The Wheelchair-Vehicle Interface
The “wheelchair-vehicle interface,” that is, how well-suited your wheelchair is to your car from a perspective of safety, stability, and convenience, is a basic consideration of adaptive driving, for example, with a wheelchair vans.
To ensure that your wheelchair car or van is a safe as possible, you’ll want to know how your chair does in a crash test.
Standards to Meet: ANSI and RESNA
Wheelchairs that have been designed and tested to be used as a seat in a vehicle are identified as WC19. They meet the design and performance criteria by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the Rehabilitation and Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA).
These chairs have four crash-tested securement points so tie-downs can easily and quickly be made – the goal is to both ensure safety and stability and make it convenient for your or your caregiver to always follow the safest procedures.
Purchasing a WC19 Wheelchair
A wheelchair that meets the WC19 standard has five advantages over a wheelchair that does not meet the standards:
1. The wheelchair is strong enough to protect you in a variety of crash situations. In laboratory testing the frame must not crack, it must have a firm, supportive seat for the crash dummy (or you), and must remain well secured during the crash, keeping the wheelchair and you in the vehicle.
2. A WC19 wheelchair is easier to use in an adaptive vehicle (e.g., “wheelchair car” or “wheelchair van”).
3. Securement points where the tie-downs are attached to the chair are clearly marked and accessible for one- handed use in less than ten seconds.
4. Your vehicle will have greater stability. The standard requires manufacturers to measure and report lateral stability of the loaded wheelchair when tipped at a forty-five degree angle.
5. A WC19 wheelchair is more compatible with seatbelts and will allow for a better lap and shoulder belt fit.
It’s Your Wheelchair: Don’t Be the Crash Test Dummy
Since it’s your safety and well-being on the line, you’ll need to be sure that whether you’re the driver or the passenger, you insist on a wheelchair that meets the ANSI and RESNA standards. Although technically a crash-tested wheelchair is considered an optional safety feature, it’s only optional if you don’t mind flying through the air in a crash. Instead, insist that you be secured in a WC19-compliant wheelchair.
For more information, visit WC 19; to find information on writing a letter of medical necessity justifying the need for a wheelchair that meets the WC 19 standards, see Justify Paying for WC19 Wheelchairs and Seating. You may give this to your therapist or physician and request they use it as a template when writing a letter of medical necessity for your wheelchair.
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