ID: nht71-3.27

DATE: 07/08/71

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; Lawrence R. Schneider; NHTSA

TO: Nathan Sagan

TITLE: FMVSR INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This is in further reply to your request made to the Regional Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration concerning the applicability of the Tire Identification and Record Keeping regulation (49 CFR Part 57) to tires on Cushman Golf Carts.

As we indicated in our letter of June 23, golf carts are not considered to be motor vehicles within the meaning of the regulation or the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act. Therefore, the regulation is not applicable to tires sold with or for golf carts.

ID: nht71-3.28

DATE: 07/10/71

FROM: CLUE D. FERGUSON -- NHTSA; SIGNATURE BY JOSEPH F. ZEMAITIS

TO: Superex of Ramsey Ltd.

TITLE: FMVSS INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This is in reply to your letter of June 10, 1971, in which you state that you are interested in determining whether a particular child seat meets Federal requirements, and whether you may submit a sample fo us for approval.

The NHTSA does not furnish approvals, or statements that a particular product complies with an applicable Federal standard. Under the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act (15 U.S.C. @ 1381 at seg.) it is the responsibility of each manufacturer both to determine that his products comply with any applicable safety standard, and to certify that the product complies in accordance with section 114 of the Act (15 U.S.C 1403) and the Certification regulations (49 CFR Part 567, copy enclosed).

Manufacturers generally either test their products to the applicable standards in their own facilities, or contract with an independent test laboratory to perform the appropriate tests. It is up to the manufacturer to determine what means are best suited for his particular product. You should note, however, that the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act requires a manufacturer to use due care both in manufacturing his products to comply with applicable standards, and ensuring that his certification that they comply is not false or misleading (Section 108). Violators of those requirements may be subject to civil penalties and other sanctions provided for in the Act (Sections 109 and 110).

A copy of the Act, with the sections specified above marked for your convenience, is enclosed. If you have any questions concerning its application to you, please write to us and we will be happy to answer them for you.

Enclosure

ID: nht71-3.29

DATE: 07/13/71

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; Lawrence R. Schneider; NHTSA

TO: Volkswagen of America, Inc.

TITLE: FMVSS INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This is in response to your petition for rulemaking of June 28, 1971. You requested that Standard No. 208 be amended to allow the seat belt warning switch to be installed in the buckle instead of the retractor.

The action on petitions for reconsideration issued on July 2, 1971, in effect granted your request, allowing the warning shut-off to be keyed to webbing withdrawal or buckle closure.

ID: nht71-3.3

DATE: 05/17/71

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; L. B. Schneider; NHTSA

TO: Toyota Motor Company, Ltd.

TITLE: FMVSS INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This is in reply to your letter of April 1 seeking a clarification of paragraph S4.1.2 of Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 104.

We confirm your understanding that S4.1.2 excludes any part of wiped areas A, B, and C that lie outside the perimeter line. Change of your driver's seating reference point to meet the proposed requirements of Standard No. 201 does not affect the percentage of area A, assuming no change in the perimeter line.

ID: nht71-3.30

DATE: 07/13/71

FROM: L. R. SCHNEIDER -- ACTING CHIEF COUNSEL, NHTSA; SIGNATURE BY DAVID SCHMELTZER

TO: Grove Manufacturing Company

TITLE: FMVSR INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This is in reply to your letter of June 22, 1971, regarding the Tire Identification and Record Keeping Regulation (49 CFR 574).

You have asked if Grove Manufacturing Company is a "Motor Vehicle Manufacturer" within the meaning of section 574.10 of the regulation. As you indicated in your letter, you are the final-stage manufacturer of a truck mounted hydraulic crane, and as such, you are considered the vehicle manufacturer under section 568.3 of Vehicles Manufactured in Two or More Stages (49 CFR 568). As the vehicle manufacturer, you are required to maintain records of the name and address of the first purchaser of your vehicles, for purposes other than resale, along with a record of the tires on the vehicle at the time it is shipped.

