Interpretation ID: nht91-1.12

DATE: January 4, 1991

FROM: Paul Jackson Rice -- Chief Counsel, NHTSA

TO: Mark G. Southern

TITLE: None

ATTACHMT: Attached to letter dated 10-2-90 to Office of Chief Counsel, NHTSA from Mark G. Southern (OCC 5281)

TEXT:

This responds to your letter asking about the application of Safety Standard No. 213, Child Restraint Systems, to the child harness you wish to produce. You indicated in telephone conversations with Ms. Fujita of my staff that you do not object to our making publicly available the cover letter you sent, and the following description of your device.

The child restraint system you plan to manufacture is a harness that consists of upper torso restraints (belts that would pass over each shoulder of the child), and a lower torso restraint (a frontal shield). The system would be installed in a vehicle by use of a strap that wraps around the vehicle's seat back (attached to the strap are the system's shoulder belts). There is a buckle attached to the system's shield that attaches to the vehicle's seat lap belt. The child restraint system has no crotch belt.

Your first question is whether Standard 213 applies to your product, even if your device "is not the primary restraint." The answer is yes. Standard 213 defines "child restraint system" to mean "any device except Type I or Type II seat belts, designed for use in a motor vehicle or aircraft to restrain, seat, or position children who weigh 50 pounds or less." Your harness meets the standard's definition of a child restraint system and it must therefore meet all applicable requirements of the standard.

You ask specifically about the effect of paragraph S5.3.1 of Standard 213. That paragraph states: "Each add-on child restraint system shall have no means designed for attaching the system to a vehicle seat cushion and vehicle seat back and no component (except belts) that is designed to be inserted between the vehicle seat cushion and vehicle seat back." (Emphasis added.)

(The language emphasized above should read: "seat cushion or vehicle seat back." The word "and" was substituted for "or" through a typographical error that occurred in a January 1988 amendment of Standard 213 (53 FR 1783). The agency's intent was to use the word "or." Your letter has alerted us to the error, and we plan to correct it shortly.)

Since your restraint is designed to attach to a vehicle seat back (by means of the strap which wraps around the vehicle seat back), the restraint would not meet S5.3.1. NHTSA adopted the prohibition against attaching child restraints to vehicle seat backs because the agency was concerned that a vehicle seat back would not be able to withstand the additional load on it from an attached child seat in a crash. It appears

that your harness design would add a load on the vehicle seat back in a crash, and is therefore the type of design that is intended to be prohibited by S5.3.1 of the standard.

We also would like to point out that your design does not appear to comply with paragraph S5.4.3.4(b) of Standard 213. That section provides that each child harness shall "provide lower torso restraint by means of lap and crotch belt." Your restraint does not include a crotch belt to restrain the child's lower torso. You would have to modify the design of the harness to include a crotch belt in order for your harness to comply with S5.4.3.4.

There are a number other requirements in Standard 213 that apply to your harness, including the belts, buckles and webbing requirements (S5.4), the labeling requirements (S5.5 and S5.6), and the flammability resistance requirement (S5.7). In addition to these requirements, you would have to determine that the harness complies with all the performance requirements set forth in S5 of the standard. Once you have made such a determination, you are required to certify that each harness you manufacture satisfies all applicable requirements of Standard 213.

You should also be aware that you will be a manufacturer of motor vehicle equipment if you manufacture your harness for sale. As such, you will be subject to the requirements of SS151-159 of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act (copy enclosed) concerning the recall and remedy of products that either do not comply with an applicable safety standard or have defects related to motor vehicle safety. If it were determined by either you or the agency that your harness did not comply with a requirement of Standard 213 or that it had a defect related to motor vehicle safety, you would have to notify all purchasers of the noncomplying or defective product and remedy the noncompliance or defect free of charge.

If you decide to manufacture the harness for sale, you should also be aware of 49 CFR Part 566, Manufacturer Identification (copy enclosed). This regulation requires a manufacturer of child restraint systems to submit its name, address and a brief description of the child restraints it manufactures to NHTSA within 30 days of the date the restraints are first manufactured.

I hope this information is helpful. Please contact us if you have any further questions. We are returning the sketches you sent to us under separate cover, as you requested.