Ez Lock Offers Advantages Over Tie-Down Systems
Occasionally, a product will emerge that allows us to handle an essential task in a radically different way–with better-than-usual results. The ability of EZ Lock to better secure wheelchairs within vehicles is a perfect example of this.
For years, moving a wheelchair within a vehicle required the use of tie-downs. While those straps would effectively immobilize the chair, leaving its user safe and secure, the process was anything but elegant. Anyone who has wrestled with tie-downs or struggled to get them tight enough will tell you that a better way to do the job was in order.
The shortcomings of manual tie-downs led to the creation of electric tie-downs. This made locking a chair in place somewhat easier, but it was basically nothing more than a half-motorized variation on the old tie-down model.
In the 1980s, a new option appeared. The EZ Lock made anchoring a chair into place easier and more effective.
An EZ Lock consists of a floor-mounted docking base and a bracket that is mounted to the underside of a wheelchair. The wheelchair user can line up the bracket with the dock, roll forward and lock the mechanism. The hair is not secured completely stable, ready for transport.
The EZ Lock offers a number of advantages over tie-down systems.
- First, it’s a means of securing one’s chair that doesn’t depend on any outside assistance. The wheelchair user can handle docking and un-docking without a helper.
- Second, it’s much faster than the tie-down method. It’s simply a matter of lining up the bracket with the dock and rolling the chair into place.
- Third, it provides maximum security. There’s no “wiggle room” and the EZ Lock has consistently outperformed other means of securing chairs–including tie downs–in safety testing.
The EZ Lock system does have a downside.
It’s more expensive than tie-downs and it can only be used in wheelchair vans that have the EZ Lock dock in place.
That being said, the advantages of this elegant solution to a longstanding problem is definitely worthy of consideration. It does a great job while providing greater levels of independence and security.
If you’re looking for a good way to restrain a wheelchair within a van, you owe it to yourself to look at the EZ Lock product line. They’ve been producing a functional and attractive alternative to old-fashioned tie-downs for over twenty years and the popularity of their product line continues to grow.
