With the advent of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), many wheelchair users are seeking both public and private transportation to gain access to employment, recreation, and daily needs. Unfortunately, disabled passengers and drivers do not have the benefit of many years of research and development in the transportation safety area which able body travelers can rely upon to insure safe travel. Although research in the automotive safety industry is applicable to wheelchair transportation, the need for individuals to remain in their wheelchairs during transport introduces many new concerns which have yet to be addressed. Efforts by the Society of Automotive Engineers, the International Standards Organization, and RESNA, through the American National Standards Institution, are underway to develop standards for wheelchair securement, wheelchair occupant restraint, and transportable wheelchairs. Through the use of wheelchair crash simulation and sled testing, this study supports the standards development efforts by investigating the influence of wheelchair securement and occupant restraint variables on wheelchair frontal crash safety. Design guidelines for transport wheelchairs are also provided.

Shoulder belt frontal plane angles between 50° and 60° from horizontal, and angles 27° or less in the sagittal plane as the belt passes over the shoulder were found to provide the most effective wheelchair occupant protection. Lap belt angles between 50° and 80° relative to horizontal in the sagittal plane were shown to reduce the risk of occupant submarining. Wheelchair securem ent points, required for compliance with the ANSI/RESNA transport wheelchair standard, were evaluated for their positional affect on both the wheelchair and occupant injury risk. Comprehensive design criteria, relative to securement point location, were also defined for a transport wheelchair. Dynamic lumped mass models of a conventional pow er wheelchair and powerbase, in conjunction with an injury risk assessment method developed specifically for wheelchair transportation, were used to evaluate the affects of securement point location on injury risk. Recommended securement zones which reduce injury risk were defined as 1.5” below the wheelchair CG for the conventional pow er wheelchair, and 1.5” to 2.5” above the wheelchair CG for the powerbase.