Interpretation ID: 86-5.41

TYPE: INTERPRETATION-NHTSA

DATE: 10/31/86

FROM: ERIKA Z. JONES CHIEF COUNSEL NHTSA

TO: DON PANZER -- SPRAY RIDER INC

TITLE: NONE

ATTACHMT: LETTER DATED 07/28/86 FROM DON PANZER TO NHTSA, OCC 1115

TEXT: Dear Mr. Panzer:

This is in reply to your letter of July 28, 1986, describing a supplemental hazard warning system you have developed which is designed to be incorporated as part of the external rear-view mirror assembly. You have asked about its relationship to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards Nos. 108 and 111.

The information you enclosed depicts the lamp mounted above the outside rear-view mirror in the same housing. According to your description it may face in the same direction as the mirror, or "exposed to the front, back, and side of the vehicle or in any combination of these directions." It will flash synchronously with the front and rear hazard warning lamps, and "can also perform as a directional signal."

Standard No. 108 deals only indirectly with lighting systems other than those which it requires. Supplemental lighting equipment and other motor vehicle equipment are permissible under Paragraph S4.1.3 as long as they do not impair the effectiveness of lighting equipment required by the standard. We believe that a possibility of impairment of the turn signal system might exist if your lamp-mirror were to operate in this fashion, and only one such device were installed on a vehicle. This suggests that lamps providing a turn-signal function be packaged and sold in pairs and conversely that lamps sold singly not provide a turn-signal function. On the basis of the facts as you have presented them to us, we cannot say that impairment otherwise would exist, or that the device would not be acceptable as original equipment. However, because of the dual nature of the American legal system the fact that an accessory is not prohibited by Federal law does not mean that it is permissible under the laws of the individual States. We are not able to advise you as to these laws but you may wish to check with the Motor Vehicle Administrators of the States where you intend to sell your device.

2

As you surmised, there is also a relationship of Standard No. 111 to your device as an item of original equipment. Further, the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act itself bears upon its permissibility as an aftermarket item. Standard No. 111 requires each passenger car to be equipped with an outside rear-view mirror on the driver's side; under paragraph S5.2.2 ". . . neither the mirror nor the mounting shall protrude farther than the widest part of the vehicle body except to the extent necessary to produce a field of view meeting or exceeding the requirements of S5.2.1." You have not provided us with the dimensions of this device and while the photograph you enclosed showing it mounted on a Vauxhall car is inconclusive, it at least suggests that you examine this design with S5.2.2 in mind. This prohibition does not extend to an exterior-mounted mirror on the passenger side. You should also be aware that the same restriction applies to driver-side mirrors on multipurpose passenger vehicles, trucks, and buses other than schoolbuses with a GVWR of 10,000 pounds or less that are equipped with mirrors that comply with the requirements of paragraph S5, an option permitted by paragraph S6.1(a) of the standard.

Although the safety standards do not apply once a vehicle is sold, the Traffic Safety Act prohibits persons other than a vehicle owner from "rendering inoperative in whole or in part" safety equipment installed on a vehicle to achieve compliance with the safety standards. The agency is concerned that a light incorporated with a rear view mirror could create glare to the driver, thus rendering the mirror partially "inoperative" within the meaning of the standard, even if the replacement mirror otherwise complies with Standard No. 111.

You should also be aware of the other performance and location requirements for rearview mirrors on passenger cars in Standard No. 111. The outside rearview mirror on the driver's side must be of unit magnification and must comply with field of view requirements, as well as the mounting requirements referred to above. Regarding the passenger's side, an outside rearview mirror is required only if the inside rearview mirror fails to meet the field of view requirements. This outside rearview mirror may be either plane or convex and must comply with the mounting and adjustability requirements in paragraph S5.3. If this outside rearview mirror is convex, it must meet the requirements for convex mirrors in paragraph S5.4.

I hope that this clarifies the relationship of the Federal standards to your device, and if there are any further questions I would be pleased to answer them.

Sincerely