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Magic
seats
- Patented
Many said achieving direct
wheelchair access on a high
floor coach without major
loss of seating couldn’t
be done. A couple of years
ago National Express issued
a series of guidelines to
the industry outlining what
it was looking to achieve
in its new generation of coaches.
One of these was to retain
a
Minimum of 49 seats and that
the wheelchair passenger would
be able to manoeuvre himself
or herself into the wheelchair
bay. The only action necessary
for the driver being to secure
the wheelchair.
Enter NMI. The outcome? The
design, patent and now manufacture
of the Magic seat system,
which meets all the industry
requirements set before us.
The Magic Seats are the front
two seats on the coach. The
seats are exactly the same
as all the other seats in
the coach except for the fact
that they are mounted on the
NMI bases and floor plates. Please note that the magic seats can also be fitted mid way down the vehicle and by the near side rear entrance.
If a wheelchair passenger
needs to be carried the driver
simply removes the seat cushion
and unlocks the seat nearest
the window and turns it though
90 degrees and relocks it.
He then removes the seat cushion
from the second seat and slides
it back
along the floor plate and
that creates the wheelchair
bay ready for the passenger
to board. This same seat contains
a foot operated ratchet mechanism
to secure the wheelchair.
The wheelchair passenger then
has a seatback behind them
and a three-point belt for
securement.
In other words only one seat
is lost when a wheelchair
is loaded.
The system is fully tested
and DDA compliant.
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