Incident reports confirm that occupants of exposed seats have been thrown forward during heavy braking or vehicle impact conditions, often sustaining head injuries from contact with the vehicle floor or other hard structure. Seats particularly affected are those located immediately to the rear of an open wheelchair or buggy space. This proposal aims to reduce this risk by extending existing requirements for exposed seats adjacent to step wells to apply to other exposed seats where there is a risk of the occupant being thrown forward.
11. The expert from UK presented ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSG/2015/34 amending the safety prescriptions for buses and coaches to ensure that all occupants of exposed seats, and not just those at risk of being thrown forward into a step well, were provided with a means of protection. The expert from CLCCR underlined the need to also clarify the provisions for standing passengers. The experts from Canada and OICA endorsed that position. Following the discussion, GRSG noted general support on the proposal. GRSG adopted ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSG/2015/34 as reproduced in Annex III to the report. The secretariat was requested to submit the proposal to WP.29 and AC.1 for consideration at their March 2016 sessions, as part (see paras. 7, 9 and 10 above) of draft Supplement 5 to the 06 series of amendments to UN Regulation No. 107. GRSG agreed to resume, at its next session, consideration of updated provisions for standing passenger on the basis of a proposal by the expert from CLCCR.
9. The expert from UK presented GRSG-108-31 amending the safety prescriptions for buses and coaches to ensure that all occupants of exposed seats, and not just those at risk of being thrown forward into a step well, were provided with a means of protection. GRSG noted general support on the proposal. The Chair invited all experts to send their comments to the expert from UK who committed to submit to the secretariat a revised proposal for consideration at the next GRSG session as an official document.
| GRSG/2015/34 |