Overview
Older and disabled people often have specific requirements when choosing a car. Their disability may mean that they need particularly high or particularly low seats, for example, or they may need to transport a bulky wheelchair in the boot. The Motability charity and DfT funded a project to measure car models as they come onto the market, and record the measurements in an interactive database.
The project aimed to provide disabled and older people with information about the dimensions of cars - door and boot openings and sill heights, head and leg room, boot size etc. through an interactive online database.
A pilot study was carried out where disabled people interacted with an adjustable rig. This allowed the relevant measurements to be determined.
These measurements are taken from cars entering the market at a commercial testing centre. This organiasation carries out measurement and assessment for European consumer organisations and so has access to all new models.
Funding
Results
A car measurement database was produced, which can be accessed from the website shown under "Contact".