Interpretation ID: 2106y
Moody & Moody Enterprises
1027 Lochmont Drive
Brandon, FL 33511
Dear Mr. Moody:
This is in reply to your letter of August 30, l989, to Taylor Vinson of this Office with respect to your forward direction brake application indicator.
The device will be available as an aftermarket kit. The two front turn signal lamps are wired to be activated in a steady-burning mode when the brake pedal is depressed. If the turn signals are activated when the brake pedal is depressed, the lamp indicating the direction of the turn will switch from the steady-burning mode to the turn signal mode, while the other turn signal lamp remains steady-burning. This will provide an indication at the front of a motor vehicle as to whether or not the driver is attempting to apply the brakes. You have asked whether vehicles equipped with the device would be in conflict with the existing vehicle lighting standards of this agency.
There is no Federal motor vehicle safety standard that applies to aftermarket lighting equipment of the nature that you describe. However, installation of the device would involve modifications to a vehicle certified as meeting the Federal standards, most particularly Standard No. l08, the vehicle lighting standard. Under the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, a vehicle owner may alter his vehicle with impunity; however, modifications to certified vehicles by manufacturers, distributors, dealers, and motor vehicle repair businesses are subject to the restriction that they not render inoperative, in whole or in part, equipment installed pursuant to a Federal motor vehicle safety standard.
We have two comments on your device. The first is that you have not described its effect, if any, on the hazard warning system. This system operates through the turn signal lamps, and is activated by a switch that is separate from the turn signal switch. When activated, the hazard warning switch causes the front and rear turn signal lamps to flash. The front turn signal lamps in the hazard warning system, when activated, must flash, even when the brake pedal is applied. If they do not do so when your device is installed, they would be "inoperative" within the meaning of the prohibition. Our second comment concerns the fact that in the turn signal mode the unused turn signal lamp would continue to be illuminated when the brake pedal is applied. Thus, an observer would see a flashing turn signal and a steady burning one, whereas with an ordinary vehicle, the observer would see only the flashing turn signal. Whether the presence of the steady burning turn signal on the side of the vehicle opposite the flashing turn signal would detract from the effectiveness of the flashing turn signal, and by obscuring its message make it "partially inoperative", is difficult to judge. Certainly, when a vehicle is signaling a turn, it does not appear necessary to also indicate, to the front, that it is stopping.
These remarks also serve as some comments of this Office as to "safety benefits" that might result from vehicles equipped with your device. Certainly, no standard lighting equipment on vehicles today indicate from the front that the brake pedal is being applied. This is an interesting concept, and we appreciate your interest in enhancing motor vehicle safety.
Sincerely,
Stephen P. Wood Acting Chief Counsel
ref:l08 d:ll/l/89