The Ingress and Egress Strategies of Wheelchair Users Transferring Into and Out of Two Sedans

The ability to independently transfer into and out of a vehicle is essential for many wheelchair users to achieve driving independence. The purpose of the current study is to build upon the previous exploratory study that investigated the transfer strategies of wheelchair users by observing YouTube videos. This observational study videotaped five wheelchair users transferring from their wheelchairs into two research vehicles, a small and mid-size sedan that were equipped with a 50mm grid. The goal of this study was to use these videos and vehicle grids to precisely identify ingress and egress motions as well as “touch points” in a controlled setting with a small sample of five male wheelchair users. Using the videos from multiple different camera perspectives, the participants’ ingress and egress transfers were coded, documenting the touch points and step-by-step action sequences. The locations of touch points and lines representing the participant’s actions were plotted in a CAD model of each vehicle. Results indicate that drivers tend to transfer using one of two primary techniques, hand-first or foot-first, and that clusters of touch points are found primarily on the driver’s seat and the steering wheel of the vehicle. The strategies used and touch point locations for ingress and egress were very similar between participants; however, fewer drivers used the steering wheel for egress transfers than for ingress transfers. This observational study is the next step to identify specific touch points and precise strategies of drivers when transferring from their own wheelchair into the driver’s seats of two sedans and vice versa.