To: DRIVER & VEHICLE STANDARDS AGENCY

BUS FLOOR TO ROOF HEIGHT INAPPROPRIATE

Prevent the use of current new buses and future buses manufactured to be used for public transport that do not have a proper floor to roof height as this will prevent injury to passengers. The recognition of the right to a passenger's health and safety at all times is and should be considered as law.

Why is this important?

The current floor to roof height is low and a passenger is not going to always realise that the height of the vehicle is low that they will bend over and duck their heads to sit in the rear of the bus, especially as all buses other than this newly introduced bus have relatively ample head height when accessing all bus seats.

A passenger made a complaint that they literally hurt themselves experiencing neck and head pains approximately 3 days after the incident, that they felt the need to make a complaint after stepping up on a step to access a rear seat they hit themselves firmly on the head on the low floor panel of the bus. Contrary, to the findings of the Automotive Engineer - Defects Investigation, Andrew M Tudor, in his letter dated 4 August 2014, who feels "VSB accepts that the head room at the rear of the vehicle is restrictive, however, this should be clear to occupants, as the roof panel remains level, the floor level raises as it progresses down the bus with a number of steps in it and the view clearly shows that the amount of head room for the rear seats is restrictive."

Obviously, this statement that VSB accepts is not the case for all passengers travelling on the bus that choose to make their way to sit in the rear seats for any reason, which in the case of the person that made the complaint was to sit in one of the only available seats on a crowded bus.