Interpretation ID: nht91-5.16

DATE: August 7, 1991

FROM: Jerry Ralph Curry -- Administrator, NHTSA

TO: Quang Van Nguyen -- Houston Express Reprographics, Inc.

TITLE: None

ATTACHMT: Attached to letter dated 6-12-91 from Quang Van Nguyen to Samuel K. Skinner

TEXT:

This responds to your letter of June 12, 1991, to Secretary Skinner, with reference to your invention "Emergency and Safety Lights."

You have noted that when the hazard warning signal is operating, the vehicle turn signal lamps are not. You have told us of witnessing an accident in which safety was compromised by the inability to use the turn signal lamps when the hazard signals were operating, and your invention addresses this concern. From the drawings you enclosed, this invention appears to consist of a housing with the high-mounted stop lamp in the center, flanked by two lamps which would provide the hazard warning signal function, and which are completely separated from the center lamp by triangular dividers. You have asked that the Department of Transportation support and approve your invention "for all types of automobiles."

The Department has no authority to "approve" or "disapprove" safety inventions, but we can advise you of the relationship of your device to the Department's statutes and regulations. In this instance, the relevant statute is the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act (the Act), and the relevant regulation is Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 108, Lamps, Reflective Devices and Associated Equipment. Further, we must distinguish between use of the invention as "original equipment" (installed on new motor vehicles, either by the manufacturer or the dealer, before its first sale), or "aftermarket equipment" (installed by a manufacturer, distributor, dealer, or motor vehicle repair business, after a vehicle's first sale).

Under Standard No. 108, the hazard warning function is provided by activating all four turn signal lamps. You are correct that simultaneous operation of the turn and hazard warning functions is impossible. Although Standard No. 108 contains no explicit requirements for hazard warning systems, it contains explicit requirements for the flashers and switches that must be used in hazard warning systems. Specifically, new motor vehicles must be equipped with flashers meeting the requirement of SAE Recommended Practice J945, Vehicular Hazard Warning signal Flasher, February 1966, and switches meeting the requirements of SAE Standard J910, Hazard Warning Switch, January 1966. The definitions of flasher and switch contained in each of the SAE materials specify that when the hazard switch is actuated, the flasher causes the turn signal lamps to flash. The effect of this is that the hazard warning signal lamps must meet the photometric and minimum lens area specifications for turn signal lamps, which are explicit requirements of Standard No. 108, specifically, the requirements of SAE Standard J588 NOV84, Turn Signal Lamps. Were your device installed on a motor vehicle, the hazard function would no longer be provided through the turn signal lamps, and the vehicle would

fail to comply with Standard No. 108. For this reason, your device could not be installed as original equipment.

With respect to the aftermarket the Act prohibits any manufacturer, dealer, distributor, or motor vehicle repair business from wholly or partially rendering inoperative any device or element of design installed in accordance with a Federal motor vehicle safety standard. Your device does not appear intended for installation by the vehicle owner, who is exempt from the statutory prohibition mentioned above. Because it would render the hazard warning system inoperative, the device, if sold in the aftermarket, could not be legally installed.

Federal law, however, would not preclude its installation on a passenger car that was manufactured before Standard No. 108 became effective, that is to say, a vehicle manufactured before January 1, 1969. Nevertheless, its legality would still be subject to State and local laws. We are unable to advise you on such laws, and suggest that you consult the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, 4600 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, Va. 22203.

Although we have no data indicating that accidents such as you witnessed are frequent, we appreciate the concern you have shown. If you are interested in carrying this matter further, we suggest that you investigate the possibility of turning your device into a supplementary turn signal system that could be activated by a separate switch when the hazard warning system is in operation. If this is feasible for you, and if you intend to use the device as planned at present, we shall be pleased to provide you with an interpretation on supplementary lighting, and on the requirements for center high-mounted stop lamps.