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Interpretation ID: 24219missing_card_and_manual_at_retailer



    Emilie Crown, RN, CEN
    Program Manager
    Montgomery County CPS Program
    Department of Housing and Community Affairs
    100 Maryland Avenue
    Rockville, MD 20850


    Dear Ms. Crown:

    This responds to your March 7, 2002 letter, to my office, on behalf of a retailer, asking about Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 213, "Child Restraint Systems" (49 CFR 571.213). You ask whether retailers may sell new child restraints that are not accompanied by printed instructions for the child restraint, or that do not have an owner registration card attached to them, as required by S5.6.1 and S5.8 of the standard, if the retailer were to take steps to have the printed instructions sent to the purchaser and to register the purchaser with the manufacturer. Our answer is that the sale of the child restraints that are missing the printed instructions would be prohibited. The sale of the child restraints that do not have the registration card attached to them would be permitted, but only if a card containing all the required information were handed to the purchaser or if the purchaser were registered by the retailer at the point of sale of the restraint.

    You explain that retailers have told you that sometimes the instruction manual and/or owner registration card are "lost in the shuffle." The cards are frequently lost when child restraints are bought and later returned, as well as when the restraints are used as floor models. A retailer has told you that--

      they can easily get additional instruction manuals from the manufacturer, but the registration cards are a different matter. Apparently some of the vendors provide them with blank registration cards that they can fill in the date of manufacture and model number on, and other times they tell them to just have the customer call in the registration.Would the retailers be able to use [generic NHTSA registration] cards?

    Printed Instructions

    Section 30112 of 49 U.S.C. Chapter 301 (the "Vehicle Safety Act") prohibits the sale of any item of motor vehicle equipment that does not comply with all applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards (FMVSSs). Retailers are thus prohibited from selling new child restraints that do not meet Standard No. 213. The first of the two requirements you ask about is set forth in S5.6.1 of the standard. S5.6.1 states, in pertinent part: "Each add-on child restraint system shall be accompanied by printed installation instructions in English that provide a step-by-step procedure, including diagrams, for installing the system in motor vehicles, securing the system in the vehicles, positioning a child in the system, and adjusting the system to fit the child. . . .

    Retailers are prohibited from selling new child restraints that do not have the instruction manual. A retailer cannot satisfy the requirement to sell a restraint with an instruction manual by having the purchaser "call the car seat manufacturer to send the buyer a new manual," nor by the retailer itself calling the manufacturer. Stated simply, the instruction manual must accompany the child restraint when the restraint is sold. We suggest that the retailer obtain any needed replacement manuals from the manufacturer prior to offering the restraint for sale.

    Owner Registration Card

    S5.8 of Standard No. 213 requires that each new child restraint be accompanied by an owner registration card. S5.8 states: "Each child restraint systemshall have a registration form attached to any surface of the restraint that contacts the dummy when the dummy is positioned in the system " The form must be pre-printed with the model name or number and date of manufacture of the child restraint, and with the manufacturer's name and mailing address. It must also be postage-paid.

    We interpret S5.8 as permitting the sale of a child restraint system that lacks the original (manufacturer-provided) registration card, as long as the retailer provides--at the point-of-sale--a postage-paid replacement card that has all the information required by S5.8 (model name or number and date of manufacture of the restraint), or as long as the retailer itself registers the purchaser with the manufacturer. The purpose of the requirement that the registration form be attached to the child restraint is to increase the likelihood that the purchaser will notice the card. The purpose of the requirements to have the relevant information pre-printed on the card and to provide postage is to make the registration process as easy as possible, to increase registration rates. These purposes would be met by a retailer's providing the necessary information on the form and handing the form to the purchaser, or by registering the purchaser at the time of sale. The requirement for a card would not be met by the retailer simply informing the purchaser to telephone the manufacturer to register the restraint. Additionally, the requirements in S5.8 for pre-printed information would not be met by handing the purchaser a generic registration card that does not have the required information or postage.

    I hope that this information is helpful. If you have any other questions, please contact Deirdre Fujita of my staff at (202) 366-2992.

    Sincerely,

    Jacqueline Glassman
    Chief Counsel

    ref:213
    d.5/2/02