Interpretation ID: aiam4016
United States Senate
Washington
DC 20510;
Dear Senator Wallop: Thank you for your letter to Secretary Dole requesting clarification o the regulations pertaining to school bus identification. Your letter has been referred to our agency for reply, since we administer the school bus regulations.; You explained that several of your constituents are concerned that ou regulations prohibit identifying nine-passenger vehicles that carry children to and from school as school buses. You suggested that school bus identification should be allowed as an added safety measure to alert other drivers to the nature of the vehicle.; I appreciate this opportunity to respond to your concerns. In brief our regulations do not prohibit States from identifying smaller school vehicles as 'school buses.' States have the discretion to choose to identify nine-passenger school vehicles as school buses if the States wish to include such a requirement in their highway safety programs.; We have two sets of regulations, issued under separate Acts o Congress, that apply to school buses. The first of these, issued under the authority of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966, includes the motor vehicle safety standards applying to the manufacture and sale of new school buses. The second set of regulations, issued under the Highway Safety Act of 1966, provides guidelines to the States for their highway safety programs. One of these program standards provides recommended procedures for the identification of school vehicles.; Under the requirements of the Vehicle Safety Act, motor vehicl manufacturers must certify that their vehicles comply with all applicable motor vehicle safety standards. The applicability of our motor vehicle safety standards to a particular vehicle depends, in part, on the classification of that vehicle. Under Federal law, school vehicles carrying 10 or more passengers are 'school buses' which must meet our school bus safety standards. The demarcation between school vehicles carrying 10 or more passengers and those carrying fewer than 10 is thus pertinent for the purpose of determining the classification of a vehicle, and the applicability of our school bus safety standards. Nine- passenger van-type school vehicles are not considered 'school buses' under our regulations, but are classified as 'multipurpose passenger vehicles' (MPV's). While MPV's must be certified as meeting the safety standards for MPV's, they may also be voluntarily manufactured to meet the requirements for school buses as long as the vehicle continues to comply with our standards for MPV's.; I wish to emphasize that our safety standards for school buses ar performance standards which apply only to the manufacture and sale of new school buses. They do not govern the manner in which a school bus is identified or marked. Under the Highway Safety Act, we issued Highway Safety Program Standard No. 17, *Pupil Transportation Safety* (copy enclosed), which contains recommendations for the identification, operation, and maintenance of school vehicles. However, the implementation of Program Standard No. 17 is a matter for the States to decide, and State law would determine the operational requirements, such as those for school bus identification, that school vehicles must meet.; I hope this information is helpful. Please feel free to contact thi agency if you have any further questions.; Sincerely, Diane K. Steed