Interpretation ID: 77-2.20

TYPE: INTERPRETATION-NHTSA

DATE: 04/28/77

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; Frank A. Berndt; NHTSA

TO: Blue Bird Body Company

TITLE: FMVSR INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This responds to your March 28, 1977, letter asking whether it is legal to certify a school bus manufactured after April 1, 1977, if the bus is painted a color other than National School Bus Glossy Yellow.

The certification requirements of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are found in Part 567, Certification (49 CFR 567). This part requires that a manufacturer certify that the vehicle he manufactures complies with all applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards promulgated under the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 (as amended) (the Act) (15 U.S.C. 1381). No safety standard promulgated under the Act requires that school buses be painted school bus yellow. Therefore, failure of a manufacturer to produce a school bus of that color would not be a violation of the Act, and his certification of the bus compliance with motor vehicle safety standards would not be affected.

Pupil Transportation Standard No. 17, promulgated under the authority of the Highway Safety Act of 1966 (23 U.S.C. 401 et seq.), controls the color of school buses. This standard requires that all vehicles operating as school buses be painted National School Bus Glossy Yellow. Since this standard applies to the operation of school buses and not their construction, compliance with its requirements is not a prerequisite to motor vehicle safety standard certification.