# Accommodating a short driver

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/accommodating-a-short-driver/51940>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Tags:** s80, volvo\
**Created:** [July 16, 2010, 7:40pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/accommodating-a-short-driver/51940 "2010-07-16T19:40:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![BethTex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BethTex](https://community.cartalk.com/u/BethTex)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 7:40pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/accommodating-a-short-driver/51940/1 "2010-07-16T19:40:51Z")

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My daughter is only 5 ft tall and has very short legs and small feet. But she is 16 and has her learners permit and will be getting her license soon.  
  
 My husband is going to get a new car (probably his long-time dream - a red corvette), and hand down his car, Volvo S-80, to my daughter to drive.  
  
 It is a great safe car, but it doesn’t fit her very well - she can’t rest her heel on the floorboard while also using the gas pedal, she has to sit very close to the steering wheel (airbag), and so forth. What is the best way to accommodate her? Should we get some kind of pedal extensions? Are those safe?  
  
 Or should we trade it in on a car that is a better fit, and if so what cars do you recommend that don’t cost much (the Volvo is paid for) and are good and safe for short new teen drivers (and also look cool)  
  
 thanks for any advice.  
  
 Beth in Dallas

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**Author:** ![Joseph\_E\_Meehan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/joseph_e_meehan/32/21_2.png) [@Joseph\_E\_Meehan](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Joseph_E_Meehan)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 7:58pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/accommodating-a-short-driver/51940/2 "2010-07-16T19:58:49Z")

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I suggest contacting your local Van conversion people who specialize in making adjustments for drivers with special needs. They should be able to fix it up with something that is safe.

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**Author:** ![shadowfax](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/shadowfax/32/13026_2.png) [@shadowfax](https://community.cartalk.com/u/shadowfax)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 8:18pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/accommodating-a-short-driver/51940/3 "2010-07-16T20:18:05Z")

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Pedal extenders are the way to go. Trading it in wouldn’t make much sense unless you got a vehicle with adjustable pedals, because most vehicles are designed for people taller than that.

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**Author:** ![bscar](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bscar/32/34_2.png) [@bscar](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bscar)\
**Post date:** [July 17, 2010, 3:02am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/accommodating-a-short-driver/51940/4 "2010-07-17T03:02:05Z")

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Looking cool usually means expensive insurance rates for new teen drivers. Awhile back another poster asked what kind of convertible to get, but wasn’t really clear if it was for them, or their 16 year old daughter. Bare minimum liability insurance($25k property damage and nothing else) on a 10 year old Miata was $600/6 months, double that for a good amount of full coverage(collision and comprehensive).