Interpretation ID: aiam1402
Esq.
Attorney at Law
Suite 410 - Santa Fe Federal Plaza
333 North D Street
San Bernardino
CA 92401;
Dear Mr. Welebir: Thank you for your letter of December 28, 1973, File No. 1041 requesting information on the Federal installation requirements for safety belts in a 1971 Toyota Land Cruiser.; Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 208, *Occupant Cras Protection* (formerly titled 'Seat belt installation'), required safety belts in all designated seating positions of all passenger cars manufactured on or after January 1, 1968. Similar requirements were instituted for trucks and multipurpose passenger vehicles manufactured after July 1, 1971. The Toyota Land Cruiser is classified as a multipurpose passenger vehicle. If it were manufactured before July 1, 1971, no installation requirement would have applied. It should be noted that seat belts were not factory-installed in some Land Cruisers, and we know of one Arizona dealer who failed to install seatbelts in a Land Cruiser built after that date.; In answer to your second question, the Land Cruiser did not have an exemption under 15 U.S.C. S1410 or any other section of the Act.; Sincerely, Lawrence R. Schneider, Chief Counsel.