Anthropometry of Wheeled Mobility Project: Final Report

This data depicts the amount of space required by users of wheeled mobility devices to perform a 180-degree turn ("U-Turn") around an obstruction. The bold dashed line in the table and figure indicates the current ADA-ABA requirements, which vary based on the passage width and space available at the base of the turn. Findings from the Anthropometry of Wheeled Mobility Study indicate that a uniform width of at least 89.5 cm (35 in.) was required for 50% of the manual and power wheelchair users measured in this study to perform a 180-degree turn around the obstruction. A width of 109.5 cm (43 in.) was required in order to accommodate 95% of all users. These data are based on measurements of wheeled mobility users performing 180-degree turns around an obstruction, built with mock walls. An obstruction of 11 cm (4 in.) was fixed at a central location. Three moveable walls were constructed around the central fixed wall to form a U-shaped hallway of equal passage width. The enclosed space was incrementally and uniformly increased until a user could pass through the U-turn successfully. The minimum space required to perform a complete 180-degree turn around an obstruction within moving or knocking down any of the walls was recorded. Use of multiple short turns was allowed in contrast to a single continuous turn.