Safety review of wheelchair users in road passenger vehicles
Résumé
Over the last 20 years in France as well generally in Europe and also in North America the integration of disabled people into society has become a more and more pressing issue. This French research project RETENUE aims at increasing the safety level of wheelchair occupants up to becoming equivalent to that of able-bodied road vehicle occupants. Current world practices are that wheelchair occupants who are unable to transfer to a vehicle seat for transportation remain in their wheelchair which is secured to the vehicle floor using tie downs, and the occupant is restrained in the wheelchair. The main phases in the project are: bibliography, materials, sled tests and methods. The paper reviews existing devices, methods and current legislation and proposes sled tests matrices and preliminary results to analyse the crashworthiness of these devices.