Difficulties encountered by disabled and elderly people when entering and leaving cars are of two main types: problems of reaching and manipulating items such as locks, handles, seat adjustments and seatbelts, and problems of access caused by the constrictive geometry of the doorway and seat area. In a study of these difficulties, preliminary data were obtained from interview and postal surveys of disabled car users. Practical trials were then conducted with 60 such people and six different cars which showed that current designs of the various items requiring manipulation range from very good to very bad. These trials also provided a rough analysis of the spacial problems by relating the dimensions of various critical features (e.g. sill height, door width etc) to the number of people having associated access difficulties. From the data gained a car-buck (a dimensionally-variable framework) was constructed and a similar group of people were used to establish dimensional limits which would cause minimal problems. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting