Development of assistive devices to support posture for spinal cord injury persons when driving a vehicle

For people with disabilities or walking difficulties in the limbs or trunk that interfere with driving a vehicle, the Japanese Road Traffic Law requires the installation of auxiliary equipment according to the degree of the disability. However, it is difficult to completely complement the disability because it is installed a vehicle designed to be driven by a person without a disability. This study aimed to develop the design of the seat and the grip of the manual driving device that can support the posture of the upper body when driving a vehicle under difficult driving conditions. There are two features in the design of the driving postural support tools. On the driver’s seat the driving posture is supported by the support tool protecting the rolling of the upper body and even occurrence of the unbalanced posture from driving a curve or similar situation. The other feature is the stability of the upper body as well as the thighs and low-back area in which the seat surface is designed to support the thighs outward, and likewise, by supporting inward from the outer wall of the seat with a triangular-shaped protrusion on the front edge of the seat. In addition, the grip portion was designed to allow the driver to grasp the manual driving device with the remaining palm grip capacity even if the driver is not able to fully grasp it.