Interpretation ID: aiam4180
Manager
Lee-Chien
Inc.
P.O. Box 56-104
Taipei
Taiwan R.O.C.;
Dear Mr. Chien: This responds to your letter dated May 28, 1986, asking for informatio about certain Federal motor vehicle safety standards. Enclosed are copies of an information sheet for new manufacturers, a form for ordering copies of safety standards, and the copy of Standard No. 111, *Rearview Mirrors, which you requested.; This agency has issued no safety standard regarding fog lamps. However S4.1.3 of Standard No. 108, *Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment*, provides that no additional lighting equipment, such as fog lamps, which impair the effectiveness of lighting equipment required by Standard No. 108 shall be installed on motor vehicles. This prohibition applies to parties installing your product on vehicles, and not to you as the manufacturer of the product. This is because the installer is the only party which can ensure that the reflectors are installed so that they do not impair the effectiveness of required lighting equipment. Generally speaking, this requirement of Standard No. 108 applies only to motor vehicles prior to their first purchase in good faith for purposes other than resale, and not to aftermarket accessories added to a vehicle after that purchase. The general rule is that aftermarket accessories may be added to vehicles.; This general rule is, however, limited by the application of th provisions of section 108(a)(2)(A) of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966, as amended (the Act). That section specifies: 'No manufacturer, distributor, dealer, or motor vehicle repair business shall knowingly render inoperative . . . any device or element of design installed on or in a motor vehicle or item of motor vehicle equipment in compliance with an applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standard.' NHTSA considers it an element of design on vehicles that they have lighting and other equipment which are required by Standard No. 108 and whose effectiveness is not impaired by additional lighting equipment. Therefore, a manufacturer, distributor, dealer, or motor vehicle repair business installing a fog lamp would have to take care that the fog lamp, by its intensity, color or placement, does not impair the performance of required lighting equipment.; If the installation of your fog lamps would impair that effectiveness a manufacturer, distributor, dealer, or motor vehicle repair business installing such fog lamps would be rendering inoperative that design element of the vehicle, and thereby violating section 108(a)(2)(A) of the Act. Section 109 of the Act (15 U.S.C. 1398) specifies a civil penalty of up to $1,000 for each violation of section 108, and each vehicle on which this element of design was rendered inoperative would be considered a separate violation. You should note that the prohibitions of section 108(a)(2)(A) do not apply to a vehicle owner rendering inoperative some element of design on his or her vehicle. Hence, if your aftermarket reflectors are sold to and installed by vehicle owners, those persons would not be subject to the prohibition of section 108 referenced above.; You should also be aware of the responsibilities imposed by the Act o manufacturers of motor vehicle equipment, such as reflective mirrors or fog lamps. If either you, as a manufacturer, or this agency determines that your product does not comply with an applicable safety standard or that the products contain a defect related to motor vehicle safety, you as the manufacturer would be required to remedy that noncompliance or defect. Section 154(a)(2)(B) of the Act (15 U.S.C. 1414(a)(2)(B)) specifies that, if an item of motor vehicle equipment fails to comply with an applicable standard or contains a safety-related defect, the manufacturer must notify purchasers of the noncompliance or defect and must either:; >>>1. repair the product so that the noncompliance or defect i removed, or; 2. replace the product with an identical or reasonably equivalen product that does not have the noncompliance or defect.<<<; Whichever of these options is chosen, you as the manufacturer must bea the full expense of the remedy and cannot charge the product owner for the remedy if the product was first purchased less than 8 years before the notification campaign.; Sincerely, Erika Z. Jones, Chief Counsel