Interpretation ID: aiam3242
Trainee
Department of Trading Standards
Royal County of Berkshire
The Old Fire Station
12 Cookham Road
Maidenhead
Berkshire
SL6 8AJ
England;
Dear Mr. Martin: This responds to your letter of February 20, 1980, in which yo requested information concerning this agency's requirements that motor vehicles be equipped with tamper-resistant odometers and the method used to enforce this requirement. As described below, I have enclosed copies of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) pertinent regulations and enabling legislation as well as some background material.; Among the enclosures to this letter are a series of Federal Registe notices which trace the development of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 127, *Speedometers and Odometers*. As you will see, (43 FR 10919, March 16, 1978, Notice 4) the initial requirement that odometers 'be moveable in the forward direction only' has been modified several times largely in response to comments from the public and from the automobile manufactures (examples enclosed). The rule in effect at present requires either that (1) odometers be irreversible 'whether installed in or removed from a vehicle' unless one or more of five specified operations is necessary to achieve reversal or (2) that odometers be equipped with a marking system which permanently marks the wheel registering ten thousands of miles as the numeral disappears from the driver's view (see 44 FR 17500, March 22, 1979). changes to standard have been proposed (see 44 FR 17532, March 22, 1979) and this agency expects to publish a final rule incorporating some of these changes in the near future. Upon its publication I will be happy to send you a copy. In anticipation. of publication of this rule, the agency has not yet conducted an evaluation in the field of the effectiveness of the odometer provisions of Safety Standard No. 127. However, The agency is now preparing to begin such an evaluation. At this point I am unable to provide you with any details on the form which the evaluation will take.; I have also enclosed an economic impact analysis prepared in 1978 whic discusses, among other things, an early version of Safety Standard 127's odometer tampering provision. Please note that this analysis was not updated as the odometer requirements of Safety Standard No. 127 were modified because this agency concluded that these changes would not significantly alter the standard's economic impact.; You may also be interested to know that SAfety Standard 127 is not thi agency's only tool against odometer tampering. Title IV, Odometer Requirements, of the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act (copy enclosed) which is enforced in part, by this agency states that no person shall (1) disconnect reset or alter or cause to be disconnected reset or altered the odometer of a motor vehicle with intent to change the number of miles indicated thereon, (2) with intent to defraud, operate a motor vehicle on any street or highway knowing that the odometer of such vehicle is disconnected or nonfunctional of (3) advertise for sale, sell, use or install or cause to be installed any device which causes an odometer to register any milage other that the true milage driver.; In addition, the act authorizes this agency to develop regulation requiring any transferor of ownership of a motor vehicle to provide to the transferee written disclosure of the cumulative milage registered on the odometer or, in cases where the transferor knows that the odometer reading is different from the number of miles the vehicle has actually traveled, disclosure of that fact. The agency's regulations concerning these disclosures are enclosed for your information.; In your letter, you also requested information indicative of the exten to which odometer tampering presents a problem in the United States.; Unfortunately, I am unable to provide you with any reliable studie conducted in this area. The legislation and regulations aimed at reducing the incidence of odometer tampering have all rested upon a common but un-quantified consensus that odometer tampering is a significant problem in the United States. Safety engineers in this agency have estimated, simply on the basis of their experience, that between 50% and 75% of the used cars sold in the United States contain odometers whose readings have been reduced.; I hope that you will find this information helpful in preparing you project on tamper-proof odometers.; Sincerely, Frank Berndt, Chief Counsel