Interpretation ID: 20822.ztv

Mr. Timothy J. Flanagan
Manager, Gas Methods & Training
PECO Energy Company
300 Front Street
West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2723

Dear Mr. Flanagan:

This is in reply to your letter of October 6, 1999, requesting permission "to install additional lighting for visibility and safety purposes" on PECO Energy Company emergency service vehicles.

You report that your vehicles currently are equipped with an "amber strobe light on the roof and the regular hazard lights." You would like to add "additional strobe lights in the rear and front" of your vehicles to be used while the vehicles are stationary, and state that this additional lighting "will not interfere with any other warning or safety devices on the vehicle such as headlights or turn signals."

Strobe lamps are not permitted as original equipment on motor vehicles. This is because all lamps with which a vehicle is supplied must be steady burning, except for turn signals and hazard warning signals, and headlamps which may be automatically flashed for signaling purposes (see S5.5.10 of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 108, Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment). We regard a strobe lamp as one that flashes, and hence prohibited as original equipment.

As for vehicles in the field, such as yours, Federal law (49 U.S.C. 30122) prohibits manufacturers, dealers, distributors, and motor vehicle repair businesses from making inoperative safety equipment installed in accordance with FMVSS No. 108 (and any other applicable FMVSS as well). Installation of a strobe lamp would create a noncompliance with FMVSS No. 108 which we equate with "making inoperative" within the meaning of the statute. However, the list of persons prohibited from making safety modifications affecting compliance do not include vehicle owners. Thus, if PECO Energy has its own vehicle repair facilities, your company may install the strobe lamps without violating Federal law. Use of these lamps is subject to the laws of Pennsylvania.

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

Sincerely,
Frank Seales, Jr.
Chief Counsel
ref.108
d:1/7/00