Interpretation ID: 20663geninfokim.df
Mr. Hoon Young Kim
c/o Fullerton Restaurant
2400 W. Fullerton
Chicago, IL 60647
Dear Mr. Kim:
This responds to your recent letter to us generally describing a child restraint system that you wish to manufacture. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) administers Federal requirements for the manufacture and sale of new motor vehicles and certain items of new motor vehicle equipment, including child restraint systems.
We are authorized to issue Federal motor vehicle safety standards to reduce highway crashes and deaths and injuries resulting from crashes. Under that authority, we issued Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 213, Child Restraint Systems (49 CFR 571.213), which sets forth requirements which must be met by all devices designed for use in a motor vehicle to restrain, seat or position children who weigh not more that 50 pounds. Standard No. 213 requires, among other things, that the restraint protect a test dummy during a 30 miles-per-hour (mph) crash while the restraint is secured to a test seat assembly with just a lap belt, that the restraint meet the flammability resistance requirements of Standard No. 302 and that the manufacturer provide detailed instructions on the proper use of the restraint. I have enclosed an information sheet that describes how you can obtain copies of these standards.
The United States does not use a certification process similar to that of the European community in which a manufacturer of motor vehicle equipment is required to deliver the equipment to be certified to a governmental agency for testing and approval. Instead, in the United States, the individual manufacturer must certify that its product complies with all applicable safety standards. It is up to the individual manufacturer to determine what data, test results, or other information it needs to enable it to certify that its child restraint complies with the requirements of Standard No. 213. We would certainly recommend that a manufacturer producing child restraints for the first time conduct some testing of the restraint prior to certifying compliance with Standard No. 213, especially for the protection requirements in a 30 mph crash. Once the manufacturer determines that its child restraint meets the requirements of Standard No. 213, it certifies that compliance by putting the appropriate language on the label permanently attached to the restraint.
For purposes of enforcement, this agency conducts spot checks of child restraints after they have been certified as complying with Standard No. 213, by purchasing and testing the child restraints according to the procedures specified in the standard. If the restraints pass the tests, no further steps are taken. If the child restraints fail the test and are determined not to comply with Standard No. 213, the manufacturer of the child restraint is subject to the recall responsibilities of our statute. Manufacturers must also ensure that their products are free of safety-related defects. Our statute specifies that, in the case of a child restraint which fails to comply with Standard No. 213 or contains a safety-related defect, the manufacturer must notify purchasers and either:
- repair the child restraint, so that the defect or noncompliance is removed; or
- replace the child restraint with an identical or reasonably equivalent child restraint which does not have the defect or noncompliance.
Whichever of these options is chosen, the child restraint manufacturer must bear the expense and cannot charge the child restraint owner for the remedy.
I have enclosed an information sheet that briefly describes the responsibilities of manufacturers of motor vehicles and motor vehicle equipment. Included among those responsibilities is a procedural requirement for manufacturer identification (49 CFR Part 566). Our regulation requires a manufacturer of equipment to which a standard applies (e.g., child restraint systems) to submit its name, address, and a brief description of the items of equipment it manufacturers to NHTSA within 30 days after it begins manufacture.
Please note two recent amendments to Standard No. 213 made by a March 5, 1999 final rule (copy enclosed). The first requires forward-facing child restraints to meet a new 28-inch head excursion requirement in addition to an existing 32-inch head excursion requirement. Another amendment requires child restraint systems manufactured on or after September 1, 2002 to be equipped with connectors that attach to an independent child restraint anchorage system in vehicles. We are in the process of completing our response to petitions for reconsideration of the March 1999 final rule. (The first part of our response was published on August 31, 1999, 64 FR 47566, copy enclosed.) As part of your responsibility as a manufacturer, you must keep current on the requirements affecting your manufacture and sale of child restraint systems.
Should you have any further questions or need more information on this subject, please contact Ms. Deirdre Fujita of my staff at (202) 366-2992.
Sincerely,
Frank Seales, Jr.
Chief Counsel
Enclosures
ref:213
d.11/5/99