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A compact seating arrangement for a vehicle, the seating arrangement comprising three seats: a front driver's seat arranged centrally and, at least to some extent, forward of two transversely aligned rear passenger seats, wherein the driver's seat extends transversely so as to be positioned in front

A compact seating arrangement for a vehicle, the seating arrangement comprising three seats: a front driver's seat arranged centrally and, at least to some extent, forward of two transversely aligned rear passenger seats, wherein the driver's seat extends transversely so as to be positioned in front of part of each of the rear passengers' seats, the extent of the overlap in the transverse position of the driver's seat and the rear passenger seats being such that each side of the driver's seat is required to be shaped so as to be able to accommodate at least part of a leg of a passenger seated in a forward facing position in a respective one of the passenger seats.

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1. A compact seating arrangement for a vehicle, the seating arrangement comprising at least three seats: a front driver's seat arranged substantially centrally and, at least to some extent, forward of two substantially transversely aligned rear passenger seats, wherein the driver's seat extends tran

1. A compact seating arrangement for a vehicle, the seating arrangement comprising at least three seats: a front driver's seat arranged substantially centrally and, at least to some extent, forward of two substantially transversely aligned rear passenger seats, wherein the driver's seat extends transversely so as to be positioned in front of part of each of the rear passengers' seats, the extent of the overlap in the transverse position of the driver's seat and the rear passenger seats being such that each side of the driver's seat comprises a seat base on which a user sits having a top surface and a bottom surface and a seat back having a front surface for supporting a user's back and a back surface and a space or a cut-out is provided on each side of the seat base from the top surface to the bottom surface and/or a space or cut-out is provided on each side of the seat back of the driver's seat from the front surface to the back surface so as to be able to accommodate at least part of a leg of a passenger seated in a forward facing position in a respective one of the rear passenger seats whereby the spacing between a center line of the driver's seat and center lines of each of the passenger seats and thus the spacing between occupants of the passenger seats can be reduced. 2. The compact seating arrangement as claimed in claim 1 in which each of the seats is arranged to seat a person in a relatively upright position, the seat backs being inclined to the vertical at an angle of 30 degrees or less. 3. The compact seating arrangement as claimed in claim 1 in which a substantially horizontal floor is provided on either side of the driver's seat and immediately in front of the passenger seats wherein an upper surface of each seat base (which supports the occupant's bottom in use), is spaced 400 mm to 500 mm (D3), above the plane of said floor. 4. The compact seating arrangement as claimed in claim 1 in which the centre line of each passenger seat is laterally spaced from the centre line of the driver's seat by a distance D1 which is smaller than the width S of the shoulders of a typical adult so that, when each of the seats is occupied by a typical adult, the inboard shoulders of the passengers are spaced from each other by a distance less than S. 5. The compact seating arrangement as claimed in claim 4 in which the distance D1 is in the range 250 min-400 mm. 6. The compact seating arrangement as claimed in claim 1 in which said spaces or cut-outs extend at least 50 mm laterally into each side of the seat base and the seat back. 7. The compact seating arrangement as claimed in claim 1 comprising a substantially flat floor space on each side of the driver's seat and in front of the respective passenger seat. 8. A vehicle incorporating a compact seating arrangement comprising at least three seats: a front driver's seat arranged substantially centrally and, at least to some extent, forward of two substantially transversely aligned rear passenger seats, wherein the driver's seat extends transversely so as to be positioned in front of part of each of the rear passengers' seats, the extent of the overlap in the transverse position of the driver's seat and the rear passenger seats being such that each side of the driver's seat comprises a seat base having a top surface and a bottom surface where a user sits on the top surface of the seat base and a seat back having a front surface and a back surface wherein the front surface supports a user's back, and a space or a cut-out is provided on each side of the seat base from the top surface to the bottom surface and/or a space or cut-out is provided on each side of the seat back of the driver's seat from the front surface to the back surface so as to be able to accommodate at least part of a leg of a passenger seated in a forward facing position in a respective one of the rear passenger seats whereby the spacing between a center line of the driver's seat and center lines of each of the passenger seats and thus the spacing between occupants of the passenger seats can be reduced. 9. The vehicle as claimed in claim 8 having an overall cabin width in the range 1.25 m-1.4 m and an overall length of 2.3 m or less. 10. The vehicle as claimed in claim 8 in which the seating arrangement is enclosed in a cabin, at least part of one side of the cabin and at least part of the roof of the cabin being movable to an open position so as to enable an adult to step into the cabin from the side and to stand upright or substantially upright on said floor space. 11. The vehicle as claimed in claim 10 in which said at least part of one side of the cabin and at least part of the roof of the cabin are arranged to open upwards or longitudinally so as to not extend beyond the lateral dimension of the vehicle to any significant degree. 12. The vehicle as claimed in claim 9 in which each of the seats is arranged to seat a person in a relatively upright position, the seat backs being inclined to the vertical at an angle of 30 degrees or less. 13. The vehicle as claimed in claim 8 in which a substantially horizontal floor is provided on either side of the driver's seat and immediately in front of the passenger seats wherein an upper surface of each seat base (which supports the occupant's bottom in use) is spaced 400 mm to 500 mm (D3), above the plane of said floor. 14. The vehicle as claimed in claim 8 in which the centre line of each passenger seat is laterally spaced from the centre line of the driver's seat by a distance D1 which is smaller than the width S of the shoulders of a typical adult so that, when each of the seats is occupied by a typical adult, the inboard shoulders of the passengers are spaced from each other by a distance less than S. 15. The vehicle as claimed in claim 14 in which the distance D1 is in the range 250 mm 400 mm. 16. The vehicle as claimed in claim 8 in which said spaces or cut-outs extend at least 50 mm laterally into each side of the seat base and/or the seat back. 17. The vehicle as claimed in claim 8 comprising a substantially flat floor space on each side of the driver's seat and in front of the respective passenger seat upon which an occupant can stand as they enter or exit the vehicle.