Interpretation ID: 23064.rbm
Mr. Kenneth Conaway
Adaptive Mobility Inc.
7050 Guion Road
Indianapolis, IN 46268
Dear Mr. Conaway:
This responds to your correspondence regarding the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) final rule on vehicle modifications for individuals with disabilities. You ask for clarification of the statutory prohibition against making required safety equipment inoperative. You are particularly interested in whether a modifier may alter a vehicle that has already been purchased by the individual seeking to have the vehicle modified.
By way of background, NHTSA administers a statute requiring that motor vehicles manufactured for sale in the United States or imported into the United States be manufactured so as to reduce the likelihood of motor vehicle crashes and of deaths and injuries when crashes do occur. That statute is the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 ("Vehicle Safety Act") (recodified at 49 U.S.C. 30101, et seq.).
One of the agency's most important functions under that Act is to issue and enforce the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSSs). These standards specify safety performance requirements for motor vehicles and/or items of motor vehicle equipment. Manufacturers of motor vehicles must certify compliance with all applicable safety standards and permanently apply a label to each vehicle stating that the vehicle complies with all applicable FMVSSs. Alterers of motor vehicles are companies that modify a completed vehicle prior to first retail sale. Alterers must determine whether those modifications could negate the vehicle manufacturer's certification of compliance and, if so, must certify the vehicle as to those safety standards that were affected by the modification.
The Vehicle Safety Act also prohibits manufacturers, distributors, dealers, or motor vehicle repair businesses from knowingly making inoperative any part of a device or element of design installed on or in a motor vehicle or motor vehicle equipment that is in compliance with any applicable FMVSS (49 U.S.C. 30122). If NHTSA determines that a business has violated the make inoperative provision, it may assess a civil penalty in the amount of $5,000 per violation (not to exceed $15,000,000 in the aggregate). NHTSA may, through regulation, exempt a person or business from the prohibition if it decides that an exemption is consistent with motor vehicle safety and the Vehicle Safety Act.
On February 27, 2001, NHTSA published a final rule setting forth a limited exemption from the make inoperative prohibition for businesses or individuals who modify vehicles for persons with disabilities (66 Federal Register 12638; Docket No. NHTSA-01-8667). This exemption is codified in 49 CFR Part 595. Only portions of some FMVSSs are covered by the exemption. Additionally, the exception only applies to modifications made after the first retail sale of the vehicle.
How and if an FMVSS applies to a particular business is dependent upon the product or services that the business provides. Producers of equipment that is used in a system designed to comply with a particular FMVSS are component suppliers and would not be directly subject to the requirements of the standard, (1) although any manufacturer or alterer using the product would be. Final stage manufacturers or alterers of vehicles that modify a vehicle system that the previous-stage manufacturer had certified as compliant must certify that the vehicle, as finally manufactured or altered, complies with all applicable FMVSS. Thus, each vehicle must remain in compliance with all applicable safety standards until the time of its first retail sale. Additionally, vehicle modifiers, i.e., businesses that modify a vehicle after first retail sale, may not modify a vehicle in such a way as to negate the vehicle's compliance with any applicable FMVSSs for which there is no exemption, although the modifier is not required to certify compliance with all applicable standards.
As noted above, the prohibition against making required safety equipment inoperative applies to "manufacturers, distributors, dealers, and motor vehicle repair businesses." A motor vehicle repair business is defined in 49 U.S.C. 30122(a) as "a person holding itself out to the public to repair for compensation a motor vehicle or motor vehicle equipment." This term includes businesses that receive compensation for servicing vehicles without malfunctioning or broken parts or systems by adding or removing features or components to or from those vehicles or otherwise customizing those vehicles. (49 CFR 595.4) Thus, unless a modification is covered by the Part 595 exemption, any type of modification to a vehicle that has been sold to a retail customer that negates compliance with a FMVSS is prohibited, even if the modifications are made pursuant to the vehicle owner's instructions.
We note that an individual who modifies his or her own personal vehicle is not subject to the Federal prohibition against making required safety equipment inoperative. However, we recommend that owners not take actions that adversely affect their safety. Moreover, any individual who wishes to modify his or her vehicle should first verify that there is no prohibition against such modifications under the laws of the individual's state.
I hope the addresses your concerns. Please contact Rebecca MacPherson of my staff at this address or at (202)366-2992 should you have any additional questions about this matter.
Sincerely,
John Womack
Acting Chief Counsel
ref:595
d.3/1/02
1 As a practical matter, component suppliers often assume some responsibility to the vehicle manufacturer for the compliance of their products to applicable FMVSSs. This is done through a contractual relationship between the supplier and the vehicle manufacturer that certifies compliance.