – because of its steep price tag. It costs $18,000 and not typically covered by insurance. So those who want to buy it have to cough up a lot of money.
“It’s going to be out of the reach of most people with disabilities because people with disabilities in this country are three times more likely to live in poverty than any other minority group,” said Heidi Johnson-Wright, an American with Disabilities Act compliance professional.
About 26 percent of adults in the United States have some type of disability and 13.7 percent of adults have serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs, according to the Center for Disease Control.
This year, Lemay licensed the technology and manufactures, sells, and distributes out of a Tempe, Ariz. warehouse. Lemay claims this is the only off-road mobility chair in the United States people can drive with handlebars.
“It doesn’t look like a wheelchair, it doesn’t feel like a wheelchair, it doesn’t have the limitations of a wheelchair—it’s not a wheelchair—but it does the things that a wheelchair does—but 100 times better,” said Todd Lemay, owner of TerrainHopper USA, which sells the wheelchairs in the U.S. “And, it’s really cool.” (Fox News)
He said he’s proud of the company.
“This is, by far, the most rewarding [company I’ve helped run] because we're putting smiles on people's faces, we're changing people's lives,” Lemay said.
It has helped people like Todd Kneale, who was an avid rock climber, skier, backpacker when he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2003. As the disease progressed, it limited the things he could do. But then he bought a scooter.
“It’s made a huge difference in my life and I know absolutely it’s going to make a huge difference in many, many people's lives here in the U.S...I can't wait for my next adventure.”
“It's just opened up my world again,” Kneale said. “We’re able to off-road to different locations and I’m able to pull out the Terrain Hopper and go hiking. It has completely changed the way I can interact with nature again, where it gets me back to where I was before where my wife and I could go on a hike and have a picnic, get to an overlook—things you just can’t get to in a vehicle.”
Though they are ATV-like, the scooters are technically considered power-driven mobility devices. That enables riders with mobility impairment to be able to take these anywhere a pedestrian is allowed to walk—including local parks, state parks, and nature trails. Most scooters and transporters like segways are banned from certain public areas with a lot of foot traffic.
Lemay says a donor has purchased chairs and donated them to the non-profits Ability360, Paralyzed Veterans of America, and Barrow Neurological Foundation.
“It’s made a huge difference in my life and I know absolutely it’s going to make a huge difference in many, many people's lives here in the U.S.,” Kneale said. “I can't wait for my next adventure.”
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