Interpretation ID: nht91-6.22

DATE: October 15, 1991

FROM: Paul Jackson Rice -- Chief Counsel, NHTSA

TO: Elizabeth D. Smith -- Department Head, Community and Special Services, Division of Program Monitoring, State Health and Human Services Finance Commission

TITLE: None

ATTACHMT: Attached to letter dated 8-14-91 from Elizabeth D. Smith to Mary Versailles (OCC 6363)

TEXT:

This responds to your letter of August 14, 1991, "regarding the addition of safety belts to a 1986 Ford Club Wagon" and other similar vehicles. The vehicle is certified as a bus according to the Federal motor vehicle safety standards and is primarily used to transport pre-school age children (between three and five years of age) to and from a child development center and on field trips. The vehicle has seat belts for 15 passengers, including the driver. Currently, more than 14 children can be transported in these vehicles, by belting more than one child to a seat belt. However, you are concerned about the legality of doing so. Therefore, you wish to increase the capacity of these vehicles by adding additional belts in the passenger area. The additional belts would be installed by a local Ford dealership.

Some background information about the agency may be useful. NHTSA has the authority under the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act (the Safety Act; 15 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.) to issue Federal motor vehicle safety standards applicable to new motor vehicles and new items of motor vehicle equipment. Section 108(a)(1)(A) of the Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 1397(a)(1)(A)) prohibits the manufacture or sale of any new motor vehicle or new item of motor vehicle equipment which does not conform to all applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards in effect at the time of manufacture. Section 108(b)(1) of the Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 1397(b)(1)) provides that the prohibitions in section 108(a)(1)(A) do not apply "after the first purchase ... in good faith for purposes other than resale."

After the first purchase of a vehicle in good faith for purposes other than resale, the only provision in Federal law that affects a vehicle's continuing compliance with an applicable safety standard is set forth in section 108(a)(2)(A) of the Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 1397(a)(2)(A)). That section provides:

No manufacturer, distributor, dealer, or motor vehicle repair business shall knowingly render inoperative, in whole or in part, any device or element of design installed on or in a motor vehicle ... in compliance with an applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standard.

In general, this "render inoperative" provision would require any of these named entities to ensure that it does not remove, disconnect or degrade the performance of safety equipment installed in compliance with an applicable safety standard when modifying a motor vehicle. Violations

of S108(a)(2)(A) are punishable by civil fines up to $1,000 per violation.

Before discussing how these provisions would affect the modifications you wish to make, I would like to discuss another issue raised by your letter. While your letter indicates that your vehicles are certified as "buses," it appears that, under Federal law, the person who sold you these vehicles should have sold you a vehicle certified as a "school bus." NHTSA defines "school bus" as a motor vehicle designed for carrying 11 or more persons, including a driver, and sold for purposes that include transporting students to and from "school or school-related events." NHTSA has also stated that whether a program for preprimary-age students is a "school" is determined by whether the program is educational or custodial. Based upon phone conversations between you and Mary Versailles of my staff, it appears that our "child development center" would be considered a school. It is a violation of Federal law for any person to SELL any new vehicle that does not comply with all Federal school bus safety standards to a purchaser that intends to use the vehicle as a school bus, if the seller knew or should have known of the purchaser's intent. However, it is not a violation of Federal law for the purchaser to USE a vehicle to transport school children that does not comply with all the Federal school bus standards. Some states, however, require that only certified "school buses" be used to transport school children.

Later in this letter, I explain why it appears that additional seat belts could be added to a "bus" without violating Federal law. I caution you that my subsequent analysis would NOT apply to a "school bus." Standard No. 222, School Bus Passenger Seating requires a seat belt at every designated passenger seating position in school buses with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or less. Section S4.1 of Standard No. 222 calculates the number of seating positions on a school bus bench seat by dividing the seat width by 15, and rounding the result to the nearest whole number. Therefore, it would appear to "render inoperative" a school bus' compliance with Standard No. 222 if someone were to increase the seating capacity of a school bus.

I will now address the issue of adding safety belts to buses other than school buses. A safety belt is an item of motor vehicle equipment and all safety belts sold in the United States must be certified as complying with Standard No. 209, Seat Belt Assemblies, regardless of whether the belts are installed as original equipment in a motor vehicle or sold as a replacement part. Therefore, the additional safety belts which might be added to your vehicles must comply with the requirements of Standard No. 209.

In addition to Standard No. 209, the agency has issued two additional safety standards that apply to safety belts: Standard No. 208, Occupant Crash Protection, and Standard No. 210, Seat Belt Assembly Anchorages. For buses manufactured prior to September 1, 1991, Standard No. 208 required installation of a safety belt at the driver's designated seating position only. Therefore, the safety belts installed at the passenger's designated seating positions in your vehicles were not required for the vehicles to comply with the requirements of Standard No. 208. The vehicle was also not required to have seat belt anchorages at any designated seating position other than the driver's. Since safety belts and

anchorages were not required for the passenger seats in your vehicles, any modifications to the voluntarily-installed belts and anchorages at the passenger seats of your vehicles would not result in a violation of the "render inoperative" provision of the Safety Act.

I note that safety belts and anchorages are now required ton vehicles manufactured on or after September 1, 1991) at every seating position in buses with a GVWR of 10,000 pounds or less. I would also note, that, if the increase in seating capacity was significant, the modifications you are considering could "render inoperative" compliance with a number of safety standards for your buses by overloading the vehicles. However, your letter indicates that the dealership which may perform the modifications on your vehicles has already considered this and determined that the vehicle would not be overloaded.

In closing, I must emphasize NHTSA's position that a vehicle meeting Federal school bus regulations is the safest way to transport students. I encourage you to give the most careful consideration to the possible consequences of transporting students in vehicles that do not comply with these regulations.

I hope you find this information helpful. If you have further questions, please contact Mary Versailles of my staff at this address or by telephone at (202) 366-2992.