Ride Safe

Step 2: Secure the Wheelchair

Four-Point Tiedowns

• Always position the wheelchair and rider facing forward in the vehicle.
• When securing a WC19 wheelchair, attach the four tiedown straps to the securement points provided on the wheelchair. Tighten the straps to remove all slack.
• If you do not have a WC19 wheelchair, it is best to attach the tiedown straps to welded junctions of the wheelchair frame or to other structural areas where the frame is fastened together with hardened steel bolts indicated by six raised lines or bumps on the bolt head.
• Do not attach tiedowns to adjustable, moving, or removable parts of the wheelchair such as armrests, footrests, and wheels.
• When securing non-WC19 wheelchairs, choose structural securement points as close to the seat surface as possible to provide greater wheelchair stability during travel. It is best if the rear securement points are high enough to result in angles of the rear tiedown straps between 30 and 45 degrees to the horizontal.
• If you have a non-WC19 wheelchair with a tilt seat, make sure to attach both the front and rear straps to either the seat frame or to the base frame. Mixing wheelchair securement points between the seat and base can result in the tiedown straps becoming slack if the angle of the seat changes during a crash.
• It is best if floor anchor points for rear tiedown straps are located directly behind the rear securement points on the wheelchair. If possible, the front tiedown straps should anchor to the floor at points that are spaced wider than the wheelchair to increase lateral stability during travel.

Other Methods of Wheelchair Securement

• In addition to securing wheelchairs using a four-point tiedown, wheelchairs can also be secured using a docking tiedown device. This method is primarily used in private vehicles since it requires the addition of adaptor hardware to the wheelchair frame that will engage with the docking tiedown device in the vehicle. Docking securement devices allow the wheelchair rider to secure and release the wheelchair without assistance.
• If you plan to secure your wheelchair with a docking tiedown device, you should check with the WTORS or wheelchair manufacturer to ensure that your wheelchair model has been successfully crash tested with their system.
• Clamp-type securement devices are not recommended since they do not provide effective wheelchair securement in frontal crash testing.