Wheelchair occupants in school buses are extremely vulnerable to injury in even moderate speed crashes because of the open environment in which they are being transported today. It is common practice to transport this wheelchair bound population facing sideways in vans and buses. This side-facing orientation exposes the wheelchair occupant to disproportionate amount of danger in the event of frontal or rear-end collisions. We propose to developed a system to provide proper protection for the class of transported children using the concepts of compartmentalization and inflatable restraints to more effectively secure the wheelchair and its occupant in most crash situations. This inflatable compartmentalized crash protection system will protect wheelchair occupants form contact with the adjacent wheelchair/occupant complex, prevent excessive lateral flexion of the upper torso and cushion the occupants head and torso during a crash. Furthermore, this safety device will not preclude the wheelchair occupants during transit. As part of the system, a wheelchair securement mechanism will be developed which provides both frontal and lateral stability and restraint.Key Words: Schoolbus, wheelchair, safety system, transportation.
Anticipated Results:Prototypes of the inflatable compartmentalized system will be fabricated and sled tested using dummies that simulate child size wheelchair occupants. E-Z On Products of Florida, Inc. will join with Hartley Assoc. Inc. for the Phase III commercial exploitation of the wheelchair restraint system developed during this program.Topic 1.E: Technologies Related to Transportation and/or Environmental Barriers
