Interpretation ID: markowski
Mr. Norbert P. Markowski
2021 S. 102nd St.
West Allis, WI 53227
Dear Mr. Markowski:
This responds to your recent letter requesting the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's assistance to enable you to seek alteration of your Model Year 2000 Buick LeSabre to accommodate your needs. You explain that you need a left side foot accelerator in order to assist your driving. You cannot drive safely with a right foot accelerator because your right leg is fused at the knee and ankle. You state that your right foot rests on the right accelerator and that, while driving, you do not dare move your right leg lest you unintentionally press on the right accelerator.
In a telephone conversation with Dorothy Nakama of my staff, you stated that your LeSabre has already been modified to include a left side foot accelerator pedal. You ask us for written permission that would permit you to go to a dealership or other business to remove the right accelerator pedal.
This letter should provide the relief you seek. We do not prohibit modifiers from removing the pedal, as long as the work is done without negating the safety of a required component or element of design.
Section 30122(b) of Title 49 of the United States Code (the title under which Standard No. 124 was issued) provides in part that--
A manufacturer, distributor, dealer, or motor vehicle repair business may not knowingly make inoperative any part of a device or element of design installed on or in a motor vehicle ... in compliance with an applicable motor vehicle safety standard prescribed under this chapter ...
Our safety standards do not require that an accelerator pedal be provided on a motor vehicle, or that the accelerator pedal be placed to the right of the brake pedal. Since our standards do not require the accelerator pedal to be on the right, moving the pedal position from the right to the left would not "make inoperative" the compliance of your vehicle with Standard No. 124. However, Standard No. 124, Accelerator Control Systems, requires that a vehicle's throttle must return to the idle position when the driver removes the actuating force from the accelerator control or in the event of a severance or disconnection in the accelerator control system. Your LeSabre must meet this safety requirement with the accelerator pedal on the left.
Further, after the right accelerator pedal has been removed from your LeSabre, I would strongly urge you to inform all potential drivers of your LeSabre that the accelerator pedal and the brake pedal in your vehicle are reversed from their usual positions. In addition, if you should decide to sell your LeSabre in the future, I would suggest that the right foot accelerator pedal is replaced before the vehicle is sold.
Showing this letter to your dealer or repair business when you take your car to have the right accelerator pedal removed should provide the assurance they seek to perform the modification. If the dealer or repair business wishes to verify the authenticity of this letter, they may call the telephone number below.
If you have any other questions, please contact Dorothy Nakama at this address or by phone at (202) 366-2992.
Sincerely,
Frank Seales, Jr.
Chief Counsel
ref:VSA#124
d.9/29/99