It is very easy to be wined and dined by the idea of buying what appears to be a wheelchair accessibility vehicle to enable a person to travel in their wheelchair, for the cost of around $25K – $30K, in the form of a Japanese-imports wheelchair vehicles such as the Toyota Noah, Toyota Voxy, Nissan Cube and even imported Toyota Hiace Commuters, however the sad reality is that these vehicles are NOT recommended (or LEGAL for wheelchair occupant travel) in Australia.
Unlike in Australia, these vehicles are not built and then modified, they are actually built with a lowered floor and ramp at the rear, and fitted with “wheelchair restraints”.
What you may know:
All vehicles in Australia must comply to the Australian Design Rules – a huge online public document, that outlines all the safety features required for vehicles to be legal in Australia: everything from seatbelts, seating, to lights, to noise and fuel emissions.
https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/infrastructure-transport-vehicles/vehicles/vehicle-design-regulation/australian-design-rules
These Japanese vehicles are imported under the Specialist and Enthusiast Vehicle Scheme); when they come off the ship, they are inspected against the Federal against Australian Design Rules, and (if the overall vehicle is safe) stamped with a Federal compliance plate indicating that they meet the Australian Design Rules.
What you didn’t know:
The Australian Design Rules does not explain the requirements for safe wheelchair access or wheelchair occupant travel. They don’t even mention it. Not once.
So we have a vehicle that is federally compliant to be sold as a mainstream vehicle, – however this compliance DOES NOT include the wheelchair occupant travel.
But, these cars are sold to families to enable wheelchair occupant travel.
Compliance for wheelchair occupant travel
As the ADR does not explain the requirements for safe wheelchair occupant travel, the next level of governance are the multiple Australian Standards (which are in line with ISO standards) that outline safe and best practice. It is very important to understand that the Japanese standards DO NOT meet Australian Standards.
For a list of the Australian Standards that we reference in our assessment and vehicle application click here.
Each state licencing authority also has a Vehicle Standards Bulletin and codes related to mobility vehicle modifications, that must be inspected by an approved engineer and complianced. They will usually receive a plate attached to the car and triplicate documentation (that is kept by the modifier/engineer, kept by the client, and sent to the Transport department).
The key elements of Australian Standards for mobility vehicles include:
- Wheelchair restraints that are tested and compliant
- Access ramp – the gradient (or slope angle), load rating and configuration of the ramp
- Length of the wheelchair space available
- Clearance zones above head height, in front of head and behind head when tied-down and travelling
- Lap-sash inertia reel seatbelt is now considered best practice for all vehicle occupants.
- The wheelchair itself must be crash tested for wheelchair occupant travel, and have suitable tie-down points, a suitable backrest and headrest.
Problems in this Japanese import disability Hiace Commuter:
- It’s pretty impossible to attach the front restraints – the user has to be in position and then a carer has to reach down across them to the floor to attach that front-right restraint.
- The back wheels and restraints are attached to the MOVING platform lifter! The back restraints are not actually attached to the vehicle itself!
- The seatbelt is in the completely wrong place and does not sit over the user’s shoulder. It is also not an inertia-reel seatbelt – it is just flapping away in the breeze.
- To push the wheelchair user into the vehicle, the carer has to perch on the edge of the tailgate and then climb over the back ledge of the platform lifter – an accident waiting to happen.
Jeff Watters, Automobility Owner and Mechanical Engineer provides some insights into why these vehicles don’t meet Australian Standards for wheelchair travel. You can find his full post here.
There are a few other very pertinent points you need to consider about these imported vehicles:
- Are the instructions for the vehicle modifications available in English?
- Have the vehicle modifications been tested? How? To what extent? To what rating?
- Technical support/spare parts – What technical support and spare parts are available in Australia for the vehicle?
- Warranty on the vehicle and conversion? The sale of a used vehicle comes with a statutory 3-month warranty and that’s it. There is NO warranty on the conversion whatsoever.
- Ongoing support – What ongoing support are you going to receive for servicing and repair of the mobility conversion on the vehicle? Who is going to provide this – the car salesman? Probably not. Toyota? Probably not.
- If my state licencing authority inspects this vehicle, will it pass all of their compliance and be able to maintain legal registration on the road?
What car salesman will tell you:
They will tell you that the restraints can be replaced by a local vehicle modifier.
Technically, this is correct, however just replacing the restraints does not make the overall vehicle compliant. All of the other problems including the floor cut, the ramp, the under-body work, the seatbelt, the clearance zones (above head, in front of head and behind head) – will still be there.
Most vehicle modifiers will not be willing to replace the restraints in these vehicles, because if they do, then they will inherit all the other problems.
Bottom line
Car salesmen do not know about mobility, understand mobility issues, or probably even care. They’re just trying to sell you a car.
This is why experienced Occupational Therapists are part of the vehicle prescription process and are required to write a report for NDIS for funding to be considered.
Unless you are provided with Engineering certification regarding the compliance to Australian Standards, the vehicle is NOT legally registered as a wheelchair access vehicle. As an interesting aside here, NDIS are now expressly requiring an Engineering certificate and roadworthy for any of these import vehicles before they will even consider funding it.
Need help?
If you need help with vehicle modifications for community access and driving, you can refer to us here.
