Interpretation ID: nht74-3.8
DATE: 07/17/74
FROM: JACK R. GILSTRAP -- SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA RAPID TRANSIT DISTRICT
TO: RICHARD B. DYSON, -- ASSISTANT CHIEF COUNSEL NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
COPYEE: CHARLES R. SHARP -- GM
TITLE: FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARD 108
ATTACHMT: ATTACHED TO LETTER DATED 08/05/74, FROM RICHARD B. DYSON -- NHTSA TO JACK P. GILSTRAP; N40-30 [ZTV]; STANDARD 108; LETTER DATED 12/26/73 FROM WARREN M. HEATH TO JACK R. GILSTRAP
TEXT: Dear Mr. Dyson:
On April 30, 1974, the Southern California Rapid Transit District entered into a contract with GMC Truck & Coach Division of General Motors Corporation for the furnishing of 200 heavy duty transit buses. This purchase is funded under a Capital Grant from the Urban Mass Transportation Administration of the Department of Transportation.
The specifications for these buses required the provision of spare wires serving the clearance and marker lamps around the roof of the bus, as well as the installation of a silent flasher in the engine compartment. This additional wiring was required in order to enable the District to install dual-filament bulbs in the corner clearance lamps. The 32 candlepower filament of these bulbs would be connected in a manner to be put into operation in a flashing mode as a part of an experiment in improving safety onboard transit buses. In December 1973, the District received a permit from the California Highway Patrol to install flashing lamps in the corner clearance lamps. A copy of this permit is enclosed.
The flashing lamps are controlled by a hidden switch which can be secretly activated by the driver in the event of a hijacking, robbery or other crime in progress on the bus. This same switch activates a radio silent alarm on those buses which are radio equipped. In addition, all District buses have identification numbers painted on the roof. These features, the flashing lamps, the radio silent alarms, and the roof numbers are all part of a program initiated jointly by the District and law enforcement agencies in an attempt to combat the growing incidence of crime onboard public trans buses. The District presently operates more than 1700 buses outfitted with these flashing lamps as approved by the California Highway Patrol. Most of the local law enforcement agencies have expressed to the District the opinion that the flashing lamps are a significant aid in spotting a bus with a crime in progress. No objections or complaints have been received.
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General Motors, although it did not take exception to the Specifications prior to award of the contract, has now advised us of their refusal to manufacture the buses with the specified additional wiring. The purported grounds for their refusal is that to do so would violate the intent of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 108, in particular, Paragraph S 4.6, even though GMC has not been requested to connect any operating lamp or other device to this wiring.
The District's interpretation of Paragraph S 4. 6 is that it applies only to turn signal lamps, hazard warning signal lamps and school bus warning lamps as cited therein. It is not the intent, nor would it be a permitted practice, to activate the flashing crime warning lamps at the same time as, or in conjunction with, any of the lamps cited in Paragraph S 4.6. In any case, it is the District's interpretation of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards that the mere provision of wiring would not create or constitute a violation on the part of GMC.
Nevertheless, General Motors has asked that we obtain an opinion from your office that the installation of the additional wiring by GMC would not constitute a violation of FMVSS 108. The District is prepared to take full responsibility for installation of any flashing lamps under the experimental permit issued by the California Highway Patrol in December 1973. Please note that buses of the District do not operate in any service outside the State of California.
Should there be problems of which the District is not aware we request that you consider this letter as a petition for the amendment of FMVSS 108 to allow the installation and use of dual filament flashing bulbs in the corner clearance lamps to signify a crime in progress onboard a transit bus.
Should you have any questions of a legal nature, please contact Miss Suzanne B. Gifford, our Assistant General Counsel. If there are questions on mechanical or technical matters, please contact Mr. Frank Barnes, our Deputy Administrator of Operations.
We would appreciate your consideration of this matter.
Cordially,