United States Department of TransportationInterpretation ID: aiam4344
Kraco Enterprises
Inc.
505 E. Euclid Ave.
Compton
CA 90224;
Dear Mr. van Kreuningen: This responds to your letters asking about the effect of Federal law o regulations on or aftermarket steel 'shelf' which you have designed for installation in the area above the windshield where the sun visors are located. The shelf would be used to hold small items such as maps or glasses and woud(sic) be provided with visors on its underside to replace the vehicle's original visors. I apologize for our delay in replying.; The National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act authorizes our agenc to issue Federal motor vehicle safety standards which apply to new motor vehicles and items of motor vehicle equipment. It also authorizes us to require the recall and remedy of any motor vehicle or item of motor vehicle equipment which contains a safety defect.; The sun visor in a new vehicle is regulated by Federal Motor Vehicl Safety Standard No. 201., *Occupant protection in interior impact*, which requires that the Visor be 'constructed of or cover with energy-absorbing material' and that the visor's mounting must 'present no material edge radius of less than 0.125 inch that is statically contactable by a spherical 6.5-inch diameter head form.' The purpose of the standard is to reduce the injuries that occur when unrestrained occupants strike the visor or its mounting with their heads. If your shelf were installed by the manufacturer of a new motor vehicle, the visor attached to it would have to comply with the visor requirements of the standard, and the shelf would have to meet the mounting requirements. I am enclosing a copy of the standard for your review.; Although you propose to sell your shelf in the aftermarket, no as a item of original equipment, the standard can nonetheless affect persons who install the shelf. The Act provides that a person who manufactures, distributes, sells or repairs motor vehicles cannot 'render inoperative' a regulated device such as a sun visor or its mounting. If a repair shop were to remove a vehicle's sun visor and replace it with your shelf, the shop would be in violation of the Act unless your shelf complied with the standard. The sole exception to this rule is the individual owner, who may install a shelf i his own vehicle without regard to the standard.; In addition to the requirements of the standard, our safety defec authority could have a bearing on your sale of the shelf. If the shelf would normally be installed so that its rear edge could be hit by an occupant's head in a crash, it would seem likely to cause serious injury. It is thus possible that the shelf would be determined to contain a safety defect subject to recall. I urge you to examine the possibility of such injury before you make further plans to market the shelf.; I hope this information is helpful to you. Sincerely, Erika Z. Jones, Chief Counsel