Interpretation ID: aiam1550
Safety Engineer-Vehicles
Transportation Equipment Group
Vehicle Development Center
Sheller-Globe Corporation
2885 St. Johns Avenue
Lima
OH 45804;
Dear Mr. Semark: This is in response to your letter of May 15, 1974, requesting tha vehicles which seat 10 persons or less, but are of the same base design as buses specifically designed as school buses, be classified as school buses regardless of their intended use.; The vehicles that would be affected by the reclassification you reques are currently categorized as multipurpose passenger vehicles, since they provide seating positions for 10 persons or less. In general, the multipurpose passenger vehicle category is subject to more stringent safety requirements than either the bus or the school bus categories. Further, additional standards are becoming effective for multipurpose passenger vehicles in the near future as part of the NHTSA's overall plan to extend the requirements presently applicable to passenger cars. Thus, multipurpose passenger vehicles can expect increasingly higher safety performance levels, comparable to those of passenger cars.; Vehicles used to transport handicapped children should not b reclassified in such a way as to reduce the number or the stringency of the requirements to which they are subject.; On the basis of the above reasons, the NHTSA has concluded that th vehicles about which you are petitioning should not be reclassified as school buses and your petition is therefore denied.; Sincerely, Robert L. Carter, Associate Administrator, Motor Vehicl Programs;