Interpretation ID: nht92-9.8

DATE: February 14, 1992

FROM: Paul Jackson Rice -- Chief Counsel, NHTSA

TO: Jeff Ruff -- The Braun Corporation

TITLE: None

ATTACHMT: Attached to letter dated 10/30/91 from Jeff Ruff to Office of the Chief Counsel, NHTSA (OCC 6631)

TEXT:

This responds to your letter of October 30, 1991, regarding Standard No. 208, Occupant Crash Protection, and vehicles designed to be operated by persons with disabilities. Your letter indicates that you must remove "the support brace between the 'B' pillars and forward" when you alter a vehicle for a person who must transfer from a wheelchair to the driver's seat. You also indicate that the original manufacturer of the vehicle will not allow you to pass through certification for Standard No. 208 if these alterations are made.

The safety requirements for new light trucks and vans were upgraded as of September 1, 1991. Light trucks and vans manufactured on or after that date must be capable of providing occupant protection to belted front seat occupants when the vehicle is crash tested at 30 miles per hour (mph) into a concrete barrier. A vehicle that provides this crash protection will increase the safety of vehicle occupants.

As a result of this new requirement, this agency has recently received a number of phone calls and letters, from both van converters like your company and individuals, suggesting that the new light truck and van crash testing requirement will, in effect, prohibit van converters from modifying vehicles to accommodate the special needs of persons in wheelchairs. The agency also received a petition asking for an amendment to the light truck and van crash test requirement in Standard No. 208 "to eliminate requirements that inadvertently discriminate against individuals with disabilities including individuals who use wheelchairs."

On January 9, 1992, this agency granted that petition. You should understand that the granting of a petition for rulemaking signifies that the agency believes a further review of the issues raised in the petition appears to have merit, but it is not a determination that the light truck and van crash test requirement should be amended. Any determination to amend the crash test requirement would be made in the course of a rulemaking proceeding, in accordance with statutory criteria. By addressing the issue comprehensively, in response to this petition for rulemaking, instead of in a piecemeal fashion, in response to each of the individual requests, NHTSA will be able to ensure that the resulting requirement offers persons in wheelchairs the best possible safety protection.

However, we are aware that individuals seeking to purchase new vehicles modified for operation by persons with disabilities need more immediate relief than rulemaking can offer. To afford more immediate relief, this agency announced in a January 21, 1992 letter to Representative Porter Goss that NHTSA will not conduct any crash testing under Standard No. 208 of vehicles modified for operation by persons with disabilities while this

rulemaking is pending. This should allow your company to continue to produce such modified vehicles while this rulemaking is pending.

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