Interpretation ID: aiam1107
President
Engineering Dynamics Corp.
314 Great Road
Bedford
MA 01730;
Dear Mr. Leask: This is in response to your letter of March 26, 1973, concerning th test procedures of Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 215, *Exterior Protection.*; The test procedures of a motor vehicle safety standard prescribe th manner in which the NHTSA will test a vehicle. If a vehicle fails in our tests, the manufacturer may be subject to civil penalties unless he can establish that he exercised due care in manufacturing the vehicle. To establish due care he would have to demonstrate the steps he took to assure himself that the vehicle would comply when tested in accordance with the standard.; In the case of Standard No. 215, the agency will conduct its impac tests by using the pendulum specified in S6.2 of the standard. A manufacturer will not fail the standard if he does not use a pendulum. He may, if he chooses, test his vehicle by using a different device if he feels confident that the device he uses is equivalent in all relevant respects to the pendulum. If his vehicle fails in our pendulum tests, he will have to demonstrate the equivalency of his test device if he hopes to establish a defense in a proceeding brought by the agency.; Yours truly, Richard B. Dyson, Assistant Chief Counsel