Thought exercise-Modern day stand up driving?

I just finished a Home Health internship for my Physical Therapy degree and it got me thinking. Why does my possible career choice give me the same problems most of my patients have? They sit all day so when they stand up they are shaped like their chair. Flexed knees, flexed hips, rounded shoulders, heads forward. The only reasonable solution is to do a bunch of stretches and exercises regularly enough that your posture doesn't adapt to your chair. That solution sounds hard so I thought I would brainstorm an unreasonable one. 

What say ye GRM-Can you help me brainstorm a way to drive standing up without dying the first time I try to stop fast?

It would require a total reengineering of the car's safety systems but it could probably be done, the closest yet might be stand-up rollercoasters (stand up forklifts don't count because they have approximately zero crash safety and generally don't move faster than a running pace), which are really more like being harnessed in to a wall at your back while sitting on a motorcycle seat with your legs hanging down. It would not be comfortable or convenient though, and would increase the minimum height of the vehicle.

Like a Divco stand-up delivery truck? 

1) this post reminded me to utilize my standing desk at work, so thanks.

2) there is/was a monster truck driver that used to be a stunt bike guy.  He was more used to stunt bikes than cars, and monster trucks don't need to be controlled like a car, so they set him up a bike contraption inside.  I seem to remember he stands up in it.  Initial reports were that it appeared to be safer than a seated position as his body could flex and move in a bigger than normal crash

Thinking from the perspective of sitting vs standing while operating a boat, I can't imagine being able to drive a car even halfway decently while standing.  You give up a lot of ability to use your legs for control inputs, which would require some serious changes to how we control a car.  And your ability to handle g-forces from hard braking, acceleration, turning, etc. would be greatly reduced unless you were basically strapped to a board to keep you upright. 

You'd also need a much taller car to accommodate standing height, which means cars get less efficient. 

As much as there are downsides to sitting, I can't see standing to drive being any bit of an improvement.  You'd get far more out of working on the ergonomics of the seating postion and the seat itself to keep your body in a better shape (and avoid the rolled shoulders, etc.)

MyMiatas said:

I hate those. Driving sideways is awful.

David S. Wallens said:

Like a Divco stand-up delivery truck? 

When I was a kid we had a milk man who delivered in a Divco.  I was always fascinated by how he could drive the thing standing up.  With an open door and no form of seat belt restraint it probably wasn't very safe, though.

Maybe you can find one of these on GovDeals?

Finding one with forks in front could make it useful for lifting cars, pulling engines, etc

I think most people are in their car little enough each day that a standing desk makes way more sense than standing car. After being on my feet all day for 25 years, it was comforting to sit in my truck on the way home

rslifkin said:

Thinking from the perspective of sitting vs standing while operating a boat, I can't imagine being able to drive a car even halfway decently while standing.  You give up a lot of ability to use your legs for control inputs, which would require some serious changes to how we control a car.  And your ability to handle g-forces from hard braking, acceleration, turning, etc. would be greatly reduced unless you were basically strapped to a board to keep you upright. 

You'd also need a much taller car to accommodate standing height, which means cars get less efficient. 

As much as there are downsides to sitting, I can't see standing to drive being any bit of an improvement.  You'd get far more out of working on the ergonomics of the seating postion and the seat itself to keep your body in a better shape (and avoid the rolled shoulders, etc.)

You can bring the steering wheel closer to get the shoulders back,  but it is really hard to avoid flexed hips and flexed cervical spine when you sit and have to focus on objects in front of you.

You could lie down but that still has neck issues:

I suppose you could do tummy time 

Patrick said:

I think most people are in their car little enough each day that a standing desk makes way more sense than standing car. After being on my feet all day for 25 years, it was comforting to sit in my truck on the way home

I know I'm the odd one out here. Something for delivery fleets is probably the main option. Big question, how can I go faster than a garbage truck and still have modern levels of safety?

In reply to MrJoshua :

So 100 years of sedentary lifestyles and work hasn't been a complete benefit to humanity?  
 

I'd love to see more balance between work, life, and health become more of a norm.  Sadly that isn't likely.

We could all drive monster trucks like this one!

https://youtu.be/47RZV40BJTU

Poor pic quality, but I have you all beat:

stuart in mn said:

David S. Wallens said:

Like a Divco stand-up delivery truck? 

When I was a kid we had a milk man who delivered in a Divco.  I was always fascinated by how he could drive the thing standing up.  With an open door and no form of seat belt restraint it probably wasn't very safe, though.

As a kid, I remember my grandmother telling me about a delivery truck that was driven while standing up. At the time, I was both fascinated and baffled.

Patrick said:

I think most people are in their car little enough each day that a standing desk makes way more sense than standing car. After being on my feet all day for 25 years, it was comforting to sit in my truck on the way home

I put an average of 75,000 miles per year for over 20 years.  Plus when I was a delivery driver I'd put in 50-60,000 miles a year.  That was typical < 15 min of driving. Followed by 15 minutes of servicing accounts.  
        Other than old age (75) and being fat, I have no body issues.   
  I know I'm far from unique, in that in my profession those who are successful put on similar sorts of mileage.  

AnthonyGS (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to MrJoshua :

So 100 years of sedentary lifestyles and work hasn't been a complete benefit to humanity?  
 

I'd love to see more balance between work, life, and health become more of a norm.  Sadly that isn't likely.

America needs to copy European lifestyles. Far better balance of work and life.  

David S. Wallens said:

stuart in mn said:

David S. Wallens said:

Like a Divco stand-up delivery truck? 

When I was a kid we had a milk man who delivered in a Divco.  I was always fascinated by how he could drive the thing standing up.  With an open door and no form of seat belt restraint it probably wasn't very safe, though.

As a kid, I remember my grandmother telling me about a delivery truck that was driven while standing up. At the time, I was both fascinated and baffled.

I have seen a few Divco's at car shows but never noticed that feature. I went googling and this is the best thing I found on it. The video shows the standing position a few times but the last minute is a really good explanation. Cool stuff.

https://wheels.rep-am.com/2017/07/420400/

MrJoshua said:

I suppose you could do tummy time 

 

There was a car like this in Future GPX Cyber Formula, with a sportbike-like seating position...seemed like all downsides from a safety, comfort, and CoG perspective.

I think the main thing would be overcoming the inertia of your legs.  In a seated position, your arms and legs are already pointing forward, so in a frontal collision they tend to stay in the same direction.  Restraints are based on holding the torso in place.  If you were standing, your legs would rather violently change position unless strapped in.

We've spent 100 years engineering safety systems based on this, so I think it can be done, but it will require a comprehensive re-think from scratch in order to overcome the 100 years of not doing it this way.

I've driven many boats in a standing position, and if you don't read the wake right, you find yourself firmly planted on the windshield on the other side of the boat.  I think we've all seen this one:

A standard motorcycle, like a KTM Duke 390 or 690, has you mostly upright and definitely using your legs. Provided you don't crash, it should be healthier than driving a car.