Hong Kong Regulations

ROAD TRAFFIC (CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE OF VEHICLES) REGULATIONS - REGULATION 66

Entrances and exits on buses

(1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), a bus which has a seating capacity not
exceeding 45 passengers shall be provided with 2 exits so placed as not to be
on the same side of the bus and one of which may be a primary emergency exit
but neither of which shall be a secondary emergency  exit.

(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply in the case of a bus which has a seating
capacity exceeding 23 passengers and which is provided with an exit by virtue
of its having a rear platform which communicates with a deck (being, in the
case of a double-decked bus, the lower deck) by means of a doorless opening
and has a doorless opening on the near side of the bus continuous with another
such opening at the rear of the bus, that opening serving together as a means
of entrance to or exit from the bus.

(3) Where the exits provided in accordance with paragraph (1) are so placed
that the distance between their centres is-

   (a)  in the case of a bus which has a seating capacity exceeding 23
        passengers, less than 3 metres;

   (b)  in the case of a bus which has a seating capacity not exceeding 23
        passengers, less than 2.4 metres, a primary emergency exit or
        secondary emergency exit shall be provided and so placed that there is
        a distance of-

        (i)    in the case of a bus which has a seating capacity exceeding 23
               passengers, not less than 3 metres; and

        (ii)   in the case of a bus which has a seating capacity not exceeding
               23 passengers, not less than 2.4 metres, between the nearest
               points of the openings of that exit and one of the two exits
               required by paragraph (1).

(4) A bus which has a seating capacity exceeding 45 passengers shall be
provided with 3 exits which shall comply with the following requirements-

   (a)  one of the exits may be a secondary emergency exit;

   (b)  2 of the exits (neither being a secondary emergency exit) shall be so
        placed as not to be on the same side of the bus;

   (c)  where 2 exits are placed on the same side of the bus, the distance
        between their centres shall not be less than 3 metres; and

   (d)  one of the exits (not being a secondary emergency exit) shall be
        placed at the front end of the bus so that the distance between its
        centre and the foremost part of the bus is not more than 3 metres and
        another of the exits (not being a secondary emergency exit) shall be
        placed at the rear end of the bus so that the distance between its
        centre and the rearmost part of the bus is not more than 3 metres.

(5) In the case of a half-decked bus, an emergency exit of dimensions not less
than 1500 millimetres by 450 millimetres shall be provided in the roof of the
bus and so placed that the transverse centre line of that exit lies within 600
millimetres of the mid-point between the front edges of the foremost and of
the rearmost passenger seats in the bus.

(6) Where, in the case of a double-decked bus which has a permanent  top,
access to the upper deck is obtained by means of an enclosed staircase, an
emergency exit of dimensions not less than 1500 millimetres by 450 millimetres
shall be provided on that deck and placed otherwise than on the near side of
the vehicle.

(7) Every entrance provided in a bus shall be placed on the near side of the
bus, but one or more entrances may be provided on the off side of the bus if-

   (a)  in respect of any entrance so provided it is not also an exit provided
        in accordance with any of the foregoing provisions in this regulation;

   (b)  every such entrance is fitted with a door which can be controlled only
        by the driver while sitting in his seat; and

   (c)  the device available to the driver for opening or closing that door is
        a separate and readily distinguishable device from that available to
        the driver for opening or closing any door fitted to the near side of
        the bus: Provided that this paragraph shall not apply in the case of a
        bus referred to in paragraph (2).

(8) Handrails shall be fitted on each side of every entrance and exit provided
in a bus (other than an emergency exit) to assist passengers to board or
alight from the vehicle.

(9) The width of every entrance and exit provided in a bus (other than the
secondary emergency exit or an emergency exit provided in accordance with
paragraphs (5) and (6)) shall be-

   (a)  not less than 500 millimetres; and

   (b)  in the case of an exit which serves both decks of a double-decked bus
        (disregarding any stanchion), being an exit which is either-

        (i)    the only such exit in the bus; or

        (ii)   the exit most readily and directly associated with a staircase
               serving the upper deck, not less than 900 millimetres: Provided
               that this paragraph shall not apply in the case of an exit
               referred to in paragraph (2) if the width of that exit measured
               along the side of the bus is not less than 500 millimetres and
               its width measured along the rear of the bus is not less than
               450 millimetres.

(10) For the purposes of this regulation-

   (a)  references to the seating capacity of a vehicle shall, in the case of
        a double-decked bus, be treated as references to the seating capacity
        of its lower deck;

   (b)  references to the distance between the centres or between the nearest
        points of the openings of 2 exits in a bus are references to the
        distance between lines drawn at right-angles to the longitudinal axis
        of the bus and passing respectively through the centres or, as the
        case may be, the nearest points of the openings of the exits at
        gangway level; and

   (c)  the reference to the distance between the centre of an exit placed at
        the front end of a bus and the foremost part of the bus is a reference
        to the distance between lines drawn at right-angles to the
        longitudinal axis of the bus and passing through the centre of that
        exit and the said foremost part and the reference to the distance
        between the centre of an exit placed at the rear end of a bus and the
        rearmost part of the bus is a reference to the distance between lines
        drawn as aforesaid and passing through the centre of that exit and the
        said rearmost part.

(11) A bus shall not be treated as failing to comply with this regulation by
reason only that a number of exits are provided in excess of the number
specified in relation to it by this regulation.