Safer Travel for Wheelchair Users

Posted 07/23/2007
Get tips for safer wheelchair travel

Recently, a 21-year-old man made the news by surviving an amazing high-speed ride down the highway when his powered wheelchair became stuck in the front grill of a semi-truck. However, thousands of people who remain in their wheelchairs when they travel in motor vehicles face many safety risks every day, even if they aren’t on the nightly news.

Recommendations for how to provide safer transportation for wheelchair-seated travelers can be found at www.travelsafer.org and www.rercwts.org. Adult wheelchair users who can transfer safely from their wheelchairs to the vehicle seats should do so, remembering to use the federally-regulated seatbelts provided by the vehicle manufacturer. Children who can transfer out of their wheelchairs should use approved child safety seats or belt-positioning boosters. Some child safety seats are now available that provide a five-point harness restraint for kids weighing up to eighty pounds.

It is best if people who need to stay in their wheelchairs during travel have a wheelchair that has been crash tested and has special hardware for attaching to tiedown hooks. These wheelchairs will be labeled to indicate that they comply with ANSI/RESNA WC19, a voluntary wheelchair standard for wheelchairs used as seats in motor vehicles. When traveling in a wheelchair, you must also use a crash-tested wheelchair tiedown and occupant restraint system, or WTORS. The tiedown system secures the wheelchair to the vehicle and the occupant restraint system provides restraint for the wheelchair user in the event of a crash or emergency maneuver. Many wheelchairs have postural-support belts but these should not be relied upon for effective restraint in the event of a crash.

Most WTORS for passengers seated in wheelchairs use a four-point, strap-type tiedown system that can adapt to a wide range of wheelchair types and models. Typically, each tiedown strap is hooked to attachment points on the frame of the wheelchair. For drivers who are seated in wheelchairs, a docking securement system is needed so that the wheelchair can be locked in position when the wheelchair moves forward into the driver station. These systems require the addition of special hardware to the wheelchair frame.

These recommendations are based on research conducted by the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Wheelchair Transportation Safety (RERC WTS). This is a five-year research and development program funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) at UMTRI, the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Louisville, and the University of Colorado.

For more information about the research activities of the RERC WTS, please visit their website. One of the research projects involves the investigation of real-world crashes and other adverse incidents involving wheelchair users who do not transfer to the vehicle seat when traveling in motor vehicles. If you know about a crash where someone was seated in a wheelchair, please call us at 734-647-2940 or email us to learn more about how you can help improve transportation safety, usability, and independence for wheelchair-seated travelers.