Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Bus Rollover Structural Integrity

NHTSA is issuing this final rule to establish Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 227, "Bus rollover structural integrity," to enhance the rollover structural integrity of over-the- road buses (motorcoaches), and other buses with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) greater than 11,793 kilograms (kg) (26,000 pounds (lb)). This final rule, issued pursuant to the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), requires the buses to provide a "survival space" in a rollover test to protect occupants from possible collapse of the bus structure around them. In addition, to reduce the likelihood of ejection, this final rule prohibits emergency exits from opening in the rollover test. This final rule ensures that bus roofs and side wall panels will resist deformation and intrusion into the occupant space in rollover crashes, and reduces the risk of emergency exits becoming ejection portals in a crash.