Interpretation ID: 17324.drn

Mr. Willis Ayres III
Chuck Hutton Chevrolet Co.
2471 Mt. Moriah Rd.
Memphis, TN 38115

Dear Mr. Ayres:

This responds to your letter asking for information about the use of 15-passenger vans by a potential customer, the Briarcrest Christian School (BCS), to transport school children. In a letter to your dealership, BCS wrote that the "primary usage of this [15-passenger] van will be to provide transportation for Briarcrest personnel who will attend seminars and take other school-related trips." The van will also be used "for various licensed personnel to transport small groups of students to and from select school activities." Because we believe the vehicle will be "used significantly" to transport school children for school activities, if you sell the Briarwood Christian School a new bus, you must sell a bus that meets the Federal motor vehicle safety standards applicable to school buses.

By way of background, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is authorized to issue and enforce Federal motor vehicle safety standards applicable to new motor vehicles. Our statute at 49 U.S.C. 30112 requires any person selling or leasing a new vehicle to sell or lease a vehicle that meets all applicable standards. Accordingly, persons selling or leasing a new "school bus" must sell or lease a vehicle that meets the safety standards applicable to school buses. Our statute defines a "school bus" as any vehicle that is designed for carrying 11 or more persons and which is likely to be "used significantly" to transport "preprimary, primary, and secondary" students to or from school or related events. 49 U.S.C. 30125(a)(1). Therefore, a 15-passenger van that is likely to be used significantly to transport students is a "school bus."

The question of whether the buses are likely to be "used significantly" to transport the students is one that the agency finds appropriate to resolve case-by-case, focusing on the intended use of the vehicle. Addressing the situation you have raised, although the letter from BCS states the primary use of the vehicle would be to transport adult BCS personnel, it is clear that BCS intends to use the vehicle on a regular and recurring basis to transport school children for different school events. In our view, such regular use of the vehicle to transport school children for school events would constitute a "significant" use of the vehicle. Therefore, under the facts you have provided, if Chuck Hutton Chevrolet Co. sells the Briarwood Christian School a new bus, it must sell a bus that meets the Federal motor vehicle safety standards applicable to school buses.

I hope this information is helpful. I have enclosed a question-and-answer sheet on "Dealers' Questions about Federal School Bus Safety Requirements," and a copy of Highway Safety Program Guideline No. 17, Pupil Transportation Safety. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact Dorothy Nakama of my staff at this address or by telephone at (202) 366-2992.

Sincerely,
John Womack
Acting Chief Counsel
Enclosures
ref:VSA#571.3
d.4/8/98