Proposal to refine the provisions on the number and position of emergency exits of vehicles of Classes A and B. The transition from 05-series to 06-series of amendments is based on the final proposal of the Informal Group for Service Doors, Windows, and Emergency Exits (SDWEE) adopted by GRSG as document GRSG/2012/15. One of the consequences of the new wording is that, if one escape hatch is fitted, it must be positioned in the middle third of the passenger compartment. For Class A and B vehicles with sometimes short passenger compartments (< 3 m), this can be problematic because the middle third position can overlap with the position of the service door, close to which lateral roof reinforcements are necessary to provide structural stability and meet provisions of UN R66. Given that the exact position on shorter vehicles is of lower relevance than for long compartments, this proposal would provide latitude on the exact placement for Class A and B vehicles.

For escape hatches on buses of Classes A and B, proposal to allow a maximum length of 1600 mm equally spaced to cover the shortest vehicles, so the allowed space should be the maximum of either the third of the length or 1600 mm. This proposal will not affect the positioning requirements for any mid-sized and larger buses.