Enclosed for convenience are copies of both regulations.

For your information, I would direct you to section 568.7 which allows an incomplete vehicle manufacturer to assume all the responsibilities of a manufacturer; this would include the record keeping responsibilities of Part 574.

If we can be of further assistance, please feel free to write.

ID: nht71-3.31

DATE: 07/12/71

FROM: L. R. SCHNEIDER -- ACTING CHIEF COUNSEL, NHTSA; SIGNATURE BY DAVID SCHMELTZER

TO: Recreational Vehicle Institute Inc.

TITLE: FMVSR INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This is in reply to your letter of June 3, 1971, concerning the application of sections 111 and 113 of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act (15 U.S.C. @ 1400, 1402), and the Defect Reports regulations (49 CFR Part 573), to manufacturers of slide-in campers.

In your letter, you state your conclusion that slide-in campers are items of motor vehicle equipment; that consequently, sections 113(a), 113(b), 113(c), 113(d) and 113(e) of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act (15 U.S.C. @@ 1402(a), 1402(b), 1402(c), 1402(d), 1402(e)) do not apply to manufacturers of slide-in campers; that Part 573, "Defect Reports," similarly does not apply to them, but that section 111 of the Act (15 U.S.C. 1400) does apply to them. You request that we confirm those conclusions of advise you in which areas we disagree.

You are correct in concluding that a slide-in camper is an item of motor vehicle equipment under the Act. The Administration's position has not changed since publication of the ruling of March 26, 1968 (33 F.R. 5020), to which you refer, concerning the classification of slide-in campers as items of motor vehicle equipment. We also agree with your conclusion that sections 113(a), 113(b), and 113(c) of the Act, do not directly apply to manufacturers of slide-in campers. They apply, as you state, only to manufacturers of motor vehicles.

We also agree with your conclusion that section 113(d) of the Act (15 U.S.C. 1402(d)) and Part 573, Defect Reports, do not apply to manufacturers of slide-in campers or other motor vehicle equipment. We also agree that section 111 of the Act (15 U.S.C. 1400) does apply to both equipment and vehicle manufacturers.

We do not agree, however, with your position that section 113(e) of the Act (15 U.S.C. @ 1402(e)) applies only to manufacturers of motor vehicles. To read section 113(e) in this manner would allow one of the basic remedial provisions of the Act to be ineffective in dealing with a vast segment of the industry that the Act is intended to regulate. Our position is that section 113(e) applies both to manufacturers of motor vehicles and to manufacturers of motor vehicle equipment, and that sections 113(a), 113(b) and 113(c) as referenced in that section also apply to both types of manufacturers. We believe this conclusion to be clearly reflected in the language of these sections. While the language of section 113(a) refers only to manufacturers of motor vehicles, section 113(e) refers with equal emphasis to manufacturers of a motor vehicle or item of motor vehicle equipment.

To summarize, while manufacturers of slide-in campers or other motor vehicle equipment are not obligated to conduct voluntary defect notification campaigns pursuant to section 113(a), should the Administrator determine, pursuant to section 113(e), that a slide-in camper or other item of motor vehicle fails to comply with an applicable motor vehicle safety standard, or contains a defect that relates to motor vehicle safety, then the Administrator is authorized to order the manufacturer of that item of motor vehicle equipment to conduct a notification campaign, as specified in sections 113(a), 113(b), and 113(c). Failure or refusal by the manufacturer to do so may result in a violation of section 108(a)(4) of the Act (15 U.S.C. @ 1397(a)(4)) and the impositions of the sanctions specified in sections 109 (15 U.S.C. @ 1398) and 110 (15 U.S.C. @ 1399).

I wish to point out that, in practice, manufacturers of slide-in campers or other motor vehicle equipment and manufacturers of motor vehicles may be treated similarly under section 113. When the Administration has reason to believe that either a motor vehicle or item of motor vehicle equipment fails to comply with an applicable standard or contains a safety-related defect, the manufacturer is generally requested to discuss the matter informally before a formal determination is made pursuant to section 113(e). Most manufacturers have, at this point, and irrespective of whether they manufacture vehicles or equipment, voluntarily offered in the best interests of safety to notify owners of record of the problem.

