Interpretation ID: 22717.ztv

Herr Helmut Honauer
TUV Automotive GmbH
Daimlerstrabe 11
D-85748 Garching
Germany

Dear Herr Honauer:

This is in reply to your e-mail of February 15, 2001, with respect to standards and regulations related to tracked vehicles. You describe a specific vehicle "similar to a snowmobile" with rubber pads on the drive train. The vehicle has a maximum speed of 50 to 62 km/h, and will carry four persons. You state that it is "planned to be used on public roads."

Our agency establishes requirements for "motor vehicles." A "motor vehicle" is "a vehicle driven or drawn by mechanical power and manufactured primarily for use on public streets, roads, and highways." (49 U.S.C. 30102(a)(6)). Although your letter statets that the vehicle is driven by mechanical power and is "planned to be used on the public roads," it would not be a "motor vehicle" under our regulations unless it has been manufactured "primarily" for use on the public roads.

One of the factors we consider in determining whether a vehicle is a "motor vehicle" subject to our jurisdiction is the intent of the vehicle's manufacturer. Since it appears that your company is not the manufacturer of the tracked vehicle, your statement that on road use is planned may not represent the manufacturer's intent. The fact that the vehicle has tracks instead of tires suggests that its primary use is more likely to be off the public roads in terrains where tracks provide an advantage rather than on the public roads where tires would be preferable. The relatively low speed of the vehicle is also consistent with that of a vehicle which is manufactured primarily for use off the public roads.

Vehicles that are not motor vehicles come within the jurisdiction of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. If you wish to write the Commission about possible regulations concerning tracked vehicles, the address is: U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Washington, D.C. 20207-0001.

If the manufacturer intends that the vehicle be used primarily on the public roads, it would be considered a motor vehicle and subject to applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards. If this should be the case, we would invite you to contact us again concerning how our standards would apply to the vehicle. We would, however, need a more detailed description of the vehicle.

In the United States, each State establishes its own requirements for registration of on-road vehicles. I am sorry, but we are unable to advise you on regulations that each State might apply to on-road use of tracked vehicles.

Sincerely,

John Womack
Acting Chief Counsel

ref:571
d.5/23/01