title: Vehicle and driver attributes affecting distance from the steering wheel in motor vehicles.
abstract: The current study was designed to confirm that female drivers sit closer to the steering wheel than do male drivers and to investigate whether this expected difference in sitting position is attributable to differences in the physical dimensions of men and women. Driver body dimensions and multiple measures of sitting distance from the steering wheel were collected from a sample of 150 men and 150 women. The results confirmed that on average, women sit closer to the steering wheel than men do and that this difference is accounted for by variations in body dimensions, especially height. This result suggests that driver height may provide a good surrogate for sitting distance from the steering wheel when investigating the role of driver position in real-world crash outcomes. The potential applications of this research include change to vehicle design that allows independent adjustment of the relative distance among the driver's seat, the steering wheel, and the floor pedals.
authors.affiliation: Australian Transport Safety Bureau, Canberra. stats@atsb.gov.au
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McFadden
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Powers
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Walker
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001334:Automobile Driving; D001336:Automobiles; D004867:Equipment Design; D006804:Ergonomics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009517:New South Wales / Q000453:epidemiology; D011187:Posture / Q000502:physiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D013898:Thoracic Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology*