Interpretation ID: nht71-5.51

DATE: 06/04/71

FROM: DAVID SCHMELTZER FOR L. R. SCHNEIDER -- NHTSA

TO: Phillips Petroleum Company

COPYEE: PESKOE; ARMSTRONG; DRIVER

TITLE: FMVSS INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This is in reply to your letter of May 11, 1971, in which you request an opinion on whether certain tires manufactured by Phillips Petroleum Company are subject to the requirements governing tires that have been issued pursuant to the National Traffic and Motor Vehicles Safety Act (15 U.S.C. @ 1391 et seq.) You state that the tires in question result from Phillips' efforts to develop improved tread rubber, and are manufactured by purchasing new tires, buffing them down, and then retreading the remaining casings with experimental tread rubber compounds, You state further that after the casings have been retreaded, the tread rubber compounds are evaluated by stationary wheel testing, road testing, or both, and indicate that some of the road testing takes place on the public highways.

We agree with your conclusion that these tires are not retreaded pneumatic tires under Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 117, because they are not manufactured from used tires. However, in our view these tires are new pneumatic tires, and accordingly are subject to the requirements of Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 109.

Section 108(a)(1) of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act (15 U.S.C. @ 1397(a)(1)) provides that no person shall --

"manufacture for sale, sell, offer for sale, or introduce or deliver for introduction in interstate commerce any motor vehicle or item of motor vehicle equipment manufactured on or after the date any applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standard takes effect . . . unless it is in conformity with such standard."

Phillips' use of the public roads for testing these tires is an introduction of them in interstate concerns and is prohibited by section 108(a)(1) if the tires do not conform to Standard No. 109.

One objective of the Act that you did not mention in your letter is the prevention of possibly hazardous motor vehicles or motor vehicle equipment from being used on the public highways, where they may endanger not only the driver of the vehicle in question, but other users of the highway as well. The tires need not be manufactured for sale to the general public in order for a violation of section 108(a)(1) to occur.

However, if the testing of these tires is confined to the laboratory or to private roads, the prohibition of the Act will not apply to them.

I trust this answers your question. If you have further questions, please write.