diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index 2daaf3d..0c5c432 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ Authors@R: c( person("John", "Harrison", , "johndharrison0@gmail.com",
 Depends:
     R (>= 3.0.0)
 Imports:
-    httr,jsonlite,xml2,magrittr,whisker
+    httr,jsonlite,xml2,magrittr,whisker,wdman
 Encoding: UTF-8
 License: GPL-3
 Suggests:
diff --git a/NAMESPACE b/NAMESPACE
index 9e4e08d..03b38b5 100644
--- a/NAMESPACE
+++ b/NAMESPACE
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 # Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
 
 S3method(print,rDriver)
+S3method(print,spClientServer)
 S3method(print,wElement)
 export("%>%")
 export(acceptAlert)
@@ -71,6 +72,7 @@ export(setWindowPosition)
 export(setWindowPositionOld)
 export(setWindowSize)
 export(setWindowSizeOld)
+export(spDriver)
 export(status)
 export(switchToFrame)
 export(switchToParentFrame)
@@ -89,5 +91,6 @@ importFrom(jsonlite,base64_dec)
 importFrom(jsonlite,fromJSON)
 importFrom(jsonlite,toJSON)
 importFrom(magrittr,"%>%")
+importFrom(wdman,selenium)
 importFrom(whisker,whisker.render)
 importFrom(xml2,read_html)
diff --git a/R/init.R b/R/init.R
index 5076eaa..64db79d 100644
--- a/R/init.R
+++ b/R/init.R
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ wbElement <- function(elementId, remDr){
 #'
 
 queryDriver <- function(verb = GET, url, source, drvID, ...){
-  if(!identical(source, "newSession")){
+  if(!(source %in% c("newSession", "status"))){
     if(is.null(.e$sessionId[[drvID]])){
       message("Driver id is not registered. Has the session been deleted?")
       message("Alternatively no session exists:
diff --git a/R/spDriver.R b/R/spDriver.R
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b265e72
--- /dev/null
+++ b/R/spDriver.R
@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+#' Start a selenium server and browser
+#'
+#' @param port Port to run on
+#' @param browser Which browser to start
+#' @param version what version of Selenium Server to run. Default = "latest"
+#'     which runs the most recent version. To see other version currently
+#'     sourced run binman::list_versions("seleniumserver")
+#' @param chromever what version of Chrome driver to run. Default = "latest"
+#'     which runs the most recent version. To see other version currently
+#'     sourced run binman::list_versions("chromedriver"), A value of NULL
+#'     excludes adding the chrome browser to Selenium Server.
+#' @param geckover what version of Gecko driver to run. Default = "latest"
+#'     which runs the most recent version. To see other version currently
+#'     sourced run binman::list_versions("geckodriver"), A value of NULL
+#'     excludes adding the firefox browser to Selenium Server.
+#' @param phantomver what version of PhantomJS to run. Default = "2.1.1"
+#'     which runs the most recent stable version. To see other version currently
+#'     sourced run binman::list_versions("phantomjs"), A value of NULL
+#'     excludes adding the PhantomJS headless browser to Selenium Server.
+#' @param iedrver what version of IEDriverServer to run. Default = "latest"
+#'     which runs the most recent version. To see other version currently
+#'     sourced run binman::list_versions("iedriverserver"), A value of NULL
+#'     excludes adding the internet explorer browser to Selenium Server.
+#'     NOTE this functionality is Windows OS only.
+#' @param verbose If TRUE, include status messages (if any)
+#' @param check If TRUE check the versions of selenium available and the
+#'    versions of associated drivers (chromever, geckover, phantomver,
+#'    iedrver). If new versions are available they will be downloaded.
+#' @param ... Additional arguments to pass to \code{\link{remoteDr}}
+#'
+#' @return A list containing a server and a client. The server is the object
+#' returned by \code{\link[wdman]{selenium}} and the client is an object of class
+#' \code{rDriver}.
+#' @details This function is a wrapper around \code{\link[wdman]{selenium}}.
+#'     It provides a "shim" for the current issue running firefox on
+#'     Windows. For a more detailed set of functions for running binaries
+#'     relating to the Selenium/webdriver project see the
+#'     \code{\link[wdman]{wdman}} package. Both the client and server
+#'     are closed using a registered finalizer.
+#' @export
+#' @importFrom wdman selenium
+#'
+#' @examples
+#' \dontrun{
+#' # start a chrome browser
+#' sp <- spDriver()
+#' remDr <- sp[["client"]]
+#' remDr %>% go("http://www.google.com/ncr")
+#' remDr %>% go("http://www.bbc.com")
+#' remDr %>% deleteSession()
+#' # stop the selenium server
+#' sp[["server"]]$stop()
+#'
+#' # if user forgets to stop server it will be garbage collected.
+#' sp <- spDriver()
+#' rm(sp)
+#' gc(sp)
+#' }
+
+spDriver <- function(port = 4567L,
+                     browser = c("chrome", "firefox", "phantomjs",
+                                 "internet explorer"),
+                     version = "latest",
+                     chromever = "latest",
+                     geckover = "latest",
+                     iedrver = NULL,
+                     phantomver = "2.1.1",
+                     verbose = TRUE,
+                     check = TRUE, ...){
+  browser <- match.arg(browser)
+  if(identical(browser, "internet explorer") &&
+     !identical(.Platform[["OS.type"]], "windows")){
+    stop("Internet Explorer is only available on Windows.")
+  }
+  selServ <- wdman::selenium(port = port, verbose = verbose,
+                             version = version,
+                             chromever = chromever,
+                             geckover = geckover,
+                             iedrver = iedrver,
+                             phantomver = phantomver,
+                             check = TRUE)
+  remDr <- remoteDr(browserName = browser, port = port, newSession = FALSE,
+                    ...)
+  # check server status
+  res <- suppressMessages({
+      tryCatch({remDr %>% status(list(noTry = 4, delay = 1000))},
+               error = function(e){e})
+    })
+  if(inherits(res, "error")){
+    warning("Cannot determine Selenium Server status")
+  }
+  remDr %>% newSession()
+  csEnv <- new.env()
+  csEnv[["server"]] <- selServ
+  csEnv[["client"]] <- remDr
+  clean <- function(e){
+    chk <- suppressMessages(
+      tryCatch({e[["client"]]$close()}, error = function(e)e)
+    )
+    e[["server"]]$stop()
+  }
+  reg.finalizer(csEnv, clean)
+  class(csEnv) <- c("spClientServer", class(csEnv))
+  return(csEnv)
+}
diff --git a/R/utils.R b/R/utils.R
index b714a2e..8bd2492 100644
--- a/R/utils.R
+++ b/R/utils.R
@@ -90,3 +90,12 @@ testWebElement <- function(x, remDr){
 #' @importFrom magrittr %>%
 #' @usage lhs \%>\% rhs
 NULL
+
+#' @export
+print.spClientServer <- function(x, ...){
+  cat("$client\n")
+  print(x[["client"]], ...)
+  cat("\n$server\n")
+  print(x[["server"]][["process"]], ...)
+}
+
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 53ac26f..ad00f85 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -46,9 +46,8 @@ Get started using `seleniumPipes` you can look at the following example
 
 ```
 library(seleniumPipes)
-library(RSelenium) # start a server with utility function
-selServ <- RSelenium::startServer()
-remDr <- remoteDr()
+sp <- spDriver()
+remDr <- sp[["client"]]
 remDr %>% go(url = "http://www.google.com")
 remDr %>% go(url = "http://www.bbc.com")
 remDr %>% back()
@@ -65,7 +64,7 @@ remDr %>% getPageSource() %>% xml_find_all("//frame") %>% xml_attr("name")
 # [1] "logo"     "contents" "banner"  
 
 remDr %>% deleteSession()
-selServ$stop()
+sp[["server]]$stop()
 ```
 
