Interpretation ID: nht95-1.96

TYPE: INTERPRETATION-NHTSA

DATE: March 10, 1995

FROM: Tillie Fowler -- Member, House Of Representatives

TO: Ricardo Martinez -- Administrator, NHTSA

TITLE: Re: Goodlife Motors Corporation

ATTACHMT: ATTACHED TO 4/19/95 LETTER FROM CAROL STROEBEL TO TILLIE FOWLER (VSA 102(3)); ALSO ATTACHED TO 1/4/95 LETTER FROM PHILIP RECHT TO FORBES HOWARD

TEXT: Dear Dr. Martinez:

Enclosed is a letter from my constituent, Dail Taylor, regarding the letter he received from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

Mr. Taylor is concerned that bringing his electric car into compliance with NHTSA guidelines would be too costly and force him to stop manufacturing the vehicles. He has requested that I contact you to request a review of this situation. As a courte sy to my constituent, I am respectfully requesting that you review his letter and the letter he received from your office and contact me with information I can provide him. Also, please provide me with any alternative options that may be available to Mr . Taylor regarding-his electric car.

Thank you for your assistance with this matter.

ENCLOSED LETTER:

March 6, 1995

The Honorable Tillie K. Fowler Member of Congress, 4th District, Florida 4452 Hendricks Avenue Jacksonville, FL 32207

Dear Tillie:

Goodlife Motors Corporation has made considerable progress toward the development of an electric car, since I gave you a ride in our first prototype vehicle at Fred Cone's home in late 1993.

I have enclosed photographs of our other prototype vehicles, and I will be sending you a video which demonstrates their performance and utility within the next two weeks.

We are now ready to manufacture the vehicles, but we have encountered a formidable roadblock by way of a letter ruling we received from the U. S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Safety Administration, dated January 4, 1995 (copy enclosed).

As you will note, the letter requires our vehicle to comply with current safety standards. Alternatively, we may petition the agency for an exemption.

Tillie, if we are going to manufacture this electric car, we need your help. It would be far too expensive for our small business to comply with current safety standards. We could not even afford to go through the formal petition process with the USDOT .

Therefore, it appears that all of our efforts have been wasted, unless you can help us move forward. I would appreciate your advice on how to proceed.

Sincerely yours,

Dail A. Taylor, President

Enclosure