Anthropometry of Wheeled Mobility Project: Final Report

3.3.10 90-Degree Turn

While all of the standards compared in this report have requirements for “wheelchair turning spaces”, only the U.S. and Canada have requirements specifically for 90-degree or L-Turn clearances. These are similar for both countries, 915 mm (36 in.) and 920 mm (36.2 in.) for the U.S. and Canada, respectively.

The width required for all participants to complete a 90-degree turn in our sample was much smaller than the UDI findings (Figure 3‒10), due to differences in the abilities of people or/and WhMD technologies included in each of the studies or due to the different measurement procedures employed.

An increase in the 90-degree turning width criterion from 915 mm (36 in.) to 1000 mm (39 in.) would accommodate at least 95% of our sample. It also appears that there are some manual chair, power chair and scooter users who require much larger spaces than the 95th percentile values.

* indicates data plotted in the graph

Figure 3-10. 90-degree turning width: research findings versus the standards.