Travelling Safely by Car

01/05/2006

If one goes on a journey the children come into their child's safety seat and the driver and passenger fasten their seat belts. That is due to the law that wants to make sure that every passenger travel as safely as possible. But sometimes measures taken for handicapped passengers are not keeping up with this motto. But a new system developed in Germany could enable disabled people that cannot leave their wheel chairs to travel more safely.

The awareness about passenger's safety in cars increased permantely during the last few years. This is due to the many tests that demonstrated the effects a crash without the right securing devices can have on people. The car industry reacted and raised their safety standards inside the car.

People sitting in a wheel chair are normally seated in a normal car seat and are secured with a normal three point belt. "A person can be nest secured on the car seat with an active head-rest, belt tighter, belt power stopper and airbags”, explained Matthias Wilhelm working for a trade association for health service and welfare work called Berufsgenossenschaft für Gesundheitsdienst und Wohlfahrtspflege (BGW).

But physically handicapped people who cannot leave their wheel chair need special constructions for a safe trip by car. The BGW recommends a so called power-knot-system. Everything that has to be considered when installing such a system is summarised in the DIN 75078 Part 2. This norm is only a recommendation, its use is not ordered by law. Even though, in case of an accident the transport service and the person transported could experience legal consequences since insurance companies could refuse liability if no power-knot-system was used.

- More information on the power-knot-system in the second part of the article