Interpretation ID: aiam1359
Manager
General Motors Corporation
Automotive Safety Engineering
Warren
MI 48090;
Dear Mr. Martin: This is in reply to your letter of December 3, 1973, requestin clarification of paragraph S5.1(c) of Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 217, Bus Window Retention and Release.' Your letter, and attached photograph of a push-out window, suggest that the words window frame' in S5.1(c) refer not to the window sash', the structure immediately surrounding the glazing material, but to the side of the bus.; We do not agree. The words window frame' in S5.1(c), with respect t the push out window, refer to the component that interfaces with the glazing.; The intent of S5.1 is to require a window retention system to be stron enough to retain occupants in a crash, at least up to the strength limit of the glazing itself. Since there are no limits on the movement of the window sash' relative to the bus structure, the interpretation you suggest would allow a window system that provides no retentive properties at all, thus defeating one of the main purposes of the standard.; Sincerely, Lawrence R. schneider, Chief Counsel