Riverside, Calif. — Grech Motors recently announced that three-point seat belts will be installed as a standard feature in all Freightliner shuttle bus units (GM36, GM40 and GM45) beginning production after November 1, 2016. This move keeps the high-end coachbuilder in compliance with federal regulations regarding the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) and manufacturing requirements for all buses exceeding 26,000 GVWR.
As one of the principal undertakings of the Department of Transportation’s 2009 Motorcoach Safety Action Plan, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has amended FMVSS No. 208, “Occupant crash protection” (49 CFR 571.208), to “require a lap/shoulder belt at all designated seating positions on all over-the-road buses” and “for buses other than over-the-road buses, this final rule requires a lap/shoulder belt at all passenger seating positions on new buses with a GVWR great than 11,793 kg (26,000 lbs.)."
“As Grech Motors manufactures all of our seating in-house, we are ahead of the curve on this requirement and it will not impede our production time whatsoever,” said AJ Thurber, Grech Motors vice president of sales & marketing.
“Safety and FMVSS compliancy are the top priority in our manufacturing process at Grech Motors,” said Grech Motors President and CEO Ed Grech.
Buses built before November 2016 with lap belts will be grandfathered in without having to revise their seats to feature three-point seat belts.
Visit grechmotors.com for more information.