Interpretation ID: aiam0669
Director
Automotive Safety Engineering
General Motors Environmental Activities Staff
General Motors Technical Center
Warren
MI
48090;
Dear Mr. Lundstrom: This is in reply to your letter of March 28, 1972, in which you as whether, for purposes of Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 302, 'Flammability of Interior Materials,' you may consider the 'occupant compartment' for van and panel-type trucks to be 'the front area of the vehicle extending rearward to the rearmost point on any occupant seat.'; We would consider a reasonable interpretation of the phrase 'occupan compartment,' when applied to van and panel-type trucks which have no physical barrier between the occupant and cargo compartments, to be that area forward of a vertical plane perpendicular to the longitudinal centerline of the vehicle, and tangent to the rearmost point of any occupant seat in its rearmost position. This interpretation appears to be substantially the same as that expressed in your letter.; We are pleased to be of assistance. Yours truly, Richard B. Dyson, Assistant Chief Counsel