Interpretation ID: 17677-1.pja
Lance Tunick, Esq.
Vehicle Services Consulting, Inc.
P. O. Box 23078
Santa Fe, NM 87502
Dear Mr. Tunick:
This responds to your April 3, 1998, request for reconsideration of our March 31, 1998, interpretation whether Item 4A Glazing, "Rigid Plastic for Use in Side Windows," specified in Standard No. 205, Glazing materials, is permitted in the rear window that is behind a retractable roll bar in a convertible passenger car. Based on the materials you originally sent us, we concluded that rigid plastic glazing was not permitted in that location. However, based on the materials and the issues you raised in your April 3 letter, as well as a videotape and photographs you submitted on July 24, we have concluded that the glazing should be permitted.
As we discussed in our original letter, the relevant question is whether the rear window of the vehicle is part of the convertible top. This is because S5.1.2.11(a)(1) of Standard No. 205 permits item 4A rigid plastic glazing in "[a]ll areas in which Item 4 safety glazing may be used." ANSI Z-26.1a-1980 (incorporated by reference in Standard No. 205) permits item 4 glazing in "[t]he rear windows of convertible passenger car tops."
When we considered whether the window could be considered the rear window of a convertible passenger car top, we based our decision on the materials you submitted. Your original letter attached three color copies of photographs showing the vehicle. The rear window we are discussing retracts automatically behind the rear seats. The one photograph that showed a side view of the window appeared to show the rear window in a partially retracted position on the outside of a broad rollbar. It appeared to be unconnected to the rollbar, with the top edge of the window partially down while the rollbar was fully deployed. Based on this, our March 31 letter concluded that, although your vehicle was a convertible, "the glazing in the vehicle is separate from (not of the same piece as) the convertible top, and therefore is not a rear window of a convertible passenger car top."
The videotape and photographs you sent us in your April 3 letter give a different impression. The newer materials show that the rear window retracts as one unit with the rollbar.(1)
When the switch is depressed, the rollbar and window pivot together and drop down behind the rear seats. The window is connected to the rollbar sufficiently that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) considers them to be one unit.
The rollbar is part of the convertible top. The top of the rollbar, when deployed, presents a horizontal exterior surface several inches wide directly over the rear seat passengers. It supports the rear edge of a removeable roof panel (another part of the top) above the front seat occupants. The rear window is physically connected to a part of the top, raises and lowers with the top like other convertibles, and depends on the position of the top for its position on the vehicle. Based on the new materials you have sent us, NHTSA considers the rear window to be part of a convertible passenger car top. Therefore, the rear window can be made of Item 4A rigid plastic glazing.
I hope this information is helpful. If you have any questions about this letter, please contact Paul Atelsek of my staff at (202) 366-2992.
Sincerely,
Frank Seales, Jr.
Chief Counsel
ref:205
d.9/16/98
1. What appeared in the original photograph to be the top edge of a partially retracted rear window was actually one image in a timed exposure of the front edge of the rollbar retracting with the window.