The Safety Assessment of Wheelchair Occupants in Road Passenger Vehicles in a Frontal Crash: A Computer Simulation

Abstract

With the increasing needs of the more convenient transportation, wheelchairs are often used by people with mobility disabilities and the elderly people. However, as wheelchairs are primarily designed for the mobility assistive devices, not for the vehicle seats, wheelchair users are exposed to risk factors for neck and upper body injury caused by automobile accidents. In this paper, in accordance with the ANSI/RESNA WC-19, a fixed vehicle mounted wheelchair occupant restraint system (FWORS), wheelchair integrated restraint system (WIRS), and wheelchair integrated x-bend restraint system (WIXRS) are evaluated using computer simulations for the case when a wheelchair is subjected to the frontal impact (20 g, 48 km/h).