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Interpretation ID: Nakachi



    Matthew K. Nakachi, Esq.
    Law Offices of George R. Tuttle
    Three Embarcadero Center, Suite 1160
    San Francisco, CA 94111


    Dear Mr. Nakachi:

    This responds to your letters of November 30, 2000 (as supplemented by an email of December 18, 2000, to Taylor Vinson of this Office), and January 3, 2001, concerning the applicability of certain Federal motor vehicle safety standards to sidecars.

    By way of background information, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has the statutory authority to issue Federal motor vehicle safety standards (FMVSSs) applicable to new motor vehicles and new items of motor vehicle equipment. All motor vehicles and items of motor vehicle equipment manufactured or imported for sale in the United States must comply with all applicable FMVSSs. (1) The FMVSSs apply in different ways. Some apply only to new motor vehicles, others apply to new items of motor vehicle equipment ("equipment standards"), while others apply to both new vehicles and new equipment.

    Your letters concern the importation of sidecars which would be sold to individuals who already own motorcycles. These sidecars would not be considered "motor vehicles" but would be considered motor vehicle equipment. (2) Therefore, standards that apply only to new motor vehicles would not apply to these sidecars. However, as discussed below, the sidecars would be subject to certain equipment standards.

    If an aftermarket sidecar incorporates motor vehicle equipment that is regulated by an equipment standard, the equipment would have to independently comply with the applicable standard. (See NHTSA's May 4, 1982 letter, copy enclosed). Of particular relevance to sidecars are our standards for brake hoses, tires, tire rims and glazing, all of which apply to individual items of

    equipment. Brake hoses, tires, tire rims and glazing, if provided on a sidecar, must meet the requirements of Standard Nos. 106, 119, 120, and 205, respectively, that apply to equipment for motorcycles.

    You note, for certain of these standards, that the "scope" sections do not mention sidecars but only include such equipment that is used with "passenger cars, multipurpose passenger vehicles, trucks, buses, trailers, and motorcycles." That the standards do not list sidecars is not of significance, because the lists only include vehicle types, and a sidecar is an accessory item (not a vehicle itself). A sidecar is an accessory for a motorcycle. Therefore, equipment on a sidecar is equipment for use on a motorcycle. To determine whether a standard applies to the equipment on a sidecar, we check the application section of the standard to see whether it applies: (a) to items of motor vehicle equipment, and (b) that is for use in motorcycles. If the answer to both of these is yes, then the equipment on the sidecar would have to comply with the standard.

    Standard No. 108

    In the May 4, 1982, letter we also stated that lighting equipment on a sidecar would have to comply with Standard No. 108. We have reconsidered our views on this issue. Standard

    No. 108 applies, in relevant part, to certain types of motor vehicles including motorcycles, and to "(l)amps, reflective devices, and associated equipment for replacement of like equipment on vehicles to which this standard applies." Since an aftermarket sidecar is sold as an accessory to a motorcycle and not to replace a part of a motorcycle, any lamps, reflective devices or associated equipment on the sidecar would not be "for replacement of like equipment" on the motorcycle. Therefore, Standard No. 108 would not apply to an aftermarket sidecar. This would be true whether the sidecars were imported as single items or with the sidecar fenders incorporating lighting equipment separated from the rest of the sidecar.

    However, detached and discrete items of lighting equipment that could be installed either on motor vehicles to which Standard No. 108 applies, or on an aftermarket sidecar, could not be imported unless the items of lighting equipment comply with Standard No. 108. We do not understand that your client intends to import detached items of lighting equipment.

    Standard No. 119

Our understanding is that the tires of the sidecar are not labeled in any manner. Unlabeled tires would not meet the requirements of Standard No. 119. The marking requirements for tires subject to Standard No. 119, "New pneumatic tires for vehicles other than passenger cars" (49 CFR 571.119), are set forth in paragraph S6.5 of the standard. Paragraph S6.5(b) requires that each tire be marked with "the tire identification required by part 574 of this chapter." Section 574.5, "Tire identification requirements," specifies that "[e]ach tire manufacturer shall conspicuously label on one sidewall of each tire it manufactures, except tires manufactured exclusively for mileage contract purchasers or non-pneumatic tires of non-pneumatic tire assemblies, by permanently molding into or onto the sidewall, in the manner and location specified in Figure 1, a tire identification number (TIN) containing the information set forth in paragraphs (a) through (d) of this section." According to this paragraph, the information must be molded into or onto the sidewalls of the sidecar tires. Of course, the tires would also have to comply with all performance requirements applicable to new motorcycle tires.

Standard No. 120