Road Safety Blog

Emergency exit on bus made safe again after enquiry from concerned citizen

This morning it was once more concerned that each and every citizen can make a difference. On the Car Insurance Blog we posted a story recently titled: “Do not make adjustments that may reduce roadworthiness of your vehicle!”

We would like to quote from this post:

“Hi, I have a query about safety in buses and I’m not quite sure where to find the information. We have a bus service where I work with free transportation and the buses have two doors – one at the front and one at the back.

This year, the doors at the back have been bolted shut which restricts incoming and outgoing passengers to the door at the front. Although the buses are all fitted with emergency exits through the back window, I’m concerned about the modifications done to the buses given that they seem to be more about restricting passenger movements and are not how the buses were designed.

Are they able to just bolt them shut without affecting the road-worthiness given that the buses were built with 2 doors?

Answer:

With reference to your enquiry I wish to advise that an operator is not allowed to bolt a door. Doors are also regarded as emergency exits. A roadworthy certificate should not be issued to the operator if one of the doors is bolted. If a door is not in a “working condition” the vehicle is regarded as not being roadworthy.

Kind regards

Eric Cornelius

Executive Manager

SABOA”

Update

This morning we received the following update:

Thank you so much for this information! I have taken it to our administration and they are currently removing the bolts from the back doors on all buses. Truly appreciated!

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