What is a WTORS in a wheelchair van?

The two halves of a WTORS

A WTORS has two jobs, and the standards use a different word for each. The wheelchair is secured, or tied down. The rider is restrained.

• Tiedown (securement). This part anchors the chair to the van floor. The design WC19 chairs are built around is the four-point strap tiedown: a pair of straps ahead of the chair and a pair behind it, clipped into floor track or pockets. Docking systems skip the straps and lock hardware bolted under the chair into a station on the floor.
• Occupant restraint. This holds the person, with a pelvic (lap) belt low across the hips and a shoulder belt over the shoulder. The belts can anchor to the vehicle, or the lap belt can anchor to a WC19 wheelchair and connect to a vehicle-mounted shoulder belt.

Both halves are needed on every trip. Belts hold the rider in place and put crash forces on the hips and shoulders. If the chair breaks loose, its mass adds to the belt forces on the rider’s body. A wheelchair can weigh more than 250 pounds, and a power chair more than 300.

The standards behind a WTORS

The voluntary standards test the full system in a 30 mph (48 km/h) frontal crash. They cover strap and docking tiedowns, public and private vehicles, and forward-facing riders in any wheelchair, scooters included. The products must carry a permanent label naming the test passed, plus instructions for installers and users. Since December 2015, general-use WC18 systems must also pass a test in which the lap belt anchors to the test wheelchair, which puts more load on the rear straps. The rigid test wheelchair weighs 187 pounds, so a much heavier chair puts more load on the straps than the test did. For heavy chairs, University of Michigan researchers suggest adding tiedown straps in vans and minivans, as long as the chair has strong frame points to take them. They also keep public lists of crash-tested tiedowns and wheelchairs.

The ADA rule sets the floor for the vehicles it covers. For vehicles with a GVWR up to 30,000 pounds, each tiedown leg must hold up to 2,500 pounds of forward force, and the system a minimum of 5,000 pounds for each mobility aid. An occupied chair may shift 2 inches at most during normal driving. Each station also gets a lap belt and shoulder harness of its own, and those belts never replace the tiedowns. Contracts add more. Virginia’s fee-for-service rules call for four fully functional securements at each wheelchair station, plus a van-mounted lap and shoulder belt made for riders who stay seated in their chairs.

For the WC19 wheelchair standard and a step-by-step securement method, read the wheelchair securement guide.

Daily checks

The ADA requires providers to keep securement devices in working order and to repair them promptly. A short check before the first trip covers the basics:

1. Count the parts at each station: four tiedowns plus the lap and shoulder belts.
2. Pull each strap out fully. Replace webbing that is frayed, cut, damaged, or soaked with oil or chemicals.
3. Work each retractor and buckle to confirm it latches and releases the way the maker’s instructions describe. Replace broken or worn parts.
4. Clear dirt from floor track and pockets, then click each fitting in and out.
5. Keep straps and belts stowed in a pouch or holder, not lying on the floor.
6. Pull any strap, belt, or anchorage that was in use during a collision and replace it.

The wheelchair securement checklist turns these steps into a one-page form. In HealthRide, the pre-shift van check happens in the driver app, and dispatch sees a failed inspection as soon as a driver logs it.