Perceived Discomfort of Design Parameters during Recreational Vehicle Ingress/Egress

Abstract

Vehicle ingress/egress is an important consideration in designing a car ergonomically. The design parameters influencing vehicle ingress/egress have relevance to the overall car shape and affect user safety. This study investigated perceived discomfort and importance of design parameters during recreational vehicle ingress/egress and found main design parameters affecting ingress/egress. Forty participants got in and out of five different recreational vehicles and assessed subjective ratings of ten design parameters: roof height (ground to roof and seat to roof), seat height (ground to seat), step height (ground to step and floor to step), step width, foot clearance, opening width, A-pillar clearance and B-pillar clearance. For each parameter, mean degree of discomfort of different dimensions was analyzed, and the response rate included in the condition that a degree of discomfort is over four and a degree of importance is more than three scores was identified.