Bus Rider Killed by Unsecured Mobility Scooter

INDUSTRY NEWSSeptember 18, 2018

Incident Raises Safety Issues as well as Passenger Rights

The recent death of a bus passenger, who tragically fell off an unsecured mobility scooter evokes several potential safety questions:

Are current Wheeled Mobility Device (WMD) safety standards being adequately addressed when it comes to Fixed-Route Bus Transportation?

Is requiring all wheelchair passengers to use securement equipment an infringement on passenger rights?

Mandating Wheelchair Securement

The issue of requiring all wheelchair passengers to use securement equipment can lead down a slippery slope. While the death of a WMD passenger is a horrific occurrence, is it fair to impose far reaching legislation requiring mandatory wheelchair securement that may infringe upon a passenger’s rights?

New Wheelchair Securement Equipment improves Transit Safety

Q’STRAINT wheelchair securement champions mobility and safety. This is precisely why the company has went to great lengths to develop technology that provides wheelchair passengers a much more compelling option to utilize wheelchair securement.

The company’s cutting edge product – the QUANTUM – was designed specifically to not only improve safety, but provide wheelchair passengers with a higher level of independence and empowerment.

How does the QUANTUM work?

The QUANTUM is the transportation industry’s first autonomous fully automatic rear-facing wheelchair securement station that actually allows passengers to independently secure themselves in a transit vehicle without operator assistance.

Reducing operators’ involvement in the wheelchair securement process has proven to decrease bus transit dwell times and at the same time increase wheelchair securement adoption. With more wheelchair and scooter passengers secured in a transit vehicle – the probability of a serious injury or fatality involving a WMD logically should reduce significantly.

At the end of the day, a wheelchair or scooter passenger’s rights will not be infringed upon because the landscape for transit safety greatly improves through this revolutionary safety advancement.

“Q’STRAINT has always been an advocate for passenger rights as well as passenger safety,” said Patrick Girardin, president of Q’STRAINT, a company focusing on developing the most innovative solutions to advance the safety and effectiveness of wheelchair passenger travel. “The QUANTUM is the first autonomous wheelchair securement product that not only meets the letter of the law (ADA law), but more importantly meets the spirit of the law – independence, equality, and dignity.”