Recommendations on Standards for the Design of Medical Diagnostic Equipment for Adults with Disabilities, Advisory Committee Final Report

Wheelbase Definition

For the purpose of this analysis, wheelbase is defined as the distance from the center of the primary drive wheel to the center of the caster measured parallel to the floor. The larger of the dimensions measured on the right and left side of the mobility device were considered for the analysis.

The sample considered is the analysis of wheelbase is a sub-set comprising 242 the overall sample of 500 wheeled mobility users. Only one set of casters on mid-wheel drive wheelchairs were measured and so these devices are not excluded in the current analysis.

Table 1 shows the minimum, maximum and percentile values of the wheelbase dimension for manual wheelchairs, front- and rear-wheel drive power chairs, 3- and 4-wheel electric scooters.

Table 1: Range and percentile values for wheelbase (inches) by mobility device type

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