 ### Piping
diff --git a/man/spDriver.Rd b/man/spDriver.Rd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0cbd108
--- /dev/null
+++ b/man/spDriver.Rd
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
+% Please edit documentation in R/spDriver.R
+\name{spDriver}
+\alias{spDriver}
+\title{Start a selenium server and browser}
+\usage{
+spDriver(port = 4567L, browser = c("chrome", "firefox", "phantomjs",
+  "internet explorer"), version = "latest", chromever = "latest",
+  geckover = "latest", iedrver = NULL, phantomver = "2.1.1",
+  verbose = TRUE, check = TRUE, ...)
+}
+\arguments{
+\item{port}{Port to run on}
+
+\item{browser}{Which browser to start}
+
+\item{version}{what version of Selenium Server to run. Default = "latest"
+which runs the most recent version. To see other version currently
+sourced run binman::list_versions("seleniumserver")}
+
+\item{chromever}{what version of Chrome driver to run. Default = "latest"
+which runs the most recent version. To see other version currently
+sourced run binman::list_versions("chromedriver"), A value of NULL
+excludes adding the chrome browser to Selenium Server.}
+
+\item{geckover}{what version of Gecko driver to run. Default = "latest"
+which runs the most recent version. To see other version currently
+sourced run binman::list_versions("geckodriver"), A value of NULL
+excludes adding the firefox browser to Selenium Server.}
+
+\item{iedrver}{what version of IEDriverServer to run. Default = "latest"
+which runs the most recent version. To see other version currently
+sourced run binman::list_versions("iedriverserver"), A value of NULL
+excludes adding the internet explorer browser to Selenium Server.
+NOTE this functionality is Windows OS only.}
+
+\item{phantomver}{what version of PhantomJS to run. Default = "2.1.1"
+which runs the most recent stable version. To see other version currently
+sourced run binman::list_versions("phantomjs"), A value of NULL
+excludes adding the PhantomJS headless browser to Selenium Server.}
+
+\item{verbose}{If TRUE, include status messages (if any)}
+
+\item{check}{If TRUE check the versions of selenium available and the
+versions of associated drivers (chromever, geckover, phantomver,
+iedrver). If new versions are available they will be downloaded.}
+
+\item{...}{Additional arguments to pass to \code{\link{remoteDr}}}
+}
+\value{
+A list containing a server and a client. The server is the object
+returned by \code{\link[wdman]{selenium}} and the client is an object of class
+\code{rDriver}.
+}
+\description{
+Start a selenium server and browser
+}
+\details{
+This function is a wrapper around \code{\link[wdman]{selenium}}.
+    It provides a "shim" for the current issue running firefox on
+    Windows. For a more detailed set of functions for running binaries
+    relating to the Selenium/webdriver project see the
+    \code{\link[wdman]{wdman}} package. Both the client and server
+    are closed using a registered finalizer.
+}
+\examples{
+\dontrun{
+# start a chrome browser
+sp <- spDriver()
+remDr <- sp[["client"]]
+remDr \%>\% go("http://www.google.com/ncr")
+remDr \%>\% go("http://www.bbc.com")
+remDr \%>\% deleteSession()
+# stop the selenium server
+sp[["server"]]$stop()
+
+# if user forgets to stop server it will be garbage collected.
+sp <- spDriver()
+rm(sp)
+gc(sp)
+}
+}
+