Protect the wheelchair rider
- In addition to securing the wheelchair, it is very important to provide effective restraint for the wheelchair user with a crash-tested lap and shoulder belt or with a child restraint harness. Postural support belts attached to the wheelchair are not strong enough to withstand the forces of a crash and are usually not positioned correctly to restrain the occupant safely in a crash.
The lap belt should be placed low across the front of the pelvis near the upper thighs, not high over the abdomen. When possible, the lap belt should be angled between 45 and 75 degrees to the horizontal when viewed from the side. Some wheelchair features, like armrests, can interfere with good belt fit. To avoid placing the lap belt over the armrest and to keep the lap belt low on the pelvis, it may be necessary to insert the belt between the armrest and the seatback, or through an opening between the backrest and seat.
A diagonal shoulder belt should cross the middle of the shoulder and the center of the chest, and should connect to the lap belt near the hip of the wheelchair rider. The upper shoulder-belt anchor point or D-ring guide should be anchored above and behind the top of the occupant's shoulder, so that the belt is in good contact with the shoulder and chest while traveling.- Newer WC19 wheelchairs offer the option of a crash-tested lap belt that is anchored to the wheelchair frame. If the wheelchair has an onboard crash-tested lapbelt, complete the belt system by attaching the lower end of a shoulder belt to the lap belt. Crash-tested wheelchair-anchored lap belts will be labeled to indicate that they comply with with ANSI/RESNA WC19.
