OOSC, Part II, Item 15. a. Buses - Emergency Exits

In May 2018 while conducting level 1 Passenger Vehicle Inspections I came across two buses that had the emergency exit handles partially or completely obstructed by modifications. One of the buses had been converted to a "party bus" where the handles were completely obstructed and the second bus was a conversion by Tiffany Limos which were partially obstructed by the wall. In both cases, the person attempting to open the handle would only be able to use only their finger tips or two fingers to open the latch as it was behind the wall. There was also concern with the mini-blinds which were in the up position at the time of the inspection and at what point if any of they would be considered obstructing the exit. The windows not being labeled was addressed. The OOS Criteria only addresses windows that do not open and close or obstructed. The windows did open and close and the window in this case was not obstructed just the handles.

There has been a massive increase of this type or transportation and modification being done and this could potentially become a major issue. Several scenarios could happen; there is the potential if a passenger was injured or had blood on there hands and the exit handles are requiring the person to use fine motor skills to reach the handles and open the window, the passenger would not be able to access the handle, the bus is full of smoke, or turned on the side would make it virtually impossible to access the exit handles.

Would like the OOS Criteria to be modified or to specifically address the concern of accessing the emergency exit handles and considered the issue of the mini-blinds on the exit windows.