We are pleased to be of assistance.

ID: nht71-3.32

DATE: 07/13/71

FROM: L. R. SCHNEIDER -- ACTING CHIEF COUNSEL, NHTSA; SIGNATURE BY DAVID SCHMELTZER

TO: FWD Corporation

TITLE: FMVSR INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This is in reply to your letter of July 1, 1971, concerning the Tire Identification and Record Keeping Regulation (49 CFR 574).

You are correct in your interpretation of the regulation, the vehicle manufacturer is not required to forward tire data to the tire manufacturer. The vehicle manufacturer's responsibilities are limited to maintaining a record of the tires on or in the vehicle when shipped along with a record of the names and addresses of first purchasers of the vehicles equipped with such tires. The method of complying with these requirements is left to the vehicle manufacturer. In the event of a defect notification, the tire manufacturer will be under an obligation to notify the vehicle manufacturer describing the suspect tires.

If we can be of further assistance, please feel free to write.

ID: nht71-3.33

DATE: 07/14/71

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; C. A. Baker for E. T. Driver; NHTSA

TO: Airstream Technical Center

TITLE: FMVSS INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This is in response to your letter of June 25, 1971, to Mr. Douglas W. Toms, Acting Administrator, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, concerning lamp locations proposed for your 1972 Airstream trailer.

Federal Motor Vehicles Safety Standard No. 108, as amended October 31, 1970 and February 3, 1971, effective January 1, 1972, requires that clearance lamps be mounted to indicate the overall width and as near the top as practicable. Paragraph S4.3.1.5 permits optional mounting height of rear clearance lamps when the rear identification lamps are mounted at the extreme height of a vehicle.

The front and rear clearance lamps mounted as shown on your drawing 10033, revision C, do not appear to meet these location requirements. These lamps could be mounted higher than shown and still indicate the overall width of the trailer at locations other than the upper right and left corners, perhaps as high as the front and rear windows.

In addition, the side reflex reflectors are to be located as far to the front and rear of the vehicle as practicable. Neither the front nor rear side reflex reflectors shown on the subject drawing appear to meet this requirement.

ID: nht71-3.34

DATE: 07/14/71

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; Lawrence R. Schneider; NHTSA

TO: Department of the Army

TITLE: FMVSR INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This is in reply to your letter of June 29 with its enclosures from the Staff Judge Advocate, Aberdeen Proving Ground. The Judge Advocate requests an "interpretation of the applicability of the [military] exception to recent motor vehicle brake fluid legislation," stating his specific interest in "the use of MIL-P-46046" brake fluid.

We are unaware of any "legislation" that affects the manufacture and use of MIL-P-46046 brake fluid. The NHTSA issued an amended brake fluid standard on June 24 but this does not affect the exception provided in 49 CFR @ 571.7(c) that "No standard applies to a vehicle or item of equipment manufactured for, and sold directly to, the Armed Force of the United States in conformity with contractual specifications." Thus continued use of MIL-P-46046 brake fluid by military personnel appears permissible as far as this agency is concerned.

ID: nht71-3.35

DATE: 07/14/71

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; Lawrence R. Schneider; NHTSA

TO: Bandag Incorporated

TITLE: FMVSR INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This is in reply to your letter of July 6, 1971 to Mr. E. H. Wallace concerning the methods one of your dealers is using to place the identification number on tires he retreads. The manner in which your retreader in placing the identification number on the tires he retreads is not in conformity with(Illegible Word) 574 because the regulation requires, in Figure 2, that the "H" and the retreader's identification code be parallel with the rest of the tire identification(Illegible Word). The only thing that can be above, below, or to the left or right of the tire identification number is the "DOT" certification which is not applicable to retread tires until such time as the retread tire standard becomes(Illegible Word).