Development of a Static Assessment Rig

Some Mobility Centres in the UK which are accredited to carry out disabled driver assessments for those disabled people who would like to drive a vehicle use Static Assessment Rigs (SARs) for part of the assessment process. Each of these SARs is of different design and each use various units of measurement. Subsequently, to date in the UK, there has been no consistent method for measuring and recording certain vital information whilst carrying out the assessment of disabled drivers. To overcome the anomalies described and to introduce a consistent and valid methodology for one very important element of driver assessment, the Forum of Mobility Centres' in partnership with Motability, a charity which, provides vehicles for many disabled people in the UK, decided to embark on a programme, to design and develop a SAR that could be used in each of the accredited Mobility Centre's located throughout the UK.

This paper discusses aspects of the project process; the specifications arrived at, the development, proving, manufacture and provision of SARs and how these objectives were achieved.