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

Height of gangways

27.—(1) Subject to paragraph 12 of Schedule 2, the following conditions shall be complied with in the case of every vehicle adapted to carry more than 12 passengers—

(a)the clear height at every point along the centre line of any gangway between the limits specified in paragraph (2) shall be—

(i)in the case of a single-decked vehicle being a vehicle having a permanent top, and in the case of a half-decked vehicle and the lower deck of a double-decked vehicle, not less than 1.77 metres if the seating capacity of the vehicle exceeds 14 passengers and not less than 1.6 metres in any other case, and

(ii)in the case of the top deck of a double-decked vehicle having a permanent top, not less than 1.72 metres;

(b)except as respects any part of any gangway placed on the offside of the vehicle which is required only to provide access to the foremost passenger seat in the vehicle, the said clear height shall, outside the limits specified in paragraph (2), be not less than the clear height as prescribed in relation to the vehicle in condition (a) above reduced by 105 millimetres;

(c)in the case of a single-decked vehicle not having a permanent top, when the hood of the vehicle is extended or raised, the said clear height from the level of the deck shall in no place (except over the driver's seat) be less than 1.52 metres;

(d)in the case of the top deck of a double-decked vehicle, no part of any gangway shall project into the compartment or other space provided for the accommodation of the driver in such a manner as to incommode the driver or cause his view of the road to the front of the vehicle or to the sides thereof to be restricted.

(2) The clear height prescribed in condition (a) of paragraph (1) shall, in the case of the lower deck of a double-decked vehicle, extend throughout the gangway and in any other case shall extend from the front edge of the foremost passenger seat adjacent to the gangway to the front edge of the rearmost passenger seat adjacent to the gangway:

Provided that where the gangway is on the offside of the vehicle it shall be a sufficient compliance with the requirements of sub-paragraph (ii) of the said condition (a) if the clear height of 1.72 metres extends from a point 460 millimetres behind the front edge of the foremost passenger seat adjacent to that gangway to the front edge of the rearmost passenger seat adjacent thereto.

(3) In the case of a vehicle which has a seating capacity not exceeding 12 passengers, the clear height at every point along the centre line of any gangway in the vehicle, except for a distance of 305 millimetres along the line measured from each entrance and exit, shall be not less than 1.42 metres and, in the case of the said distance, shall be not less than 1.21 metres.