FIRST, A HISTORY LESSON Predating ADA by five years were the first stan-
dards for wheelchair transportation safety, devel- oped at the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute, or UMTRI. Tese efforts led to the American National Standards Institute joining with the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (ANSI/ RESNA) to write the first guidelines for using wheelchairs as seats in vehicles issued in 1998 and coming fully effective in May 2000. For the first time, frontal impact testing of wheel- chairs commenced under Section 19 of “RESNA Wheelchair Standards, Volume 1: Wheelchairs and Transportation: Wheelchairs Used as Seats in Motor Vehicles.” Tat’s quite a mouthful, so the standard was shortened to WC19. Ten, in December 2012, ANSI/RESNA updated and revised WC19 as part of RESNA Wheelchair Standards, Volume 4. At that time, they added an improved Wheelchair
Tiedown Occupant Restraint Systems (WTORS) standard called WC18 (an updated version of the old WTORS standard SAEJ2249). One of the many improvements in WC18 is that it now requires all WTORS to be tested with a wheel- chair anchored lap belt that puts more load on the rear-tiedown system. Tis is to ensure the WOTRS are compatible with a WC19 wheelchair that must offer the option of a wheelchair-anchored pelvic belt and work with a vehicle anchored shoulder belts to reduce potential injuries and fatalities in frontal crashes, rollovers and side impacts. WC19-compliant wheelchairs are subjected to a crash test that simulates a moderate-to-severe frontal crash. Many of the revisions made to WC19 are meant to encourage increased and easier use of a wheel- chair-anchored lap belt. All WC19-compliant wheel- chairs are required to offer the option of a wheelchair anchored lap belt, said Miriam Manary, a senior engi- neering research associate at UMTRI and a member of the TSD Conference National Board of Advisors. “In an ideal situation, a consumer using a wheel- chair with a crashworthy lap belt would then attach a compatible shoulder belt that is anchored to the vehicle to complete the (lap and shoulder belt) sys- tem,” she said, adding that about 80 percent of the wheelchairs brought to the UMTRI lab for testing are configured and tested this way. UMTRI research as well as real-life findings have
provided many reasons for requiring the option of a crashworthy wheelchair-anchored belt. First of all, many of the fatalities and injuries to wheelchair-seat- ed occupants in crashes are due to non-use or misuse
of the seat-belt system. Manary pointed out that it can be hard to get a good lap-belt fit to a passenger’s bony pelvis when the occupant restraint is complete- ly anchored to the vehicle. Often times, the lap belt has to be threaded around the wheelchair armrests and/or postural support hardware. Further complicating matters, she said, consumers
don’t like their personal space invaded by a trans- portation provider while applying the belt after they get in the vehicle. Wheelchair users can also feel stigmatized by needing assistance to apply a vehi- cle-anchored seat belt system or encounter situations where there is no one willing to help apply the belt. Simply put, the occupant protection provided
by a crashworthy wheelchair anchored belt with a compatible shoulder belt is superior to that of a system that is completely vehicle-anchored, but much confusion remains about its details. “Many, many, many people mistake the postural lap belt on their wheelchair for a seat belt that can protect them in a crash,” she said. “A WC19-com- pliant belt with be marked with the new symbol.” Te problem is that they are seldom if ever
An additional lap belt anchored to the wheelchair and passing crash tests is now recommended to complete the full securement of students. But finding the option from wheelchair manufacturers is a challenge.
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