Section 300.59. Seating.

 

(1)  All seats shall be forward facing and securely fastened to that part or parts of the body which support them. Passenger seat cushions shall be fastened to prevent the cushions from disengaging from the seat frames in event of an accident. There shall be a minimum space of 24 inches between the forward surface of a seat back and the rear surface of the seat or barrier ahead measured across the seat cushion without depressing any surface. The forward surface of seat backs may have side bolsters that briefly reduce the width to less than 24 inches provided the remainder of the seat measures at least 24 inches.

(2)  The forwardmost seat on the right side of the bus shall be located so as not to interfere with the driver's vision.

(3)  A minimum of 36 inches of headroom for the sitting position above the top of the undepressed cushion line of all seats shall be provided. The measurement shall be made vertically not more than 11 inches from the side wall at cushion height and at the fore and aft center of the cushion.

(4)  

(a) The backs of seats of similar size shall be of the same width at the top and of the same height from the floor and shall slant at the same angle with the floor. The top corners, and at least 10 inches of the top of the back surface of the seat backs shall be padded sufficiently to reduce the likelihood of injury upon impact. Seat cushions and seat backs may not have any torn or worn-through covering material.

(b) The seat back of the rearmost seat shall be of the same dimension as the seat immediately forward. Failure to comply with this standard will result in the loss of one seating position, or 2 seating positions if this situation occurs in both rows, when determining the capacity of the bus. This requirement shall apply only to type A-I, B, C or D school buses manufactured after January 1, 1984.

(5)  Fold down, fold up or reclining seats or seat backs is not permitted in a school bus except as allowed in s. Trans 300.33 (3) .

(6)  A child restraint seat may be installed in place of a standard seat. The replacement seat shall meet all of the requirements in this section, except that the seat back may exceed the seat height of the remaining bus seats by not more than 4 inches.

Cr. Register, February, 1983, No. 326 , eff. 3-1-83; am. (4) (b), (5), cr. (6), Register, February, 1995, No. 470 , eff. 3-1-95 ; am. (4) and (5), Register, December, 1997, No. 504 , eff. 1-1-98; CR 03-116 : am. (1) Register April 2004 No. 580 , eff. 5-1-04.