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

Seats

28.—(1) Subject to paragraph 13 of Schedule 2, the following conditions shall be complied with in the case of every vehicle—

(a) the supports of all seats shall be securely fixed in position;

(b) a length of at least 400 millimetres measured horizontally along the front of each seat shall be allowed for the accommodation of a seated passenger:

Provided that in the case of a continuous seat fitted with arms for the purpose of separating the seating spaces, being arms so constructed that they can be folded back or otherwise put out of use, the seat shall be measured for the purposes of this paragraph as though it were not fitted with arms;

(c) every seat shall have a back rest so closed or otherwise constructed as to prevent, as far as practicable, the pockets of passengers from being picked;

(d) all passenger seats shall be so fitted—

(i) that the distance between any part of the back rest of any seat placed lengthwise and the corresponding part of the back rest of the seat facing it shall be, in the case of a vehicle which has a seating capacity not exceeding 12 passengers, not less than 1.37 metres, and in any other case, not less than 1.60 metres, and

(ii) that there is a clear space of at least 610 millimetres in front of the back rest of any seat measured from the centre of each complete length of the seat allowed for the accommodation of a seated passenger in accordance with condition (b) above and a clear space of 200 millimetres in front of any part of that seat:

Provided that in the case of a seat for more than three passengers—

(a) in the case of a vehicle being used as a stage carriage, and

(b) in the case of any vehicle to which this regulation applies and which is first used on or after 1st April 1982

where access to that seat can be obtained only from one end of the seat, the said clear spaces shall respectively be at least 685 millimetres and 300 millimetres;

(e) there shall be a clear space of at least 480 millimetres between any part of the front edge of any transverse seat and any part of any other seat which faces it:

Provided that any support provided for a table shall be disregarded if there is a clear space of at least 225 millimetres between that support and the front edge of the nearest seat and the support is not in such a position as to cause discomfort to passengers occupying the seats;

(f) no seat shall be placed in such a position as to cause discomfort to passengers;

(g) there shall, as respects every seat, be a clear space measured vertically from the centre of each complete length of the seat allowed for the accommodation of a seated passenger in accordance with condition (b) above which shall be, in the case of a vehicle which has a seating capacity not exceeding 12 passengers, not less than 910 millimetres, and, in any other case, not less than 965 millimetres;

(h) where any seat is so placed that a passenger seated upon it is liable to be thrown through any entrance to or exit from the vehicle or down a stairway in the vehicle, an effective screen or guard shall be placed so as to afford adequate protection against that occurrence to a passenger occupying that seat; and

(i) the shortest distance between the edge of the well of any step in the vehicle and a vertical plane passing through the front edge of any seat shall be not less than 225 millimetres:

Provided that this condition shall not apply in the case of the well of a step provided as a means of obtaining access only to any forward-facing front passenger seat placed alongside the driver in a vehicle which has a seating capacity not exceeding 12 passengers.

(2) In this Regulation and in paragraph 13 of Schedule 2 the expression “back rest” includes any part of the vehicle which is available for seated passengers to lean against.