Interpretation ID: aiam4379
The Austrian Trade Commission
1875 Connecticut Avenue
N.W.
Suite 1114
Washington
DC 20009;
Dear Mr. Mayr: This responds to your August 5, 1987 letter to my office and August 1 telephone conversation between Ms. Schott of your staff and Ms. Hom of mine, concerning our regulations for motor vehicles. You enclosed a brochure from the Austrian firm, Reformwerke Wels, describing a 'public utility vehicle.' Subsequently, Ms. Schott indicated in her telephone call that Reformwerke Wels has informed her that the vehicles in question have a top speed of 15.53 miles per hour (mph). Based on this information, you asked whether the vehicle is a 'motor vehicle' for the purposes of our regulations. The answer is no.; Under a longstanding policy, the National Highway Traffic Safet Administration has regarded vehicles *not* to be 'motor vehicles' within the meaning of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, and therefore not subject to our motor vehicle safety standards, if they (1) have an unusual body configuration which sets the vehicles apart form typical highway traffic, and (2) have a maximum attainable speed of 20 mph or less. The utility vehicles manufactured by Reformwerke Wels meet these criteria. Thus, the vehicles are not 'motor vehicles' under our regulations and the manufacture of those vehicles is not regulated by this agency.; You might wish to contact the Consumer Product Safety Commission t learn if they have any Federal safety regulations applicable to the type of utility vehicle manufactured by Reformwerke Wels. Their address is: Office of the General Counsel, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, 1111 18th Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20207. Telephone: (202) 492-6980.; Please contact us if we can be of further assistance. Sincerely, Erika Z. Jones, Chief Counsel