Interpretation ID: nht92-3.39

DATE: September 28, 1992

FROM: Paul Jackson Rice -- Chief Counsel, NHTSA

TO: Robert N. Moore -- No. 203048, Iowa State Penitentiary

TITLE: None

ATTACHMT: Attached to letter dated 8/16/92 from Robert N. Moore to Mr. Curry (OCC-7681)

TEXT:

This responds to your letter of August 16, 1992 to former Administrator Curry. Specifically, your letter asks whether the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act (15 U.S.C. S1381 et seq., the Safety Act) and Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 208, Occupant Crash Protection (49 CFR 571.208) a right which is enforceable under the authority of 42 U.S.C. S1983. You have raised this issue in a law suit concerning injuries you received while being transported in a passenger van that had been converted into a "paddy wagon." The vehicle was not equipped with safety belts for the passengers. I am pleased to have this opportunity to explain for you the Safety Act and the Federal motor vehicle safety standards.

Let me begin by making clear that I have no special knowledge or expertise with respect to the civil rights provisions of 42 U.S.C. 1983. My answer will address only the requirements of the laws and regulations administered by this agency.

The Safety Act authorizes this agency to issue motor vehicle safety standards that apply to the manufacture and sale of new motor vehicles and new items of motor vehicle equipment. NHTSA has exercised this authority to establish Standard No. 208, which requires seat belts to be installed at all designated seating positions in most vehicles. However, different belt installation requirements apply depending on the vehicle type, seating position within the vehicle, and the GVWR of the vehicle. Accordingly, I cannot identify the specific belt installation requirements for the vehicle in which you were transported without knowing the date of the vehicle's manufacture, the vehicle's seating capacity, and gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle.

The Safety Act provides that no person shall manufacture, import, or sell any new vehicle unless it complies with all applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards, including the seat belt installation requirements in Standard No. 208. See 15 U.S.C. 1397(a)(1)(A). The requirement that a vehicle comply with all applicable safety standards applies only until the vehicle's first purchase in good faith for purposes other than resale. See 15 U.S.C. 1397(b)(1). After such first purchase, the only provision in Federal law that affects modifications that can be made to the vehicle is set forth in 15 U.S.C. 1397(a)(2)(A). That section provides that:

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.

Please note that this prohibition applies only to the commercial entities identified in the section, not to individual vehicle owners. Vehicle owners may alter their own vehicles and operate them on the highways without violating Federal law, even if the owner's modifications cause the vehicle to no longer comply with the seat belt installation requirements of Standard No. 208.

Thus, I cannot offer an opinion about whether there may have been a violation of the Safety Act without knowing if the passenger van was modified into a "paddy wagon" before or after its first purchase for purposes other than resale and who performed the modifications. If the State purchased the vehicle and made the modifications itself, there would have been no violation of Federal law, even if the modified vehicle did not comply with the seat belt installation requirements of Standard No. 208. Such modifications may, however, violate the laws of the State of Iowa. You may wish to contact the State of Iowa to learn if it has adopted any laws or regulations pertaining to owners' modifications to their vehicles.

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