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Interpretation ID: nht73-4.41

DATE: 08/08/73

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; Lawrence R. Schneider; NHTSA

TO: Raymond's Utility Trailers

TITLE: FMVSR INTERPRETATION

TEXT: By notice letter dated April 27, 1973, you were advised that this agency was considering seeking imposition of civil penalties against you for violation of sections 108(a)(1) and (a)(3) of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966. Section 108(a)(1) provides in pertinent part that "No person shall manufacturer for sale, sell, offer for sale . . . any motor vehicle . . . unless it is in conformity with [all applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards]." Section 108(a)(3) provides in pertinent part that "No person shall fail to issue a certificate required by section 114." You were afforded an opportunity to submit to us any information, data, or arguments relevant to this matter. We have carefully reviewed your response of May 15, 1973.

We have concluded that you have violated sections 108(a)(1) and (a)(3) of the Act by manufacturing for sale, selling, and offering for sale snowmobile and bicycle trailers that did not conform and were not certified as conforming with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 108 Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment, and that accordingly you are subject to civil penalties not to exceed $ 1,000 for each separate violation of section 108. Section 109(b) authorizes the Secretary to compromise any civil penalty. This authority has been delegated to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator. If you wish to seek a settlement, you should submit a written offer in compromise to

the undersigned, accompanied by a certified check payable to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, not later than twenty (20) days after you have received this letter. The Administrator views a compromise of $ 1,000 as appropriate under the circumstances. If we do not hear from you within the 20 day period we will proceed with a court action to seek the maximum civil penalty authorized by law and an order restraining further violations of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act.

We have also reviewed your letter of June 22, 1973, forwarding to us a sample defect notification letter regarding the failure of trailers manufactured by your company to conform to Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 108.

We are of the opinion that the sample notification you have submitted does not fully conform to the requirements of the Defect Notification regulation (49 CFR Part 577) and should be modified as follows:

1. Section 577.4 of the regulation requires the opening statement of the notification to be: "This notice is sent to you in accordance with the requirements of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act." While your opening statement is similar, we see no necessity for a departure from the regulatory language, which was intended to be used verbatim, and suggest that you modify this sentence to conform to the regulation.

2. The second sentence of your letter states that the determination of a defect was made by the NHTSA. This, however, is not the case. Section 577.5 of the Defect Notification regulation provides that the notification letter shall state that the defect was determined to relate to motor vehicle safety by the NHTSA when that determination results from an administrative proceeding conducted pursuant to section 113(e) of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 1402(e)). This proceeding did not take place in your case, however, and we consequently view the determination regarding the defect to have been made by you. We believe it would serve to further clarify your letter if your second sentence were to indicate as well that the defect relates to a nonconformity to Standard No. 108.

In addition, our enforcement file in this case indicates that trailers manufactured by you were not certified in conformity with section 114 of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 1403) and the Certification regulations (49 CFR Part 567). Your notification letter should refer to this as well. An appropriate second

sentence for your letter would therefore read: Raymond's Utility Trailers has determined that a defect that relates to motor vehicle safety exists in your (year) trailer in that it fails to conform to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 108 "Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment", and has not been certified as conforming to all applicable motor vehicle safety standards in accordance with applicable regulations.

3. Section 577.4(c) requires the notification to contain a clear description of the defect. In your case, the defect concerns a failure to conform to specific requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 108 and NHTSA certification requirements. We believe that to fulfill this requirement your notification letter should indicate how, specifically, your trailers fail to conform to the standard and the regulations. To do so would require a statement of the number, color, and type of specific lighting equipment with which your trailers have not been equipped, and the fact that the required certification label has not been affixed.

A statement that such lighting and the required label will be affixed to the vehicle should also be included to meet the requirements of @ 577.4(e)(1), which requires a statement of the measures to be taken to repair the defect when the manufacturer offers to repair the defect without charge to the purchaser.

RAYMOND'S UTILITY TRAILERS

Dear Trailers Owner:

Be informed that this is a defect notification letter being sent pursuant to the requirements of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act. The National Highway Traffic Administrator has determined that a defect relating to motor vehicle safety exists in your trailer which was built by me in 19 .

All trailers must have side marker lights and if over 80" wide they also require clearance and identification lights. Most trailers have a very low silhouette and the extra lights are to outline the outer edges of the trailer to prevent possible collision. Such an incident could occur at an intersection if another vehicle was waiting to pull into the intersection and could not see the trailer being pulled behind your car. If a trailer is over 80" wide, identification lights are needed to designate the width as being wider than that of the car and to prevent possible side swiping of the trailer.

It is suggested that until you have the extra lights installed on your trailer you do not haul your trailer at night.

All additional lights are being installed at no expense to you. In most cases it will take 2 - 3 hours to install the additional lights, dependent upon the number of lights already on your trailer. Parts are available at this time for installation on your trailer by appointment. Please call for an appointment so correction of this defect can be made in a timely manner.

Very truly yours,

Richard R. Raymond