Interpretation ID: aiam2240
Staff Engineer
Blue Bird Body Company
P. O. Box 937
Fort Valley
GA 31030;
Dear Mr. Milby: This responds to several questions raised by Blue Bird Body Compan concerning the applicability of school bus safety standards to certain bus types under the newly-issued redefinition of school bus (40 FR 60033, December 31, 1975). The new definition (effective October 27, 1976) reads:; >>>'School bus' means a bus that is sold, or introduced in interstat commerce, for purposes that include carrying students to and from school or related events, but does not include a bus designed and sold for operation as a common carrier in urban transportation.<<<; In your February 24, 1976, letter you ask whether buses utilized t transport athletic teams and school bands to and from athletic events qualify as school buses under the definition that becomes effective October 27, 1976, and, if so, whether they must therefore comply with all applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards.; From your description of the use of an 'activity bus' to transpor students to and from athletic events related to the students' school, it would be included as a school bus under the new definition if it were sold for this use. It appears clear that the manufacturer and dealer in these cases would both be aware that the purchasing school intended to use the bus to transport students to events related to their school, such as athletic events involving school teams. In close cases, the knowledge of parties to the sales transaction would be determinative of whether the bus was 'sold. . . for purposes that include carrying students to and from school or related events. . . .' Any bus determined to be a school bus under the new definition would be required to meet all applicable standards in effect on the date of its manufacture.; Your December 16, 1975, letter asks whether transit buses that ar based on a basic school bus design must meet the requirements of Standard No. 217, *Emergency Exits*, that apply to buses other than school buses. Since receipt of your letter, the redefinition of school bus has been issued and Standard No. 217 has been amended by the addition of requirements for school buses. In answer to your question, only a bus that is sold for purposes that include carrying students to and from school qualifies as a school bus. A bus designed and sold for operation as a common carrier in urban transportation would be required to meet the requirements of Standard 217 for buses other than school buses.; Your separate question regarding the configuration of emergency exit has been answered in an earlier interpretation of the provision you question. A copy of that interpretation is enclosed.; Your March 4, 1976, letter asked whether the new definition of schoo bus includes buses that are sold for transportation of college-age students. You argued that an intent to include buses other than those for the transportation of preprimary-, primary-, and secondary-school students would go beyond the statutory definition added to the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act by the Motor Vehicle and Schoolbus Safety Amendments of 1974 (15 U.S.C. S 1391(14)), and apply the standards to a broader variety of vehicles than those for which they were developed. The NHTSA finds this argument to have merit. It therefore withdraws its discussion of the breadth of the regulatory definition of school bus that appeared in the December 31, 1975, preamble. The agency will not consider buses sold for the transportation of college-age students to be school buses.; You also asked if any motor vehicle safety standard requires tha school buses by painted yellow. No motor vehicle safety standard requires yellow paint. At this time, however, Standard No. 108, *Lamps, Reflective devices, and Associated Equipment*, requires installation of warning lights, and this would entail the use of yellow paint by the operator under Pupil Transportation Standard No. 17.; In an area unrelated to school bus definition, you asked in a Februar 20, 1976, letter whether the description of vehicle roof appearing in S5.2(b) of Standard No. 220, *School Bus Rollover Protection*, applies to determination of roof size under both S5.2(a) and S5.2(b). The description is intended to apply to roof measurement under both S5.2(a) and S5.2(b).; Yours truly, Richard B. Dyson, Assistant Chief Counsel