Interpretation ID: 24179.ztv

Mr. Rusty Riggin
Willow Development, Inc.
621 B Crazy Horse Road
Hutchinson, KS 67502

Dear Mr. Riggin:

This is in reply to your fax of March 15, 2002, relating to a lighting invention called "tailbeam." You stated that you are holding further development of this device until the Government "provides us with a legal boundary to work within."

The schematic you sent depicts a lamp mounted on the rear of a van-type vehicle in the lower right hand corner. Its light source is a halogen bulb which, you indicate, has the same intensity as a fog lamp, and, indeed, your prototype is a modified fog lamp. When the right turn signal is activated, the lamp would project a beam to the right, parallel to the rear of the vehicle, across the adjacent traffic lane. The beam is intended to provide a visual line of reference enabling the driver to determine if the rear of the vehicle has cleared a vehicle in the adjacent lane before the driver enters the adjacent lane. You believe that the "line of reference should be beneficial in reducing accidents caused by lane changes." You also state that the device "is also useful for backing a long vehicle toward and near a building or obstruction (again for a reference point)."

The same issue was addressed in a slightly different manner by another inventor who wrote us (see enclosed copy of a letter from this Office dated June 19, 2000, to a correspondent who requested anonymity). The invention that was the subject of this letter would be mounted on a trailer of a tractor-trailer combination and would project a light beam down and across an adjacent traffic lane visible to an approaching driver only when the driver was in the tractor drivers blind spot. We advised the inventor that the device did not appear to impair the effectiveness of lighting equipment required by Federal law, and hence was permissible, but that we were concerned that it might impair driver performance.

"Tailbeam" appears to differ from that invention in that the beam is projected by a fog lamp light source and is operated by the turn signal control. As the enclosed letter indicates, a non-standard lighting device is permissible as original vehicle equipment if it does not impair the effectiveness of lighting equipment required by Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 108, Lamps, Reflective Devices and Associated Equipment (the Federal lighting requirement that motor vehicles must be manufactured to meet).

Standard No. 108 does not prescribe requirements for front or rear cornering lamps. Some steady-burning lamps that supplement turn signal lamps (i.e., those front and rear cornering lamps that meet appropriate SAE Recommend Practices) are not prohibited by Federal or State laws. Under SAE Recommended Practice J1373 APR96 "Rear Cornering Lamps For Use On Motor Vehicles Less than 9.1 m in Overall Length" a rear cornering lamp is a supplemental lamp "used to provide illumination to an area to the side and rearward of the vehicle when it is backing up." The SAE also recommends that "the rear-cornering lamp should be illuminated only when the ignition switch is energized and reverse gear is engaged." Although "tailbeam" may assist in backing the vehicle, it is not a rear cornering lamp as defined by the SAE because it is operated by the turn signal switch.

If "tailbeam" is configured as a fog lamp, we believe it possible that it could impair the effectiveness of the turn signal by creating momentary confusion in a following driver who, unfamiliar with the "Tailbeam," might be distracted from the message the turn signal is sending. Moreover, at night, depending on its intensity, the fog lamp light source could create distracting glare as well. A cornerstone of the National Highway Highway Traffic Safety Administrations opinion letters on motor vehicle lighting is that signals must be clear and unambiguous in nature so that vehicle operators may respond quickly and appropriately to them. Because "tailbeam" is similar to a rear cornering lamp, we suggest that you test it for photometric conformity to the requirements specified in SAE J1373 (copy enclosed). If the halogen light source you wish to use does not exceed the candela maxima specified in the SAEJ1373, that would address our concerns about glare. If it does exceed these maxima, you may wish to consider using a different light source.

As noted in the enclosed letter, your invention is also subject to relevant state laws; we are unable to advise you on these.

We note your offer to come to our headquarters to demonstrate "Tailbeam." Generally, it is not practicable for us to accept such offers because of the need of our limited number of engineers and attorneys to address the agencys ongoing programs of established safety priorities.

Enclosures

ref:108

d.8/2/02