INDUSTRY CONNECTIONS
£Q'Straint's QRT-360 securement meets a WC18 requirement that goes into effect December 2015.
to the retractors secured to the floor. Te occupant’s load is dispersed between the shoulder attachment to the vehicle and the chair’s two lap-belt attachments. Combining the load of both the occupant and wheelchair places a signifi- cant increase on the loading for the rear tie-downs. “Transit providers, in-
SECUREMENT READY
FINAL UPDATES TO WHEELCHAIR STANDARDS APPLYING TO SECUREMENTS TAKE EFFECT IN DECEMBER 2015, BUT AT LEAST ONE COMPLIANT OPTION IS ALREADY AVAILABLE
WRITTEN BY SYLVIA ARROYO N
ew product design and crash- test requirements for wheel- chairs by the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive
Technology Society of North America (RESNA) have already been implemented, but additional ones go into effect December 2015. Te main change at that time will apply to WC18, a standard that acts as a companion to the WC19 standard that went into effect in 2000. Meanwhile, last October at the NAPT
Summit in Grand Rapids, Mich., wheel- chair securement provider Q’Straint intro- duced a new retractor that meets the higher load requirements of WC18. Both WC18 and WC19 are voluntary
standards aimed at improving transpor- tation safety for those who must ride in a wheelchair while in a moving vehicle, including a school bus. Te WC19 standard mandates the use of wheelchairs that have been crash-tested and come with an inte- grated lap belt. Te WC18 standard dictates that tie-down equipment must meet the added weight load requirements associated
with WC19-compliant wheelchairs. To comply with the new industry stan-
dards published in RESNA’s Wheelchairs and Transportation, Volume 4, the WC18 wheelchair standards, wheelchair tie-downs or other securement devices have to pass two different dynamic strength tests. While WC19-compliant wheelchairs
are built with four crash-tested securement points to tie-downs and can withstand forces of a 30-mph impact, the standard also made WC18 and stronger tie-downs necessary. Both WC18 and WC19 are meant to
escalate the current Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) J2249 regulations. A J2249-mandated wheelchair has lap belts either anchored to the vehicle or to secure- ments. In a collision, the occupant in this type of wheelchair moves forward, and their load is transferred to the floor of the vehicle through an occupant restraint. In a WC19 wheelchair, both the wheel-
chair and the occupant move forward. In this case, the occupant’s load is transferred to the WC19 wheelchair supplied lap belt, through their wheelchair and then directly
18 School Transportation News February 2014
cluding those who provide school transportation, paratransit and public bus services, and family mem- bers and caregivers who op- erate private vehicles, need to be aware of these new standards, and products to comply with them,” said
Dr. Larry Schneider, chair of the RESNA Committee on Wheelchairs and Transporta- tion and head of the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute.
AHEAD OF THE GAME
Q’Straint Product Manager Patrick Girar- din noted that the company had been devel- oping its new QRT-360 for “several” years in anticipation of the WC18 requirement. “Te [new retractor] can be utilized
now, as the WC19 wheelchairs are already popular,” he added. Te QRT-360 is a four-point, heavy-duty,
fully automatic retractable tie-down system designed to work in a 30-mph frontal crash when the occupant is in a WC19 wheelchair in a moving vehicle. It is compatible with a variety of wheelchairs as the shortened retractor footprint allows for more flexibility in vehicle anchor-point locations. Some of the product’s features include an energy-absorbing steel frame, new high-strength, 58-mm-wide webbing and a fine-adjustment, self-tensioning mechanism using 25 high-strength teeth in the retractor locking mechanism. Company officials said at the time of this
writing that the new retractor would be available at the end of January.
For more information on RESNA’s voluntary WC 18, 19 and 20 standards, read “Make Way for New and Revised Wheelchair Standards 18, 19 and 20” in our January 2012 issue at
www.stnonline.com/go/3u.
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