UMTRI Project

Rehabilitation Engineering and Research Center for Wheelchair Transportation Safety

Sponsor: National Institute on Disabiity and Rehabilitation Research
Investigator: Lawrence Schneider
11/01/2001 - 10/31/2011

The National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) has renewed the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Wheelchair Transportation Safety (RERC WTS) with the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) as the primary grantee, and with the universities of Pittsburgh, Louisville, and Colorado as subcontractors. Over the next five years, the RERC WTS staff and students will continue their efforts to improve the safety, usability, and independence of motor-vehicle transportation for travelers who remain seated in their wheelchairs while using public and private motor vehicles. The partnership of universities will conduct research and development in the following six project areas:

1. developing and evaluating innovative technologies and standards for forward-facing and rear-facing wheelchair passenger stations in large accessible transit vehicles,
2. accessing the real-world experience of wheelchair-seated travelers using intra-city buses,
3. improving the design and performance of wheelchair frames and seating systems for improved occupant protection in motor-vehicle collisions,
4. improving front and rear crash protection for wheelchair-seated drivers and passengers in private vehicles through innovative design of vehicle restraint systems and development of voluntary standards,
5. investigating the impact of voluntary equipment standards for wheelchairs and wheelchair tiedown and occupant restraint systems (WTORS) on school-bus transportation, and
6. investigating real-world crashes and other adverse events involving occupants who are seated in wheelchairs to determine priorities and future needs for research and standard development.

RERC WTS staff and students are also committed to several more general areas that are essential to achieving the long-term goals of the program. These include: 1) providing leadership for the development and implementation of voluntary equipment standards and recommended practice and policies, 2) educating key stakeholders involved and concerned with motor vehicle transportation for wheelchair users about products and policies that comply with these standards and best practice, 3) working with manufacturers to translate results of research and development into viable products in the market place, and 4) training future researchers in the field of wheelchair transportation safety.