Inspectors have been seeing an increase in Ford Transit vans with a GVWR of greater than 10,000 lbs. that transport more than 10 passengers and are equipped with a rear exit door. There are no roof hatches in the rear half the vehicle. The rear exit door is obstructed by a row of four seats that span across the back row and located about 30 inches away from the release mechanism. There is a cargo space filling this 30-inch gap. In order for a passenger to access the release mechanism, they must hop over the seat into the cargo space.

Additionally, the emergency exit markings cannot be easily seen as it hides behind the head rest and the release mechanism depicts a pictograph of lifting up the lever and jumping out, but contains no written instructions for operation.

Vehicle label states it meets FMVSS.

There have been mixed opinions amongst inspectors on whether seats are actually obstructing the rear exit, and the scenario is not clearly addressed in the emergency exit inspection bulletin.

Request for discussion and potential update to inspection bulletin to address these circumstances.

The committee added verbiage and an example to the inspection bulletin indicating a back seat or other interior component forward of the exit space does not always render it unusable. This edit will provide the necessary guidance to inspectors, consist with the rest of the guidance in the bulletin, so they do not need to reference FMVSS while conducting inspections.

This issue was reopened for clarification on the added language.