Interpretation ID: aiam1176
Manager
Philips Industries Inc.
4801 Springfield Street
Dayton
OH 45401;
Dear Mr. Kudva: This is in reply to your letters of June 4 and June 22, 1973 concerning Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 205, 'Glazing Materials'. Your letter of June 4 asks which glazing materials may properly be used in motor homes under the Federal standard, and whether State laws which provide otherwise are invalid under the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act. Your letter of June 22 asks what requirements apply for glazing materials used in travel trailers.; Our records indicate that we wrote on July 5, 1972, to Mr. Robert T Sanders of Philips Industries, in response to a letter from him concerning glazing requirements for chassis-mount and slide-in campers, trailers, and motor homes. Standard No. 205 has been amended since that date (on November 11, 1972, 37 FR 24035) and this letter reflects some of the changes in the standard made by that amendment.; The requirements for glazing for use in motor homes, which under NHTS definitions now includes chassis-mount campers as well as traditional motor homes, are essentially those specified in ANS Z26 for trucks, with certain exceptions. Thus, for windshields, AS 1 or AS 10 materials may be used. For windows to the immediate right and left of the driver, AS 1, AS 2, AS 10, and AS 11 materials may be used, and AS 3 may be used in the unusual situation where any such window is not requisite for driving visibility. All other windows may be AS 1, AS 2, AS 10, AS 4, and AS 8 materials. Additionally, windows other than windshields and those to the immediate right and left of the driver may be: AS 3, AS 5, AS 9, and AS 12 where not requisite for driving visibility, AS 6 where not forward- facing, AS 7 and AS 12 where neither at levels requisite for driving visibility nor forward-facing.; I would add that the term 'forward-facing' is not limited t windshields or behind-the-cab windows, as your letter implies, but applies to any window that is mounted in a plane transverse to the longitudinal centerline of the vehicle. It includes as well, for example, windows placed above the windshield, and any transverse interior partition.; Section 103(d) of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act (1 USC 1392(d)) does prohibit, as you indicate in your letter, any State or political subdivision of a State from establishing or continuing in effect with respect to a motor vehicle or item of motor vehicle equipment any safety standard applicable to the same aspect of performance of the vehicle that is not identical to the Federal standard. The question raised by your letter is whether a State law which prohibits the use of glazing materials in locations of motor vehicles where they are specifically permitted to be used by the Federal standard is violative of section 103(d). It is our view that such a law is violative of section 103(d), and is invalid, as we believe that the use of a particular glazing material in specific vehicle locations is an aspect of performance that is covered by Standard No. 205. You are correct in adding, however, that under section 103(d) a State (or subdivision thereof) may require a higher standard of performance than that established by the Federal standard in vehicles or items of motor vehicle equipment procured for its own use. You may, of course, refer to this letter in your discussions with any State authorities regarding these issues.; The interpretation in your letter of June 22 that Standard No. 205 doe not apply to glazing materials for use in travel trailers is correct.; Yours truly, Richard B. Dyson, Assistant Chief Counsel