Interpretation ID: nht90-1.95

TYPE: INTERPRETATION-NHTSA

DATE: APRIL 2, 1990

FROM: STEPHEN P. WOOD -- NHTSA

TO: DENNIS D. FURR

TITLE: NONE

ATTACHMT: LETTER DATED 8-28-89 TO DIANE STEED, NHTSA, FROM DENNIS D. FURR ATTACHED.

TEXT:

This responds to your letter and to your telephone conversations with this agency concerning school bus safety. You intended your letter to function as a "petition" to amend S4.1 of Federal motor Vehicle Safety Standard 222, School Bus Seating and Crash Protection (49 CFR S571.2229), and Highway Safety Program Guideline 17, Pupil Transportation Safety (23 CFR S1204.4).

Ms. Fujita of my staff has discussed with you our difficulty in understanding your petition. With respect to Standard 222, your letter did not clearly set forth the facts which you believe establish that an order is necessary (as specified for petitions under 49 CFR S552.4(c)); nor did you set forth the substance of the order which you think NHTSA should issue (S552.4(d)). (Ms. Fujita has since sent you a copy of these requirements.) This information helps NHTSA adequately understand and evaluate pet itions. In the absence of that information, we have attempted to surmise the essence of your request, based on your past correspondence with NHTSA. Please advise us whether our surmise is correct. To avoid the possibility of our acting on the basis of incorrect assumptions, we will take no further action on this matter until we hear from you.

Paragraph S4.1 of Standard 222 states:

The number of seating positions considered to be in a bench seat is expressed by the symbol W, and calculated as the bench width in inches divided by 15 and rounded to the nearest whole number.

In your past correspondence, you've expressed concerns about overloaded school buses and the manner in which manufacturers designate the passenger capacity of a school bus. you've suggested that S4.1 of Standard 222 contributes to the overloading of scho ol buses, in that it permits manufacturers to designate a 39-inch bench seat as having three, and not two, seating positions. In our responses, we explained that a 39-inch bench seat is calculated as having three seating positions under S4.1 to ensure t hat the seat will be constructed to provide adequate crash protection when occupied by the maximum number of passengers. it is not Standard 222's intention to require or suggest that the seat should be occupied by the maximum number of passengers, althou gh a 39-inch bench seat is capable of carrying three passengers with a hip width (sitting) of a 5th percentile adult female. We also said that the number of seating positions derived from S4.1 is not meant to be a measure of the absolute capacity of the bus for all sizes of occupants. A bus may be capable of easily accommodating 65 preschool or elementary students, but only 43

high school students. (Examples of letters regarding your concerns are NHTSA's letters to Senator Donald Riegle (July 5, 1985), and Congressman Howard Wolpe (February 23, 1989).) We would like to emphasize that Standard 222 does not address the capacity of a school bus. The decision regarding how many passengers should be carried by a school bus is made by the States.

NHTSA recommends in Highway Safety Program Guideline 17 that States should plan school bus routes such that each occupant is provided a seat and to eliminate standees. However, the guideline is non-binding on the States, and NHTSA does not have the autho rity to regulate how school buses are loaded.

In your current letter, you imply that manufacturers are improperly calculating the number of seating positions on a bench seat. Information available to NHTSA indicates that manufacturers are calculating the positions in accordance with S4.1.

Since you seem dissatisfied with S4.1, you appear to believe that S4.1 should be changed. We believe you wish to suggest that S4.1's calculation of seating positions should be based on the hip width of a high school student. Under your suggestion, a 39- inch bench seat would be considered to have two seating positions, and not three (as presently calculated). You apparently believe that calculating three positions on a 39-inch seat is one position too many, in that "one third of the school buses' rated capacity (is placed) outside of the head, and leg impact zones' of compartmentalization. We would like to point out that your suggested change would have the effect of reducing the applied forces and energy for testing the seat, thereby creating a poten tially less safe environment for passengers. You also seem to believe that designating three positions encourages school bus operators to overload the seat. We understand you to suggest that S4.1 be amended such that the number of positions on a bench seat is calculated as the bench width in inches divided by 15 and rounded down to the nearest whole number.

As I stated earlier in this letter, the preceding discussion constitutes our understanding of your "petition" on Standard 222. Before we consider your petition further, you must inform us if we are correct in our understanding.

With respect to Guideline 17, there is no available formal procedure under which interested persons may petition for a change to NHTSA's Highway Safety Program Guidelines. However, the agency is preparing to issue a Federal Register notice requesting pu blic comments on proposed revisions to the guideline. We will forward a copy of your letter to the appropriate docket once the notice is published.

I hope this information is helpful.