Interpretation ID: aiam3961
Jr.
St. Peter's School
319 Lombard Street
Philadelphia
PA 19147;
Dear Mr. Bright: This responds to your May 15, 1985 letter to Ms. Linda Marston, Healt and Human Services Regional Director for Region III. Your letter has been referred to my office for reply.; According to your letter, you were informed that federal law prohibit you from transporting more than 9 school children in vans. As a result of this, you believe that the seating in your 15-passenger vans must be restricted in some manner to carry only 9 pupils. You asked for assistance in relieving those restrictions on school transportation.; I appreciate this opportunity to clarify our regulations for schoo buses.; As explained below, there is no federal law prohibiting you fro transporting school children in a 15-passenger van. Federal law does, however, affect the sale of buses to schools. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has the authority, under the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966, to regulate the manufacture and sale of new motor vehicles and new motor vehicle equipment. Congress amended the Vehicle Safety Act in 1974 to direct NHTSA to issue motor vehicle safety standards on specific aspects of school bus safety, such as emergency exits, seating systems, windows and windshields, and fuel systems. The standards we issued became effective April 1, 1977, and apply to each school bus manufactured on or after that date.; The parties subject to the requirements of the Vehicle Safety Act ar the sellers of new school buses. The Vehicle Safety Act requires any person selling a new bus to a school to sell a bus that complies with our motor vehicle safety standards for school buses or be potentially subject to fines under Federal law for selling noncomplying vehicles.; Our definition of a 'school bus,' as found in the definitions sectio of our motor vehicle safety standards (49 CFR S571.3), is as follows:; >>>'School bus' means a bus that is sold, or introduced in interstat commerce, for purposes that include carrying students to and from school or related events, but does not include a bus designed for operation as a common carrier in urban transportation.<<<; Our definition of a 'bus,' also found at 49 CFR 571.3, is 'a moto vehicle with motive power, except a trailer, designed for carrying more than 10 persons.'; Thus, the 15-passenger vans that you operate are 'school buses' unde the Federal definition. Federal law required the seller of new 15- passenger vans to ensure that those vans complied with the school bus safety standards when those vans were sold to the St. Peter's School. There is no Federal prohibition directed against you, however, that restricts you from transporting more than 9 students in a van. Since our authority under the Vehicle Safety Act does not extend to the use of school buses by school districts or individual schools, our regulations do not prohibit you from using 15-passenger vans as school vehicles.; From our correspondence with Pennsylvania and with various schoo districts, we are aware that Pennsylvania has adopted our definition of a 'bus' in Act 1984-146. In doing so, it has extended the reach of state school bus regulations to cover vans with a capacity of 10 passengers and a driver. This recent change in Pennsylvania law does not affect how our regulations applied to the sale of your 15-passenger vans. Your vehicles were always classified as 'school buses' under Federal law, and the persons selling the vans are potentially liable for selling noncomplying buses to St. Peter's School. I have enclosed for your information a letter dated February 12, 1985, from our office to your school concerning our regulations.; Please let me know if you have further questions. Sincerely, Jeffrey R. Miller, Chief Counsel