The Public Service Vehicles (Conditions of Fitness, Equipment, Use and Certification) Regulations 1981

Doors

23.—(1) Subject to paragraph 9 of Schedule 2 and paragraph (4) the following conditions shall be complied with in the case of every vehicle:—

(a)means shall be provided for holding every entrance and exit door securely in the closed position and, where any such door is capable of remaining open when the vehicle is in motion or of being accidentally closed by the movement of the vehicle, means shall also be provided for holding that door securely in the open position;

(b)subject to paragraph (2), every entrance and exit door shall be provided with at least two devices (of which one may be a device provided for use in circumstances of normal operation only by a person authorised by the owner of the vehicle, and one, but not more than one, shall be provided on the outside of the vehicle) being in each case a device for operating the means for holding the door securely in the closed position, and every such device shall be so designed that a single movement of it will allow that door to be readily opened;

(c)the method of operation of any device mentioned in condition (b) above, the position of such a device where it is not placed on the door and the direction and points of application of any manual effort required to open any door, shall be clearly indicated; and there shall, in the case of a power-operated door, also be an indication that the said device may not be used by passengers except in an emergency;

(d)where any device mentioned in condition (b) above is not placed on the door, it shall be placed so as to be readily associated with that door and so that a person of normal height may conveniently operate the device without risk of being injured by movement of the door;

(e)in the case of every entrance and exit, any device mentioned in condition (b) above, other than such a device provided on the outside of an emergency exit on the upper deck of a double-decked vehicle or in the roof of a vehicle, shall be easily accessible to persons of normal height;

(f)the means and devices mentioned in conditions (a) and (b) above shall be so designed and fitted that they are unlikely to become dislodged or be operated accidentally but there shall be in the vehicle no means of a mechanical nature the operation of which would prevent the devices mentioned in the said condition (b) (devices for allowing entrance and exit doors to be opened in an emergency) when deliberately used, from allowing the entrance or exit doors for which they are provided to be readily opened;

(g)every door shall operate so as not to obstruct clear access to any entrance or exit from inside or outside the vehicle;

(h)being a vehicle having a power-operated door which, when open or being operated, projects laterally beyond the body of the vehicle at its widest point by more than 80 millimetres, shall be so constructed or adapted that it cannot move from rest under its own power when the door is open, and the door shall not be capable of being operated while the vehicle is in motion, except by the operation of such a device as is mentioned in condition (b) above;

(i)the storage and transmission system of the power for operating any power-operated door shall be such that operation of the doors does not adversely affect the efficient operation of the braking system of the vehicle and the apparatus shall be so designed and constructed that in the event of the system becoming inoperative the door shall be capable of being operated manually from inside and outside the vehicle; and

(j)the design of power-operated doors and their associated equipment at entrances and exits shall be such that, when opening or closing, the doors are unlikely to injure any passengers, and the vertical edges of any power-operated door which, when open or being operated, projects laterally beyond the body of the vehicle at its widest point by not more than 80 millimetres and which is installed in a vehicle not constructed or adapted as mentioned in condition (h) above, shall be fitted with soft rubber.

(2) A vehicle shall not be deemed to fail to comply with condition (b) or (f) of paragraph (1) by reason only of the fact that, for the purposes of securing the vehicle when unattended, any entrance or exit door has been fitted with a supplementary lock with or without an actuating mechanism if the lock is so designed and constructed that a single movement of any device mentioned in condition (b) above, being a device provided on the inside of the vehicle, will at all times allow that door to be readily opened.

(3) In determining for the purposes of conditions (h) and (j) of paragraph (1) whether, or the distance by which, a power-operated door, when open or being operated, projects laterally beyond the body of the vehicle at its widest point any moulding on the outside of the vehicle shall be disregarded.

(4) The references to exits in paragraph (1) do not include an emergency exit provided in accordance with the provisions of Regulation 21(11) unless such exit is a primary emergency exit or a secondary emergency exit.