Last month's post on "How a Woman with No Arms Dresses Herself" did not get the amount of responses I was hoping for, but I still feel designers can make an important contribution towards easing the challenges that handicapped folk face. Daily activities that you and I never even think about, like getting in and out of a car, are problems for the handicapped that need evolutionary design solutions. And from what I'm seeing, there aren't enough interested designers tackling these problems in user-friendly ways.
Let's look at how people without the use of their legs get in and out of their cars, and bear in mind that they have to get both their bodies and their wheelchairs in and out. First up is Chelsea Zimmerman, who runs a blog called Reflections of a Paralytic. Note the little things, like how far she has to stretch to close the door:
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Breaking down the wheelchair and hauling the chassis inside the car behind her seems incredibly cumbersome. Although motivational speaker Tamara Mena has a car with rear suicide doors with a larger opening, the process doesn't look much easier than Zimmerman's. Note how the top of the wheelchair catches on the seatbelt:
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The unnamed Ohio man who runs the Paralyzed Living channel on YouTube has a slightly different approach, where he breaks the wheelchair down and hauls it across the front of his body to get it into the car:
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The little details seen in each video, like Zimmerman's use of a plywood plank, Mena taking advantage of the locked steering wheel to stabilize herself, and the last guy's mention that pull-out door handles are much easier for him than the pull-up variety, are all illuminating. If anyone reading this has design suggestions for how to improve the ingress and egress issues you've seen here, please do sound off.
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I see this as an ongoing design opportunity, but there are some extremely effective solutions out there. Solutions that integrate seamlessly into common vehicles, that can be migrated from one vehicle to the next, and solutions that are cost-effective with government/insurance subsidies and OEM 'mobility programs' (or incentives). Without playing favourites, look through the manufacturers listed at http://www.nmeda.com/what-to-buy/seating-and-restraints/. NMEDA is a Mobility Equipment Dealers Association and a great place to start a search for solutions to hard-to-solve problems.
To make it easier for a person and their wheelchair to get in and out of a vehicle, do google searches for the following:
- automatic pivoting and lowering seat base
- motorized (or manual) transfer board
- wheelchair lift for side door
...Or stop by or call a dealer listed at the NMEDA site and visit a local trade show such as People In Motion (Toronto, Canada) or Abilities Expo (across the 'states).
In discussing my comment with one of my colleagues at our ID firm, he points out that there is more opportunity to build in easter-egg/multi-purpose/universal features like grab points, appropriate finishing materials, design features like suicide doors, etc. as suggested by the woman in the Saturn. I couldn't agree more with his point, but I think it needs to be said that when "standard features" built into a vehicle don't cut it, there are many aftermarket options available. And they could be evolved even further to address as yet unmet needs. And there could be more of an emphasis on user-centered design in all realms of accessibility and automotive design. PS: How do you add line breaks to comments?!?
- the clearance within the car, (avoiding cuts, bumps and bruises is very important)
- safe wheelchair restraint in event of an accident (unrestrained, wheelchairs become very dangerous in an accident)
- all weather protection (consider dashing to the car in a downpour, opening the door and then spending a minimum of 30 seconds having yourself and the inside of your car drenched)
- protection to the car itself (if you are fortunate enough to have a car you take pride in, scratching it with your wheelchair is an annoyance)
... a work in progress.
That being said, there are some products out there that attempt to make entry and exit easier, as well as well as provide a way to store the wheel chair.
Swivel seats offer the ability to easier transfer to the car by moving the seat over and out then bringing it into the car either manually or automatically. Here's a video of one style http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sd6xd_gOBSY
An alternate version actually incorporates part of the wheel chair into the seat itself. The drawback of the one demonstrated here is that it's done with assistance and the chair it shows is not a self propelled version. I'd love to see one that incorporates the concept, while making it usable for someone in a a manual chair. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J24HfIMUIPc
The swivel seat could offer greater access to the rear of the car for storage of the chair assuming that there's suicide doors. Alternately, there's a number of roof top carriers that will lift and store the chair such as this one (never mind the Rocky music) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C_nEw3HlHo
Thanks for paying attention to issues of design and disability.
I have just began my final year in engineering product design and am now strongly considering tackling this as my major final project. We can instantly identify the many challenges the people above currently face. If I do attempt it, I'd love to hear any suggestions which would only motivate me more in taking it up.