Interpretation ID: 1983-1.8

TYPE: INTERPRETATION-NHTSA

DATE: 01/27/83

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; Frank Berndt; NHTSA

TO: The Honorable Byron L. Dorgan, House of Representatives

TITLE: FMVSS INTERPRETATION

TEXT:

Dear Mr. Dorgan:

This responds to your letter to Secretary Dole, raising concerns expressed to you in a letter signed by Mssrs., Rick Herbel and Douglas Glove, two of your constituents. These gentlemen asked why school districts are not permitted to purchase vans which do not satisfy the comprehensive school bus safety standards, when such vans would "be used only for hauling cheerleaders, supplies and etc." These gentlemen noted that the capacity of these vans would be from 10 to 15 people, and that they would be more economical to use than a full-size school bus. As is more fully explained below, the answer is that the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, as amended (hereinafter referred to as "the Act"), together with the comprehensive safety standards for school buses (which the Act required this agency to issue) require that all vehicles designed to carry more than 10 persons which are significantly used to transport school students must be certified as meeting those safety standards. Ordinary passenger vans are not certified as doing such, and therefore cannot be so used.

In 1974, Congress passed the School Bus and Motor Vehicle Safety Amendments (Pub. L. 93-492; hereinafter referred to as "the Amendments"). The Amendments added to the Act the following definition of a school bus; "a passenger motor vehicle which is designed to carry more than 10 passengers in addition to the driver, and which...is likely to be significantly used for the purpose of transporting primary, preprimary, or secondary school students to or from such schools or events related to such schools; ..."(15 U.S.C. 1391(14)). Those Amendments also provided that, not later than 15 months after they were enacted, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had to promulgate minimum performance standards for specified aspects of safety performance. The Amendments specified further that these standards "shall apply to each school bus and item of school bus equipment which is manufactured in or imported into the United States on or after April 1, 1977." (15 U.S.C. 1392(i)(1)(B)).

Prior to this Congressional action, many school districts had used so-called "activity buses" to transport students to and from extra-curricular activities. The activity buses were used because they were said to be more comfortable, more prestigious, and so forth. The floor debates on the Amendments show that Congress was aware of the practice of using these activity buses, yet chose to specify a broad definition of school bus. Congress took this step to require vehicles used solely for extracurricular activities to meet the same safety standards as those used to transport the children to and from school. This decision was based partly on the fact that 150 children were killed in 1971 in school bus accidents (see 120 Cong. Rec. H8120, daily ed., August 12, 1974). The statistics since the Amendments were passed indicate that Congress' goal of greatly reducing these facilities has been accomplished by the school bus safety standards promulgated by this agency. In 1981, the last year for which complete statistics are available, there were 10 fatalities in school bus accidents.

There are two courses of action open to your constituents if they wish to purchase vans for extracurricular activities. First, they could purchase a smaller 9-passenger van, because these vehicles would not be considered school buses under the Congressional definition, which applies only to vehicles carrying more than 10 passengers. Second, they can purchase 15 passenger vans which have been modified and certified as complying with the school bus safety standards. A number of companies will make the necessary modifications to these vans so that they can be certified as complying with those standards.

If you have any further questions on this subject or need any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely, Original signed by Frank Berndt, Chief Counsel

Enclosure Constituents' Letter

Oct. 24, 1983

Representative Byran Dorgan Washington, DC

Dear Representative Dorgan,

We have a question on Federal Regulations on why School Districts can not purchase a van type vehicle from a local dealer without meeting full bus specifications when the van would be used only for hauling cheerleaders, supplies and etc. The capacity is from 10 to 15 people and this includes the driver. This is more economical for a school to be able to handle a small group of people say 5 or 6 than to have to use a bus which gets poor mileage and cost considerably more to drive. Can the school purchase a van for small groups and hauling supplies and is this permissible in the regulation?

Thank you,

Sincerely, Original signed by Rick L. Herbel, Superintendent and Douglas Grove, Superintendent, Powers Lake High School Powers Lake, ND

December 9, 1983

Hon. Elizabeth Dole Secretary, Dept. of Transportation 400 Seventh Street SW Washington, DC 20590

Dear Secretary Dole:

The attached letter from a constituent raises some legitimate concerns about the regulations that are imposed on school bus vans.

I would appreciate a review of this situation, and a reply to the letter that I have attached.

Sincerely, Original Signed By Byron L. Dorgan, Member of Congress