Interpretation ID: nht68-2.44

DATE: 12/17/68

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; Charles A. Baker; NHTSA

TO: Perley A. Thomas Car Works, Incorporated

TITLE: FMVSS INTERPRETATION

TEXT: Thank you for your letter of November 19, 1968, to Mr. E. Leysath of this Bureau, concerning a clarification of the requirements of paragraph S3.4.3 of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 108.

As you indicated, paragraph S3.4.3 of initial Standard No. 108, which was published in the Federal Register on February 3, 1967, required that tail lamps, license plate lamps, and side marker lamps be illuminated when the headlamps are illuminated. The effective date of the initial standard was January 1, 1968. However, on December 16, 1967, an amendment to the initial standard was published in the Federal Register. This amendment delayed the effective date of paragraph S3.4.3 until May 1, 1968, and in addition revised that paragraph to require, as a minimum, that the fail lamps be illuminated when the headlamps are illuminated. Therefore, the requirements of paragraph S3.4.3 were not applicable to vehicles manufactured during the period of January 1, 1963 through April 30, 1968. During that period, selection of the lamp switching arrangement was at the option of the vehicle manufacturer.

Thank you for writing.