Frost Karen, Bertocci Gina, Smalley Craig
Department of Bioengineering, J.B. Speed School of Engineering, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2018 Jan 5;13(1):e0186829. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0186829. eCollection 2018.
The purpose of this study was to characterize wheelchair tiedown and occupant restraint system (WTORS) usage in paratransit vehicles based on observations of wheelchair and scooter (wheeled mobility devices, collectively, "WhMD") passenger trips. A retrospective review of on-board video monitoring recordings of WhMD trips was conducted. Four hundred seventy-five video recordings were collected for review and analysis. The use of all four tiedowns to secure the WhMD was observed more frequently for power WhMDs (82%) and manual WhMDs (80%) compared to scooters (39%), and this difference was significant (p< 0.01). Nonuse or misuse of the occupant restraint system occurred during 88% of WhMD trips, and was most frequently due to vehicle operator neglect in applying the shoulder belt. Despite the absence of incidents or injuries in this study, misuse and nonuse of WTORS potentially place WhMD seated passengers at higher risk of injury during transit. These findings support the need for improved vehicle operator training and passenger education on the proper use of WTORS and development of WTORS with improved usability and/or alternative technologies that can be automated or used independently.
本研究的目的是基于对轮椅和踏板车（统称“轮式移动设备”，“WhMD”）乘客出行情况的观察，描述无障碍公交车辆中轮椅固定和乘客约束系统（WTORS）的使用情况。对WhMD出行的车载视频监控记录进行了回顾性审查。收集了475份视频记录用于审查和分析。与踏板车（39%）相比，电动WhMD（82%）和手动WhMD（80%）更频繁地观察到使用所有四个固定装置来固定WhMD，且这种差异具有统计学意义（p<0.01）。在88%的WhMD出行中发生乘客约束系统未使用或使用不当的情况，最常见的原因是车辆操作员疏忽未系安全带。尽管本研究中未发生事故或人员受伤，但WTORS的使用不当和未使用可能会使乘坐WhMD的乘客在运输过程中面临更高的受伤风险。这些发现支持了改进车辆操作员培训和对乘客进行WTORS正确使用教育的必要性，以及开发具有更高可用性和/或可自动化或独立使用的替代技术的WTORS。
