Interpretation ID: aiam3868
226 N. Williamson Road
Blossburg
PA 16912;
Dear Mr. Chamberlain: This responds to your letter to the National Highway Traffic Safet Administration (NHTSA) which concerned the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards relating to school bus safety. You asked whether a school bus contractor is automatically exempt from the Federal school bus safety standards if that contractor is a Public Utilities Commission (PUC) certificate carrier. The answer is no.; Under the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 196 (hereinafter 'the Vehicle Safety Act'), our agency has the authority to issue safety standards applicable to new motor vehicles. In 1974, Congress amended the Vehicle Safety Act to direct NHTSA to issue standards on specific aspects of school bus safety. A new 'bus' (i.e., a motor vehicle designed for carrying 11 persons or more) which is sold for purposes that include carrying students to and from school or school-related events is a 'school bus' under our regulatory definition. A manufacturer or dealer who sells a new bus who know that the vehicle will be significantly used as a school bus must ensure that the vehicle complies with the Federal school bus safety standards.; You stated in your letter that a school bus contractor has notifie your school district that 'under his PUC rights he is exempt from Federal Safety Regulations.' For the reasons discussed below, such a statement is inaccurate. Buses purchased by a PUC certificate carrier are not per se exempt from the Federal school bus safety standards.; It is correct that the regulatory definition of 'school bus' issued b this agency under the Vehicle Safety Act excludes a bus 'designed and sold for operation as a common carrier in urban transportation.' (49 CFR 571.3) However, the exclusion does not give persons who sell new buses to common carrier operators the license to disregard the school bus safety standards when they sell the buses. This is because the applicability of the standards to a bus is determined by its intended use, not by the fact that the purchaser has common carrier operations or holds a PUC certificate. Whether a particular bus must comply with the school bus safety standards depends on the intended use of that bus, as determined at the point of the vehicle's sale. If the seller of the school bus knows that the vehicle will be significantly used by the PUC carrier as a school bus, he must sell a bus that complies with the Federal school bus standards or be subject to substantial penalties under the Vehicle Safety Act.; Please contact this office if you have further questions. Sincerely, Frank Berndt, Chief Counsel