Ideal Rental Cars

Sales of assisted mobility vehicles were less than 9000 units in 1996 but jumped in around 2000 due to the introduction of the nursing care insurance system, dramatically increasing to 40000 units in 2003. Demand for assisted mobility vehicles is likely to steadily increase in the future as Japan's society ages further and as the physically impaired participate more in society.
The history of assisted mobility vehicles started in the late 1970s when wheelchair transfer cars were sold to care facilities to transport the physically impaired. In the early 1980s, smaller wheelchair transfer cars than those for care facilities began to be sold to private users. From 1995, assisted mobility vehicles included those with rotating or lifting seats to facilitate easy entry and exit, and those with devices to assist physically impaired drivers. Estimated sales of vehicles equipped with driving assisting devices are about 5000 units per year as of 2003.
 

Wheelchair-bound users can enter the vehicle using a remote controller. Care givers can smoothly fasten the seatbelts from the outside in a comfortable position. Pillars are provided with rail boards and assist grips to give secure support to those in wheelchairs. The release function allows the stoppers for preventing wheelchairs from rolling backward to be opened and closed by a single button. Entry and exit from the car is made easy by a thin platform.