Interpretation ID: aiam4248
Corporate Communications Group
Inc.
#34 Corporate Woods
Suite 220
10950 Grandview Drive
Overland Park
KS 66210;
Dear Mr. Wilinsky: This responds to your recent letter, in which you posed severa questions about a device you would like to sell. The device is a mirror attachment for rear-facing infant seats, which would allow parents to see their baby's face when the infant restraint is installed in the rear seat of a vehicle. I am pleased to have this opportunity to explain our statute and regulations, and will address your questions in the order they were posed in your letter.; >>>A, Would this mirror attachment, made of plastic and Milar (sic) violate and Federal safety standards?<<<; RESPONSE: The Federal motor vehicle safety standards are issued unde the authority of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, as amended (15 U.S.C. 1381 *et seq*.). In this case, you would be most concerned with Standard No. 213, *Child Restraint Systems* (49 CFR S571.213), a copy of which is enclosed for your information. Please note that the Safety Act specifies that all of our standards applicable to items of motor vehicle equipment, including Standard No. 213, do not apply to the child restraint system after its first purchase in good faith for purposes other than resale. The general rule then is that aftermarket accessories may be added to child restraint systems without violating Standard No. 213.; This general rule is, however, limited by the provisions of sectio 108(a)(2)(A) of the Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 1397(a)(2)(A)). That section specifies: 'No manufacturer, distributor, dealer or motor vehicle repair business shall knowingly render inoperative...any device or element of design installed on or in a motor vehicle or item of motor vehicle equipment in compliance with an applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standard ...' There are two elements of design which might be affected by adding your mirror attachment. One of the elements of design required in all child restraint systems that might be affected by your mirror attachment is resistance to flammability. Section S5.7 of Standard No. 213 specifies: 'Each material used in a child restraint system shall conform to the requirements of S4 of FMVSS No. 302.' I have also enclosed a copy of Standard No. 302 for your information. The other element of design that might be affected by your mirror attachment relates to the head impact protection requirements of S5.2.3 of Standard No. 213. That sections requires that each system surface contactable by the child's head during the crash test shall be covered with slow recovery energy absorbing materials with specified characteristics. This requirement ensures that child restraint occupants will not suffer unnecessary head injuries during crashes. If the installation of your mirror would impair either the flammability resistance or the head impact protection of the child restraint system, any manufacturer, distributor, dealer, or repair business installing the mirror would be rendering inoperative a federally required element of design, thereby violating section 108(a)(2)(A) of the Act. Section 109 of the Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 1398) specifies a civil penalty of up to $1,000 for each violation of section 108, and each child restraint on which a federally required element of design was rendered inoperative would be considered a separate violation.; If child restraint owners installed these aftermarket mirrors, the would not be required to avoid rendering inoperative elements of design provided under either the head impact protection requirements of Standard No. 213 or the flammability resistance requirements of Standard No. 302. Nevertheless, this agency would urge you voluntarily (sic) avoid rendering any such elements inoperative.; Additionally, you should be aware that you will be a manufacturer o motor vehicle equipment, if you manufacture the child restraint mirror for sale, and as such will be subject to the requirements of sections 151-159 of the Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 1411-1419), concerning the recall and remedy of products with defects related to motor vehicle safety. If it were determined that your mirror had a defect related to motor vehicle safety, you as the manufacturer would have to notify purchasers of the defect and either:; >>>1. repair the product so that the defect is removed, or 2. replace the product with an identical or reasonably equivalen product that does not have the defect.<<<; Whichever of these options were chosen, the manufacturer must bear th full expense of the remedy and cannot charge the product owner for the remedy if the product was first purchased less than 8 years before the notification campaign.; >>>B. Does the use of a mirror attachment seem feasible an practical?<<<; RESPONSE: This agency does not offer its opinion as to the value o practicality of motor vehicles or equipment. Assuming that child restraint systems with the mirrors attached will continue to comply with the head impact protection requirements and the flammability requirements in Standard No. 213, they would not appear to pose any reasonable safety hazard to the child occupant of the rear-facing seats.; >>>C. What does the Code of Federal Regulations/NHTSA have to say abou physical dimensions for rear-facing infant carrier attachments?<<<; RESPONSE: As noted above, NHTSA has no regulations specificall applicable to any aftermarket attachment items. The only dimensional requirements applicable to rear- facing child restraint systems will provide adequate support and restraint for a child during a crash. Since your mirror attachments would not provide either support or restraint to the child during a crash, none of Standard No. 213's dimensional requirements would be applicable even if the mirrors were original equipment on a child restraint system.; >>>D. What are the other government requirements for suc attachments?<<<; RESPONSE: We are not aware of any other Federal government agency tha regulates items of motor vehicle equipment.; >>>E. How would I go about having this product tested and approved b the Federal government and approximately how long would that take?<<<; RESPONSE: By way of background, NHTSA does not use a certificatio process similar to that used by the European countries, in which the manufacturer delivers the product to be tested to a governmental entity and that entity tests the products to determine if they can be certified as complying with the applicable standards. Instead, the manufacturer of the product conducts any necessary testing and itself certifies that the product complies with NHTSA's applicable standards. For this reason, NHTSA has no authority to 'approve' products or offer assurances of compliance by the product.; However, this distinction may not be important with respect to you mirror attachments for child restraints. As noted above, Standard No. 213 does not apply to items of aftermarket equipment for child restraint systems. Therefore, you cannot certify that your mirror attachments comply with Standard No. 213, because those attachments are not subject to Standard No. 213. You may wish to test the attachment to learn if it complies with the flammability requirements and attach it to a child restraint to determine if the mirror attachment affects the child restraint's compliance with the head impact protection requirements. Any such testing would be for your own purposes, however, and is not required by the Federal government before you sell the mirror attachments to the public.; >>>F. Would this product as described need to be approved by stat governments (as well as federal) before coming to market?<<<; RESPONSE: As explained above, the product does not have to b 'approved' by the Federal government before you can sell it to the public. Various States may have requirements concerning child restraint systems. However, section 103(d) of the Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 1392(d)) provides that '(w)henever a Federal motor vehicle safety standard established under this title is in effect, no State or political subdivision of a State shall have any authority to establish, or to continue in effect, with respect to any motor vehicle or item of motor vehicle equipment, any safety standard applicable to the same aspect of performance of such vehicle or item of equipment which is not identical to the Federal standard. Nothing in this section shall be construed as preventing any State from enforcing any safety standard which is identical to a Federal safety standard.' Thus, any non-identical State safety standard covering the same aspect of performance as Standard No. 213 would be preempted by the provisions of the Safety Act, making the non-identical standard legally unenforceable.; States do have authority to enforce identical standards related to th same aspect of performance as Standard No. 213, and also have authority to regulate in areas not covered by the Federal standards. To learn more about this issue, you should contact the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, 1201 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 910, Washington, D.C. 20036.; If you have further questions or need more information on this subject please feel free to contact Steve Kratzke of my staff at this address or by telephone at (202) 366-2992.; Sincerely, Erika Z. Jones, Chief Counsel