Interpretation ID: aiam3174
Executive Engineer
Vehicle Regulations and Standards
Mack Trucks
Inc.
P.O. Box 1761
Allentown
PN 18105;
Dear Mr. Brown: Thank you for your letter of November 21, 1979, pointing ou discrepancies in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 108 as published in the Code of Federal Regulations and as published in 'Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards and Regulations.'; You are correct that the version of S4.1.5 appearing in 'Federal Moto Vehicle Safety Standards and Regulations' erroneously incorporates the paragraph of the Federal Register amendment notice finding that good cause had been shown for an immediate effective date. The error does not appear, however, in the official version of Standard No. 108 which appears in the Code of Federal Regulations.; The footnote reference to 'S4.4.2' and the reference to 'S3.1' in th interpretation do appear, however, in the Code of Federal Regulations. Originally, there was a paragraph S4.4.2 prescribing the testing sequence of combination turn signal and hazard warning signal flashers, referenced by footnotes in Tables I and III. As you may recall, there was a Standard No. 108a scheduled to become effective on January 1, 1973, which omitted S4.4.2 with its footnote reference, and added detailed performance and testing requirements for flashers under a new paragraph, S4.6. When Standard No. 108a was revoked, S4.4.2 was never reinstated as a requirement, though the footnote references to it still appear in Tables I and III as you have noticed.; With respect to the reference to 'S3.1' appearing in Note 2 to Standar No. 108 in the Code of Federal Regulations, this is the S3 which appeared in the December 16, 1967, version of Standard No. 108 cited by the Note. When Standard No. 108 was amended effective January 1, 1972, S3.1 became S4.1. Thus, the continued reference to S3.1, though confusing, is correct in its context.; Your final comment is that the amendments to Tables I and III affecting headlamps, as published on July 27, 1978, have not been picked up by the agency's publication 'Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards and Regulations.' You are correct. We hope that recent steps taken by this agency will end the problems that have been experienced with this publication. However, I must emphasize that the only legal version of Standard No. 108 is that appearing in the Code of Federal Regulations, currently revised as of October 1, 1978, plus amendments and corrections published in the *Federal Register* since that date.; We appreciate your calling these mistakes to our attention. Sincerely, Frank Berndt, Chief Counsel