Locomotion using a wheelchair requires a wider space than does walking. Two experiments were conducted to test the ability of nonhandicapped adults to estimate the spatial requirements for wheelchair use. Participants judged from a distance whether doorlike apertures of various widths were passable or not passable. Experiment 1 showed that participants underestimated the spatial requirements for wheelchair use but overestimated the spatial requirements for walking. Experiment 2 showed that their underestimation improved but was not completely eliminated after 8 days of practice passing through apertures. Analyses of wheelchair performance in the practice condition showed that the underestimation may have arisen from misperception of the positions of the hands when the participants were grasping the wheelchair hand-rims. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

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Unintended accelerations (UA) occur in vehicles unexpectedly and uncontrollably. Every year, numerous critical injury and death cases related to UA occur. Recently, researches related to the development of automated driving systems are attracting a lot of attention among researchers and vehicle manufacturers. Additionally, silent vehicles such as electric power and hybrid vehicle are increasing. However, there are negative effects on driver safety. Recognition time (RT) and recognition velocity (RV) are some of the important factors lead to avoiding crashes. Early detections give the drivers more time in decision-making toward the UA hazards. In this study, RT and RV toward UAs under various environments were analysed. The findings highlighted that RTs toward UAs were longer in no engine sound environment. Drivers were unable to respond to UA earlier in silent vehicles compared to conventional vehicles. The findings provide insights that can be useful in developing automation vehicle and silent vehicle.