Interpretation ID: 18911.ztv

Mr. Bill Carpenter, Jr.
The Carpenter Group
514 Chestnut Street
Pacific Grove, CA 93950-3916

Dear Mr. Carpenter:

This is further reply to your letter of August 3, 1998, in which you submitted a request for an interpretation, subject to a claim of confidentiality. This Office informed you on October 13, that your request was granted subject to the exceptions noted therein.

Your company has developed an automotive aftermarket "security accessory" that "provides a highly visual reference for a vehicle's audible alarm device." You wish to ensure that the device does not violate any Federal safety requirements. When the audible alarm device is operating, your device provides a visual signal consisting of "a series of bright white flashes provided by an oscillating xenon strobe circuit." The unit is mounted inside the vehicle, permanently attached to the windshield and/or back window (recommended mounting location is "centered left-to-right at the highest possible point"). The unit will not operate when the ignition is on or when the vehicle is moving under its own power.

The manufacture and sale of this accessory is not subject to any Federal motor vehicle safety standard. However, the accessory is considered "motor vehicle equipment," and in the event that either its manufacturer or this agency determines that it incorporates a safety-related defect, the manufacturer must notify and remedy according to Federal law.

The installation of the accessory has the theoretical potential of affecting compliance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 111 Rearview Mirrors. This standard specifies a field of view of a level road surface that the inside rearview mirror must provide. Mounting the accessory at a location below the recommended "highest possible point" could compromise the view of the road surface, resulting in a noncompliance with the field of view requirements. If the vehicle as originally manufactured or sold fails to meet the field of view requirement, its manufacturer or dealer must provide an outside rearview mirror on the passenger side of the vehicle. We believe that virtually all new motor vehicles are now equipped with a passenger side rearview mirror as standard equipment, and that a vehicle would continue to conform with Standard No. 111 even if the field of view of the interior rearview mirror was compromised by mounting the accessory at other than the "highest possible point."

If you have any questions, you may call Taylor Vinson of this Office (202-366-5263).

Sincerely,
Frank Seales, Jr.
Chief Counsel
ref:111
d.11/20/98