CQUniversity
Browse

Views of American and Australian mobility device users and ambulant bus users regarding occupant restraint systems on public buses

journal contribution
posted on 2022-11-14, 01:30 authored by Carolyn Unsworth, A Baker, S Brito, B Das Neves, N Dickson, A Gohil, G Kahandawa, Anjum NaweedAnjum Naweed, A Timmer
Introduction: With an ageing population, increasing numbers of people are using mobility devices, such as wheelchairs or scooters, whilst travelling on public route buses. The regulations and availability of active (wheelchair tie down and occupant restraint systems or WTORS) and passive (rearward facing) mobility device restraint systems on buses varies between countries. To date few studies have investigated passenger feedback on the use of restraint systems. This study aimed to gather feedback about WTORS on buses from passengers where these are in use (United States) and not in routine use (Australia) to guide decisions on their introduction. Methods: A prospective study using a purpose-designed electronic survey. Participants, predominantly recruited by Qualtrics, comprised two groups; mobility device and ambulant bus users in two countries; Australia and the United States (US). Results: The 448 participants rated the top two most important factors when deciding if buses should have WTORS as safety and comfort. Ninety-two percent of respondents believed people using mobility devices should use a WTORS which was rated 7.66/10 (SD1.97) as effective to prevent injuries to self or others. Only a minority of participants (13.2%) had ever slid or fallen from their mobility device, or seen a person slide or fall (13.6%) while on a bus with no differences between countries despite WTORS not being in use in Australia. Respondents reported it was OK to delay a journey an average of 5.52 (SD 2.89) minutes to secure/release a restraint system, which compares favourably to literature-reported real time of one to 4 min. Conclusions: Although WTORS were widely perceived by participants as important for safety, questions concerning their effectiveness to prevent slide or tip remain. Prior to the introduction of any securement system in Australia, the effectiveness of passive occupant containment systems to prevent slide or tip also warrants investigation.

Funding

Category 2 - Other Public Sector Grants Category

History

Volume

25

Start Page

1

End Page

13

Number of Pages

13

eISSN

2214-1413

ISSN

2214-1405

Publisher

Elsevier

Language

en

Peer Reviewed

  • Yes

Open Access

  • No

Acceptance Date

2022-04-26

External Author Affiliations

Federation University; James Cook University

Author Research Institute

  • Appleton Institute

Era Eligible

  • Yes

Journal

Journal of Transport and Health

Article Number

101380

Usage metrics

    CQUniversity

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC