Ergonomy of the inside of a Motorcar Cabin Used by a Person with Locomotive Disability – a Case Study Part I. Anthropometric Analysis

The study discusses results of investigations carried out in the course of driving a motorcar by a person with a locomotive disability. Driving tests were conducted in road conditions as well as on a manoeuvring square. Observations concerned interactions of the disabled person during his/her utilisation of different pieces of equipment situated within the reach of the user’s hands. The scope of the performed analysis covered investigations concerning somatic and receptor relationships in the man – technical means system and, to a lesser extent, dealt with the psychological aspects of vehicle driving. The investigations employed selected methods of identification of expectations from direst users – video registration. Initial investigations were carried out for one person with a locomotive disability (paraplegia). Driver’s positions when performing various manoeuvres were initially compared with standard data (access to the comfort zone or comfort angles). The final result of initial experiments is a description of the adjustment of the vehicle with equipment (manually-operated accelerator brake) to the requirements of the driver with a locomotive disability. Moreover, the authors also give a list of operations, performed in the car, which require either assistance using technical means or redesigning in the motorcar.