Majestic Transportation Products Ltd. Announces Test Results
28 January 1999
Majestic Transportation Products Ltd., a Subsidiary of The Majestic Companies Ltd., OTC BB:MJXC, Announces Successful FMVSS Test Results on Safe-T-Bar Product
SAN DIEGO--Jan. 27, 1999--The Majestic Companies Ltd. (OTC BB:MJXC) is pleased to announce that the critical phase of FMVSS 222 (Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards) compliance testing has been completed on the company's proprietary school bus passenger restraint product, The Safe-T-Bar.
The completed tests include: Force Deflection, forward and aft, using all major school bus seat manufacturers (Blue Bird, Thomas, Amtran & Carpenter), as well as compliance with the critical "four-inch" rule. The Safe-T-Bar has successfully passed on all tests to date.
After receiving the results, Adrian Corbett, Majestic Transportation's president stated, "The Safe T-Bar has performed flawlessly during these tests. This is a significant milestone for the Safe-T-Bar, and we are now ready to start the process of taking this exciting and much needed product to the marketplace."
The remaining tests are for the most part voluntary procedures that will compare the product's effectiveness in reducing impact forces to occupants during collision tests as compared to two primary scenarios: no restraints (or "compartmentalization," the restraint strategy currently employed on the majority of U.S. school buses) and two-point seat belts.
These tests, scheduled to be fully completed by the end of January 1999, are being conducted at KARCO Engineering, a DOT (Department of Transportation) approved and certified collision test facility located in Adelanto, Calif. KARCO is one of the most respected testing labs west of the Mississippi, and regularly conducts compliance testing for NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration), as well as a number of domestic and foreign OEM car manufacturers.
On a different front, the Safe-T-Bar recently received mention in the editor's "Picks, Predictions, and Prognostications for 1999" column in January's School Transportation News (STN), a widely read industry periodical.
The article gave the Safe-T-Bar top billing and states matter-of-factly: "The Majestic Companies, Ltd. of San Diego, manufacturer of the Safe-T-Bar restraint system, plans a series of sled tests, including possibly a roll-over test, early in the new year to test its product to FMVSS 222. The Safe-T-Bar concept offers a roller-coaster type bar that rests in the student's lap, holding him or her snugly in place. The Company's computer simulation indicates the system meets FMVSS 222. If real world tests demonstrate that indeed it does, the momentum for some form of occupant protection will surge forward."
The company has recently finalized negotiations with an experienced and capable outsource vendor to produce the Safe-T-Bar bus restraint. This vendor has more than 25 years of OEM/automotive experience in molded urethane and steel stamped components, and is ready to start building the production tooling. Once tooling for the project has been completed, the production certification process will begin.
Several media relations/press groups have made proposals, and the company expects to make a decision to employ a media partner in the near future to orchestrate a comprehensive media campaign. For additional information on the company and/or the Safe-T-Bar, visit the company's new Web site at: www.themcl.com.
The Safe-T-Bar is a heavily padded lap-bar restraint system, similar to the type of restraints commonly utilized on amusement park rides, which mounts easily onto all major OEM manufacturers' bus seat designs. The Safe-T-Bar's patent pending design employs a weighted pendulum device (similar to the design of standard seat belt retractors) that activates a locking mechanism during the event of an accident, heavy braking, sudden changes in direction or bus rollovers.
The Safe-T-Bar is a durable, economical and comprehensive restraint system that, unlike seat belts which are subject to vandalism and require active participation by the occupant to employ, will passively restrain all bus passengers and provide many years of maintenance free service. The market for a commercially accepted bus restraint product has been estimated to be in excess of $1 billion.
Majestic Transportation Products Ltd. holds the exclusive manufacturing and distribution rights for this product in the U.S., Canada and Europe.
The Majestic Companies Ltd. currently owns and manages three operating subsidiaries: Majestic Modular Buildings Ltd., located in Modesto, Calif. - manufactures modular classrooms, office buildings, medical facilities and telecommunication equipment shelters; Majestic Financial Ltd., the leasing and financing arm of the company, which leases modular buildings to California Unified School Systems, as well as to other users of modular structures; and Majestic Transportation Products Ltd., a product development company that designs, engineers, and markets transportation safety equipment, including a proprietary passenger safety restraint product for the school bus industry named the "Safe-T-Bar."
Some of the statements in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by forward-looking statements.
Source: The Majestic Companies Ltd.
