Citation

Scott PA, Candler PD, Li JC. Appl. Ergon. 1996; 27(6): 411-416.

Affiliation

Ergonomics Unit, Rhodes University, P.O. Box 94, Grahamstown, South Africa.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1996, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

15677081

Abstract

Motor vehicle accident fatalities are a cause for concern internationally; all drivers need to selectively attend to environmental changes, and to react swiftly and appropriately. The focus of the present paper was to investigate the effect of stature and seat positioning on fractionated response time. Eighty four young South African adults spanning a range of statures from 1.48 m to 2.00 m were tested in two extreme seat positions (near and far) using a European designed car-shell. Significant differences ( [Formula: see text] ) in knee flexion angle, but not in reaction or movement times were identified. Separation of tallest ( [Formula: see text] ) and shortest ( [Formula: see text] ) subjects ( [Formula: see text] ) revealed no significant stature-related differences in response times. However, the tall group showed significantly improved results when seated in the far position and the short group when seated in the near position. The results indicate that correct seat positioning will exert a significant effect on the overall response time of the driver, which in turn will affect the braking distance whilst driving.