Motor Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999

Locks, handles and hinges of doors

5.  A minibus shall not be fitted with—

(a)a door which can be locked from the outside unless, when so locked, it is capable of being opened from inside the vehicle when stationary;

(b)a handle or other device for opening a door, other than the driver’s door, from inside the vehicle unless the handle or other device is designed so as to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, the accidental opening of the door, and is fitted with a guard or transparent cover or so designed that it must be raised to open the door;

(c)a door which is not capable of being opened, when not locked, from inside and outside the vehicle by a single movement of the handle or other device for opening the door;

(d)a door in respect of which there is not a device capable of holding the door closed so as to prevent a passenger falling through the doorway;

(e)a side door which opens outwards and is hinged at the edge nearest the rear of the vehicle except in the case of a door having more than one rigid panel;

(f)a door, other than a power-operated door, in respect of which there is not either—

(i)a slam lock of the two-stage type; or

(ii)a device by means of which the driver, when occupying the driver’s seat, is informed if the door is not securely closed, such device being operated by movement of the handle or other device for opening the door or, in the case of a handle or other device with a spring-return mechanism, by movement of the door as well as of the handle or other device.

• Provided that sub-paragraphs (a), (c), (d) and (f) shall not apply to a near side rear door forming part of a pair of doors fitted at the rear of a vehicle if that door is capable of being held securely closed by the other door of that pair.