Interpretation ID: nht73-3.31

DATE: 02/20/73

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; Richard B. Dyson; NHTSA

TO: Lectron Products, Inc.

TITLE: FMVSS INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This is in reply to your letter of January 29, 1973, concerning your safety belt interlock system.

Paragraph S7.4.1 of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 208, Occupant Crash Protection, requires that the belt system at each occupied seating position be operated after the occupant is seated in order to start the engine. It is our opinion that a system such as yours, which senses whether the safety belt is properly buckled around the occupant before allowing the engine to start, would meet the above requirements and could be used under the option described in S4.1.2.3.