Interpretation ID: nht71-5.12

DATE: 12/03/71

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; Richard B. Dyson; NHTSA

TO: Department of California Highway Patrol

TITLE: FMVSS INTERPRETATION

TEXT: Your inquiry concerning the certification required of seat belts installed in motor vehicles manufactured after January 1, 1972, has been brought to our attention. Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 208, which governs the installation of seat belts, requires belts to conform to Standard No. 209. Since Standard No. 209 is amended effective January 1, 1972, your question is whether a vehicle manufactured after that date must have seat belts that are certified as conforming to the new provisions of Standard No. 209.

We construe Standard No. 208 to require only that the belts conform to Standard No. 209 as it was at the time of their manufacture. Thus, a belt manufactured before January 1 that conforms to the contemporaneous (pre-amendment) version of Standard No. 209 may be installed in a vehicle manufactured after that date. A belt manufactured after January 1, must, of course, conform to the amended version of the standard.