Interpretation ID: subaru.cargocage

Mr. Don Bearden
Director, Governmental Affairs
Subaru of America, Inc.
P.O. Box 6000
Cherry Hill, NJ 08034-6000

Dear Mr. Bearden:

This is in response to your letter of July 2, 2001, requesting an interpretation of testing requirements for the Bumper Standard at 49 CFR Part 581.

You state that Subaru of America, Inc. ("Subaru") intends to introduce, in the latter part of 2002, a new "crossover" vehicle that will be classified as a passenger car for the purposes of Part 581 and other standards, but will have an open cargo area with rear access through a tailgate that will lie in a horizontal position when it is opened. You state that Subaru is investigating whether it should make available, for dealer or owner installation, an accessory for the new vehicle that you refer to as a "cargo cage." You describe this accessory as a "u-shaped tubular frame device that mounts in the rear of the vehicle when the tailgate is in its open, horizontal position for the purpose of restraining any cargo from falling out of the vehicle." You state that the cargo cage will be anchored to the sides of the cargo area by pins that will allow the cage to be "rotated between a horizontal position on top of the open tailgate and a horizontal stowed position within the vehicle cargo area," a maneuver that you state an adult can easily accomplish within 15 to 30 seconds.

Given the ease of stowing the cargo cage, you express the belief that owners who install the accessory will use it in its extended position, sitting on top of the open tailgate, only on occasions when additional cargo capacity is required. You observe that because the cargo cage is designed for easy removal, it is not a permanent part of the vehicle. You further state that the owner's manual to be supplied with the vehicle "will recommend that the cage be stowed and the tailgate placed in its upright locked position in normal usage."

You request confirmation that the cargo cage need not be installed in its extended position on top of the open tailgate when the new vehicle is tested for compliance with Part 581. The conditions for conducting Bumper Standard compliance tests are specified at 49 CFR 581.6. This section provides no guidance on whether a vehicle equipped with a device such as the cargo cage must be tested with the device in its deployed position. Although laboratory test procedures are issued as guidance for NHTSA's contractor laboratories and not to establish requirements that are binding on manufacturers, we note that the Laboratory Test Procedure for Part 581 (TP-581-01 dated April 25, 1990) specifies that a vehicle's hood, trunk, and doors are to be latched before pendulum impact and barrier tests are performed. Accepting this as the appropriate method for conducting Bumper Standard compliance tests, and relying on your description of the cargo cage as an easily removable accessory that will be sold with instructions that it be stowed with the tailgate in an upright locked position when not in use, we have concluded that the cargo cage need not be installed in its extended position on top of the open tailgate when the vehicles for which it is designed are tested for compliance with Part 581.

If you have any further questions regarding the Bumper Standard, feel free to contact Coleman Sachs of this Office at 202-366-5238.

Sincerely,

John Womack
Acting Chief Counsel

Ref:581
d.7/31/01