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Interpretation ID: nht92-9.13

DATE: February 11, 1992

FROM: Paul Jackson Rice -- Chief Counsel, NHTSA

TO: Anonymous

TITLE: None

ATTACHMT: Attached to letter dated 11/14/91 from anonymous to Paul Jackson Rice

TEXT:

This responds to your request for an interpretation of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 114, Theft Protection. You asked whether vehicles that incorporate any of five proposed designs that your company has developed would comply with the standard's new provisions at S4.2.2(b) that permit transmission shift override devices. As you may know, that section of Standard No. 114 was amended by NHTSA after you prepared your letter. See 57 FR 2039, January 17, 1992 (copy enclosed). This letter reflects that amendment. The issues raised by your letter are discussed below.

Before discussing the substantive issues that you raised, I note that you requested confidential treatment of the identity of the source of the material that you submitted. This request was granted by NHTSA in a letter dated December 9, 1991. Accordingly, references to your identity will be deleted from the copies of your incoming letter and our response that are placed in the public docket.

By way of background information, NHTSA does not provide approvals of motor vehicles or motor vehicle equipment. Under the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, it is the responsibility of the manufacturer to ensure that its vehicles and equipment comply with applicable requirements. The following represents our opinion based on the facts provided in your letter.

Your five proposed designs can be described as follows:

PROPOSAL ONE: An override button would be provided that is covered by a small non-transparent plastic access panel on the horizontal surface of the automatic transmission shift gate. The cover would be held in place by barbed features that are incorporated into the cover and which engage with the walls of the shift gate. In order to remove the cover, one would apply a blade-like device such as a knife or screwdriver to a 2 mm vertical gap between the shift gate and the surface of the horizontal member of the cover, and pry the cover upward. A vertical load of approximately 5 to 10 kg is necessary to remove the cover. Once the cover is removed, the transmission shift lock could be defeated by depressing the override button.

PROPOSAL TWO: This design would be identical to Proposal One, except that the override button is replaced by a threaded screw. Once the cover is removed, the transmission shift lock could be defeated by using a screwdriver to turn the screw.

PROPOSAL THREE: An override device would be provided that is covered by a small non-transparent plastic access panel. The cover would be held in place by a cross recessed counter screw. In order to remove the cover, one would

use a screwdriver to remove the screw. Once the cover is removed, the transmission shift lock could be defeated by inserting a screwdriver or similar tool through the hole created by the removal of the cover screw.

PROPOSAL FOUR: An override device would be provided that is underneath the console finisher panel. A special access panel would not be provided for the override device; instead, the entire finisher panel would be removed to obtain access. The finisher panel would be fabricated from injection molded plastic resin, which has some degree of flexibility. To remove the finisher panel, one would place a screwdriver or similar tool in a 6 mm crease at the surface of the panel to housing interface and apply a prying action. Once the finisher panel is removed, the transmission shift lock could be defeated by depressing the actuation link.

PROPOSAL FIVE: An override button would be provided that is covered by a non-removable cover. The cover would have a slot to permit access to the override device. To actuate the device, a key, screwdriver, or similar tool would be inserted though the slot so that the override button is depressed.

Section S4.2.2(b) of Standard No. 114 reads as follows:

S4.2.2(b)(1) Notwithstanding S4.2.1, each vehicle specified therein may have a device which, when activated, permits moving the transmission shift lever from "park" after the removal of the key provided that steering is prevented when the key is removed.

(2) For vehicles manufactured on or after September 1, 1993, the means for activating the device shall either be operable by the key, as defined in S3, or by another means which is covered by a non-transparent surface which, when installed, prevents sight of and activation of the device and which is removable only by use of a screwdriver or other similar tool.

Section S4.2.2 (b)(1) becomes effective on September 1, 1992; section S4.2.2 (b)(2) becomes effective on September 1, 1993. Thus, vehicles manufactured between September 1, 1991 and August 30, 1992 may have a transmission shift override device provided that steering is prevented when the key is removed. Therefore, provided that steering is prevented, all five of your proposed override devices would be permitted during that time period.

For vehicles manufactured on or after September 1, 1993, an additional requirement must be met. For these vehicles, the override device must either be operable by the key defined in S3 or be operable by another means which is covered by a non-transparent surface which, when installed, prevents sight of and activation of the device and which is removable only by use of a screwdriver or other similar tool.

It is our opinion that none of your proposed designs would be operable by the key defined in S3. While the override device described in Proposal 5 could be activated by inserting a screwdriver or any key (including the key defined in S3) through the slot in the access panel, we interpret the term "operable by the key defined in S3" to refer to the normal use of the key and not to using it in place of a screwdriver.

There remains the question for each of your proposed designs of whether the override device would be operable by another means which is covered by a non-transparent surface which, when installed, prevents sight of and activation of the device and which is removable only by use of a screwdriver or other similar tool. As discussed below, it is our opinion that your Proposal 3 design would meet this requirement, your Proposal 5 design would not meet the requirement, and we are uncertain, based on the facts provided in your letter, as to whether your Proposal 1, 2, and 4 designs would meet the requirement.

We believe it is clear that your Proposals 1 through 4 designs would meet the first part of the requirement set forth above, i.e., the override device would be operable by a means which is covered by a non-transparent surface which, when installed, prevents sight of and activation of the device. The second part of the requirement is that the non-transparent surface must be removable "ONLY by use of a screwdriver or other similar tool." (Emphasis added.) It is our opinion that your Proposal 3 design would meet this part of the requirement, since the cover would be held in place by a screw and could be removed only if a person used a screwdriver or similar tool to remove the screw.

While the covers in your Proposal 1, 2 and 4 designs can be removed by using a screwdriver or similar tool to "pry" them off, it is unclear whether the covers are removable "only" by those means. In particular, we are unable to determine whether a person might pry the covers off by using his or her hands or fingernails. Therefore, we are unable to provide an opinion of whether those designs would comply with section S5.2.2(b)(2).

It is our opinion that your Proposal 5 design would not comply with section S5.2.2(b)(2), since the non-transparent surface (cover) would not prevent activation of the override device. Your letter also proposes to identify the transmission shift override device by placing the words "shift lock" in white lettering on the surface that covers the shift lock override mechanism. Nothing in Standard No. 114 or any other standard would prohibit identifying the override device in that manner. However, it might be more helpful to place the words "shift lock override" on the surface as these words more accurately describe the device that is accessible by removing the surface.

I hope this information is helpful to you. If you have any further questions or need any additional information about this topic, please feel free to contact Dorothy Nakama of my staff at this address or at (202) 366-2992.