Interpretation ID: aiam2854
Specifications Engineer
Thomas Built Buses
Inc.
1408 Courtesy Road
P.O. Box 2450
High Point
NC 27261;
Dear Mr. Tydings: This responds to your July 19, 1978, letter asking whether the State o California is preempted from requiring that all seats in school buses be forward facing.; Section 103(d) of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act o 1966 (the Act) (15 U.S.C. 1381 *et seq*.) specifies that no State shall have in effect a safety standard concerning an aspect of performance regulated by a Federal safety standard, unless the State standard is identical. The Act provides a limited exception to the above where a State or local municipality has a requirement which applies only to vehicles purchased for their own use and which imposes a higher standard of performance.; Standard No. 222, *School Bus Passenger Seating and Crash Protection* specifies that seats shall be forward facing except seats designed to transport the handicapped. Seats for the handicapped may be side facing to permit ease of access. The California standard requiring forward facing seats regulates the same aspect of performance, seat orientation, as the Federal standard. Since the California standard is not identical to the Federal standard and, in fact, conflicts the Federal standard, it is the opinion of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that it is preempted.; Sincerely, Joseph J. Levin, Jr., Chief Counsel