Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 38, September 20, 2024
The following requirements shall govern entrances and exits
of all buses (except buses operated by law enforcement agencies to transport
prisoners) and farm labor vehicles:
(a) Door and Step Clearance--Doors and steps
shall be kept clear at all times to permit safe entrance and exit of
passengers.
(b) Grab Handles--Every
Type 1 bus and farm labor truck shall be equipped with grab handles,
stanchions, or bars at least 10 in. long and installed within convenient reach
of persons boarding or leaving.
(c)
Safety Bars--To prevent passengers from falling into the step well, Type 1
buses shall have a safety bar or panel directly behind each step
well.
(d) Door Construction and
Maintenance--Doors in all buses and farm labor trucks shall be substantially
constructed, in accordance with acceptable standards, and maintained in good
working order to permit safe entrance and exit. All doors shall afford easy
release in case of emergency but shall be prevented from opening accidentally.
Manually operated doors shall be constructed so that no parts thereof can come
together with an exposed shearing action. Chains, cables, or bars may be used
on farm labor trucks instead of doors provided they are:
(1) Secured at not more than 6 in. (152.4 mm)
above or below a horizontal centerline of the opening, and
(2) Equipped with a quick release device that
allows only enough slack to permit easy operation.
(e) Doors Not Adjacent to Driver--In Type 1
buses (except school buses) any passenger door not immediately adjacent to the
driver shall meet the following requirements: For buses manufactured prior to
January 1, 1993, the term "not immediately adjacent to the driver" shall mean
that the door opening and steps are not within the direct, clear view of the
driver, unassisted by mirrors or other devices. For buses manufactured on and
after January 1, 1993, the term "not immediately adjacent to the driver" shall
mean that the front of the door frame opening is more than 12 inches to the
rear of a transverse vertical plane at the front of the driver's seat back rest
with the seat adjusted to its rearmost position and the back rest adjusted to
its most vertical position. The front of the backrest is that point, on the
vertical centerline of the front of the backrest, which is midway between the
seat cushion and the top of the seat back, excluding any movable head rest.
(1) Doors closed by power actuators shall be:
(A) Equipped with a sensitive edge, designed
and maintained to release the door-closing force, and to reopen sufficiently to
fully release a person or object caught in the closing doors.
(i) Except as provided in (iii), doors on
buses manufactured on or after January 1, 1993, shall release when the door
closes on an object as small as a 1/2 -inch diameter smooth cylinder held
perpendicular to the plane of the door opening at any point where the door
halves meet, or if a single piece door, where the door edge meets the door
frame.
(ii) The performance
standard specified in (i) and (iii) shall not apply to the top two inches or
the bottom two inches of the sensitive edge.
(iii) For buses equipped with a 4-inch or
larger gap between the power-closed doors, the doors shall react as specified
in (i) when closing on a 1-inch diameter smooth cylinder.
(B) Designed and equipped to signal the
driver if the doors completely close on any part of a person's body or any
object
(C) Adjusted and maintained,
when operated or actuated by treadle steps, to close in not less than 2 1/2
seconds after a person steps off such treadle.
(2) Doors closed by return springs,
counterweights, or other passive means shall be:
(A) Designed to permit at least 4-inches of
clearance between the solid or metal edges of doors when fully closed. This
requirement shall not apply to a door opened by a power actuator and equipped
with a sensitive edge that complies with (e)(1)(A) of this section.
(B) Adjusted to allow at least 1 1/2 seconds
closing time from the fully open to the closed position
(C) Designed and maintained so that the force
required to start the doors moving away from the completely closed position
does not exceed 20 pounds, applied at the solid edge of the door with the bus
on a level surface. Door movement allowed by slack in the door closing
mechanical linkage shall not be considered in determining compliance with this
requirement.
(D) As an alternative
to paragraph (C), doors closed by return springs, counter weights, or other
means, may instead be equipped with sensitive edges meeting the same
requirements as doors closed by power actuators.
(E) Designed and equipped with a door lock
control operated by the driver while seated in the driver's seat, and equipped
with a warning light visible to the driver to indicate when the door is
unlocked.
(3) Except as
provided in (C), all doors shall be interlocked with the brakes and accelerator
so that the bus cannot move when the doors are open and the doors cannot open
when the bus is moving without engaging the interlock.
(A) The interlock shall function so that:
(i) the brakes on at least one axle are
applied, and
(ii) the accelerator
is released when or before the doors begin to open, and
(iii) the brakes cannot be released nor the
accelerator applied while the doors are open.
(B) In buses permitted by section
1217 of this chapter to transport
standing passengers, the interlock system may be equipped with speed sensors
set at a speed of 3 miles per hour or greater at which speed the interlock may
disengage.
(C) Buses may be
equipped with a remote control not accessible from the driver's seated
position, to override the interlock system to allow emergency movement of the
bus if the doors cannot be closed. On buses equipped with such installations,
placing the control in the override position shall actuate a warning consisting
of an audible indicator and a red light indicator visible to the driver with a
label integral with or adjacent to the light stating "Warning--Interlock
Deactivated" in letters at least
3/16 inch
high.
(4) The provisions
of this subsection shall not apply to a door not adjacent to the driver when
equipped with a wheelchair lift that prevents persons from entering or exiting
such doors while the bus is in motion.
1. Amendment
filed 5-14-79; designated effective 7-1-79 (Register 79, No. 19).
2.
New subsection (e)(3) filed 6-18-80; designated effective 8-1-80 (Register 80,
No. 25).
3. Amending of subsections (e)-(e)(2), new subsection
(e)(3) and subsection renumbering filed 8-3-92; operative 1-1-93 pursuant to
Government Code section 11346.2 (Register 92, No. 32).
4. Change
without regulatory effect amending subsection (e)(3)(C) filed 5-11-95 pursuant
to section 100, title 1, California Code of
Regulations (Register 95, No. 19).
Note: Authority cited: Sections 31401, 34501, 34501.5,
and 34508, Vehicle Code. Reference: Sections 31400, 31401, 34501, 34501.5, and
34508, Vehicle Code.
