Interpretation ID: nht91-5.26

DATE: August 14, 1991

FROM: Elizabeth D. Smith -- Department Head, Community and Special Services, Division of Program Monitoring, State of South Carolina, State Health and Human Services Finance Commission

TO: Mary Versailles -- Office of Chief Counsel, NHTSA

TITLE: None

ATTACHMT: Attached to letter dated 10-15-91 from Paul Jackson Rice to Elizabeth D. Smith (A38; VSA S108(a)(2)(A); Std. 208; Std. 209; Std. 210; Std. 222)

TEXT:

I spoke with you last week regarding the addition of safety belts to a 1986 Ford Club Wagon which is currently used to transport children between three and five years of age. The vehicle is classified as a bus according to the Federal Motor Vehicle Standards. It and others like it, which are owned by our agency and assigned to child development contractors, are used primarily to transport pre-school age children to and from the child development center and on field trips. The vehicle has seat belts for 15 passengers including the driver. The question has been posed regarding the legality and safety of adding additional seat belts in order for providers to transport up to four additional children. As equipped now, the providers are physically able to belt more than one child per seat belt. However, their compliance with state laws in doing such is questionable.

I have checked with the Legal Division of the South Carolina Highway Department and have been advised by Bill Todd that there is currently no state law that would forbid someone from adding seat belts to a vehicle and transporting more than 14 children on these vans. Mr. Todd advised me to check with you regarding any Federal regulations that would prohibit this. Contact was also made with Robert Green, who represents the Coalition for Safer, Cleaner Vehicles. He saw no problem with doing this. He suggested that the anchor points may be a problem, but since the vehicles are being used to transport children, he didn't see any reason why they would be a problem.

The particular provider who has raised this question would use the local Ford dealership to install the additional belts. She has spoken with the service manager at the dealership and he feels that this can easily be accomplished without adversely affecting the safety of the vehicle. He felt that the additional weight of the extra passengers would not overload the vehicle, but planned to discuss it with his district or regional manager this week. The service manager also spoke to a Highway Patrol Sergeant who stated that the vehicle doesn't specify the seating capacity or the number of persons per seat; therefore, he saw no problem with the installation of additional seat belts. There is nothing in any of the materials regarding this vehicle that states it is a 15 passenger van. The only thing that currently defines that is the number of seat belts. Our main question for your office is whether the addition of seat belts violates the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards Act.

Additional information taken from the inside door of the van is:

Date 4/86 GVWR 8000 lbs./391 KG Front GAWR: 3400 lbs. Rear GAWR: 6,084 lbs.

1,542 KG WITH 2,759 KG WITH Type Bus (not school bus) 9M

Any information that you can provide us in the very near future regarding these questions is greatly appreciated. We are certain that other child care provider would be interested in your response as many of them routinely transport more than 14 children on these vans by double belting them. If there are extenuating circumstances that impact your responses, please outline them for us. For example, the person manning your hotline number stated that, if the dealer made the installations and would re-certify the safety compliance, then it may be O.K. for the additional belts to be installed.

We don't want our providers to place their clients and their drivers at risk when riding in a vehicle that has been altered, but we also recognize their dilemmas in meeting clients' needs for transportation and the funding limitations that prevent them from purchasing another vehicle and hiring and training staff to drive it. I understand that the liability question would rest with the state if there was an accident.

Thank you for your assistance in promptly addressing this situation. If you need additional information, please feel free to call me at (803) 253-6154.