Wheelchair Transportation: Safety Trends
By Manary, Miriam; van Roosmalen, Linda; Schneider, Lawrence; PN: Paraplegia News, Vol. 63, No. 6, pp. 78-79Publication Date: June 2009
Article describes efforts of the government-funded Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Wheelchair Transportation Safety (RERC WTS) to improve wheelchair-transportation technologies. Focus is in two areas: (1) New options for wheelchair riders in large city buses include rear-facing wheelchair passenger stations (RF-WPS), where the rider backs up to a padded barrier that stops the chair from going forward, a system which promotes rider independence and faster boarding because wheelchairs need not be secured by bus drivers. To ensure uniform safety, RERC WTS is developing an international standard for RF-WPS. Another option in development is wheelchair securement devices that adapt to a wide range of chairs without requiring help from the driver. (2) Improvements in proper seatbelt use for wheelchair-seated drivers in development include an addition to the WC19 standard which will require wheelchairs to be rated for the quality of seatbelt fit achieved, efforts to improve seatbelt systems for frontal-crash protection, and the development of designs for vehicle-mounted head and back restraints for improved rear-impact protection for wheelchair users. More information about the work of RERC WTS can be found at http://www.rercwts.org.
Published by: PVA Publications (Website:http://www.pvamagazines.com)
Paralyzed Veterans of America (Web Site: http://www.pva.org )
This publication is included in the library of the National Rehabilitation Information Center (NARIC), accession number J56520
