Interpretation ID: aiam1288
Ft. Lauderdale Police Dept.
1300 W. Broward Boulevard
Fort Lauderdale
FL (zip code missing);
Dear Mr. Levine: This is in reply to your inquiry of October 18, 1973, concerning th legal consequences of disconnecting the seat belt interlock systems in the new cars your department is purchasing.; The dealer or distributor from whom you buy the cars is required unde subsection 108(a)(1) of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, Public Law 89-563 (15 U.S.C. 1397(a)(1)), to deliver them to you with the interlocks operational. However, subsection 108(b)(1) of the act provides that the requirements of subsection 108(a)(1) do not apply after the first purchase of a vehicle for purposes other than resale. As a purchaser who intends to use the cars, rather than resell them, your department is therefore not obliged to keep the interlocks operational.; Yours truly, Richard B. Dyson, Assistant Chief Counsel