Interpretation ID: aiam1622
Engineering Manager
Truck Trailer Manufacturers Assoc.
2430 Pennsylvania Avenue
N.W.
Washington
DC 20037;
Dear Mr. Weller: This is in reply to your letter of September 4, 1974, in which you as several questions regarding the possible manufacture of semitrailers designed to transport people. You state the semitrailers would be pulled by conventional tractors, would have air-operated bus-type side doors, a rear door for emergency exit, seats, handrails for passengers who stand, and windows that open and close. Communication between the passenger compartment and driver would be limited to a horn that the driver can blow and a blinking red light operable by either a passenger or the driver. You ask whether this type of vehicle is legal, whether it is legal to transport passengers in this fashion, and what specific requirements would be required to be built into the trailer.; We would consider the vehicles in question to be trailers under th Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, and consequently subject to the standards applicable to trailers. These standards are Standard No. 108, 'Lamps, reflective devices, and associated equipment,' Standard No. 106, 'Brake hoses' (eff. as to trailers on September 1, 1975), and Standard No. 121, 'Air brake systems' (eff. as to trailers on January 1, 1975), at this time. The trailers would, of course, have to be certified as conforming to all applicable standards, in accordance with the Certification Regulations (49 CFR Parts 567, 568).; Many States prohibit the transportation of passengers in trailers, an as a consequence NHTSA requirements for crashworthiness and occupant protection have not been made applicable to trailers. These requirements include those for restraint and seating systems, glazing materials, head restraints, and emergency exits. Whether or not State laws prohibiting the transportation of passengers in trailers would apply to semitrailers of this type would depend upon each State's interpretation of its law, and that information should be obtained from the various states. However, should it become a commonly permitted practice for persons to be transported in trailers, this agency would very likely expand its occupant protection and crashworthiness requirements through rulemaking to apply to these vehicles.; The transportation in interstate commerce of passengers for hire als falls within the regulatory authority of the Bureau of Motor Carrier Safety, in the Federal Highway Administration. We have forwarded your letter to that agency, requesting that it respond directly to you regarding the effect of regulations it administers on vehicles of this type.; Yours truly, Richard B. Dyson, Acting Chief Counsel