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"Improve Driver and Vehicle Together"--(contd.) the author, Prof. R. A. McFarland, of Harvard School of Public Health.

27th April 1956, Page 64
27th April 1956
Page 64
Page 64, 27th April 1956 — "Improve Driver and Vehicle Together"--(contd.) the author, Prof. R. A. McFarland, of Harvard School of Public Health.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Dr. W. F. Floyd, who later read a paper on the psychological considerations which should influence design, said that -Prof. McFarland's comments could be applied to the majority of British vehicles, and he criticized a leading vehicle manufacturer in this country for designing seats and controls with the aid of manikins. The proper way, he said, was by experiment and trial based on the requirements of a selected group of people with different physical characteristics.

The design of the driver's compartment shotild be such that the eye level of 95 per cent, of the drivers was the same within 1-2 in. Another recommendation by Dr. Floyd was that some form of cooling device, possibly a refrigerator, should be fitted, particularly to the cabs of commercial vehicles.

Designed for Pygmies .

Elaborating on the information given in the original summary of Prof. McFarland's paper, Dr. Wood gave details of the 'author's investigations. Evaluations based on the features of 13 trucks and nine buses, and the body dimensions of some hundreds of drivers, showed that only the shorter ones, representing 49 per cent, of the group, could be accommodated.

This was attributed to the cabs being designed to reduce weight rather than to provide adequately for the drivers. In several models only 5 per cent, of the drivers could comfortably reach and operate the hand brake and in others only 60 per cent, could be accommodated for knee-length between the pedals and the steering wheel.

P.A.C.B.

[Fourteen of the papers read at the conference were summarized in last week's issue.]


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