DEVELOPMENT OF AN OCCUPANT RESTRAINT DEVICE FOR WHEELCHAIR USERS ON SCHOOL BUSES

AN INCREASING NUMBER OR WHEELCHAIR-BOUND STUDENTS ARE ATTENDING PUBLIC SCHOOLS, A PROCESS KNOWN AS "MANINSTREAMING". CONSEQUENTLY, PROTECTING THESE STUDENTS IN THE EVENT OF A SCHOOL BUS COLLISION IS A SIGNIFICANT SAFETY ISSUE. EXISTING RESTRAINT SYSTEMS TEND TO FOCUS ON RESTRAINING THE WHEELCHAIR RATHER THAN THE OCCUPANT. DISCUSSED IN THIS PROPOSAL IS A SYSTEM TO PROTECT A WHEELCHAIR STUDENT INVOLVED IN A SCHOOL BUS COLLISION BY PROPERLY RESTRAINING THE WHEELCHAIR OCCUPANT AND THE WHEELCHAIR. THE CONCEPT WILL BE DEVELOPED TO BE COMPATIBLE WITH THE WIDEST POSSIBLE RANGE OF AVAILABLE WHEELCHAIRS. THE OBJECTIVE OF PHASE I IS TO DEMONSTRATE THAT SUCH A RESTRAINT SYSTEM CAN BE DESIGNED FOR SCHOOL BUSES AND TO FABRICATE A MOCKUP FOR DEMONSTRATING COMPATIBILITY WITH THE RANGE OF WHEELCHAIR DESIGNS. PHASE I WILL RESULT IN A DESIGN CONCEPT FOR A SYSTEM TO RESTRAIN A WHEELCHAIR AND ITS OCCUPANT IN A SCHOOL BUS. THE DESIGN WILL BE COMPATIBLE WITH AT LEAST THE BASIC TYPE OF WHEELCHAIR, WITH POWERED BASIC WHEELCHAIRS, AND WITH OTHER WHEELCHAIR TYPES AS PROVES FEASIBLE. A MOCK-UP WILL BE BUILT IN PHASE I TO DEMONSTRATE COMPATIBILITY OF THE SYSTEM WITH DIFFERENT WHEELCHAIR TYPES.