Interpretation ID: 21211.drn

Mr. Ted Cashion
7 Lowell Street
Travelers Rest, SC 29690

Dear Mr. Cashion:

This responds to your request for an interpretation "regarding the use and safety standards applicable for 11-15 passenger vans." You write that your church is considering whether to purchase a passenger van for its congregation. You did not mention whether your church has a school or will be transporting children to or from school or related events. As explained below, these factors are important in determining the Federal requirements that apply to your purchase of a van (bus). Further, States regulate the use of vehicles, so South Carolina law should be consulted to see if there are regulations about how members of your congregation must be transported.

By way of background, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is authorized to issue and enforce Federal motor vehicle safety standards applicable to new motor vehicles. Our statute at 49 U.S.C. 30112 requires any person selling or leasing a new vehicle to sell or lease a vehicle that meets all applicable standards. Section 30112 takes on special significance when an institutional customer will use the new vehicle to "significantly" provide transportation "to or from school or an event related to school" for school age children.

Persons selling or leasing a new "school bus" must sell or lease a vehicle that meets the safety standards applicable to school buses. Our statute defines a "schoolbus" as any vehicle that is designed for carrying a driver and more than 10 passengers and which, NHTSA decides, is likely to be "used significantly" to transport "preprimary, primary, and secondary" students to or from school or related events. 49 U.S.C. 30125. By regulation, the capacity threshold for school buses corresponds to that of buses -- vehicles designed for carrying more than ten (10) persons. Persons selling or leasing new "buses" for such use must sell or lease a "school bus."

Our longstanding position is that the term "school" does not include church schools such as Sunday schools, or those providing other religious training. However, a regular preprimary, primary or secondary school operated under the auspices of a church would be a "school." New buses (e.g., 11- to 15-person vans) sold to carry students to or from the school must be certified as meeting our school bus standards. Further, even if your church does not operate a school, if your church were purchasing the new bus to use significantly to transport students to or from a school or events related to a school, a dealer knowing of this purpose would be required to sell a school bus.

Because our school bus regulations apply only to manufacturers and sellers of new motor vehicles, we do not prohibit institutions from using non-school buses to transport school children. However, each State has the authority to set its own standards regarding the use of motor vehicles, including school buses. For this reason, South Carolina law should be consulted to see if there are regulations about how children or adult members of a church must be transported.

We believe that vehicles providing the safety of school buses should be used whenever transporting children in buses. This belief is shared by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). At a June 8, 1999, public meeting, the NTSB issued the attached abstract of a special investigative report on nonconforming buses. The NTSB issued the report after investigating four crashes in 1998 and 1999 in which 9 people were killed and 36 injured when riding in "nonconforming buses." NTSB defines "nonconforming bus" as a "bus that does not meet the FMVSSs specific to school buses." Most of the victims, including eight of the fatalities, were children.

In the abstract of its report (a copy of which is provided), the NTSB issued several Safety Recommendations, including the following that was directed to child care providers such as the National Association of Child Care Professionals, the National Child Care Association, and Young Mens' and Young Women's Christian Associations:

Inform your members about the circumstances of the accidents discussed in this special investigation report and urge that they use school buses or buses having equivalent occupant protection to school buses to transport children.

In conclusion, we wish to emphasize that school buses are one of the safest forms of transportation in this country, and that we therefore strongly recommend that all buses that are used to transport school children be certified as meeting NHTSA's school bus safety standards. In addition, using vehicles that do not meet NHTSA's school bus standards to transport students could result in liability in the event of a crash.

In response to your request for information about safety standards applicable to "11-15 passenger vans," I am enclosing NHTSA's publication: "School Bus Safety: Safe Passage for America's Children." This brochure explains the safety enhancements of a school bus that makes school buses safer than non-school buses.

I hope this information is helpful. If you have any further questions about NHTSA's programs, please feel free to contact Dorothy Nakama of my staff at this address or at (202) 366-2992.

Sincerely,
Frank Seales, Jr.
Chief Counsel
Enclosures
ref:VSA#571.3
d.4/6/2000