Interpretation ID: nht93-5.35

TYPE: Interpretation-NHTSA

DATE: July 29, 1993

FROM: John Womack -- Acting Chief Counsel, NHTSA

TO: Shintaro Nakatsuka -- Vice President, Environment and Safety, Mazda (North America), Inc.

TITLE: None

ATTACHMT: Attached to letter dated 4/26/93 from Shintaro Nakatsuka to John Womack (OCC 8580)

TEXT:

This responds to your letter concerning Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 102, Transmission Shift Lever Sequence, Starter Interlock, and Transmission Braking Effect (49 CFR S571.102). You ask whether S3.1.4.1(b) of the standard requires the shift lever positions to be displayed when the vehicle's power has failed and the vehicle has been shifted out of "park" to be towed. For the following reasons, the answer to your question is no.

S3.1.4.1 of Standard No. 102 states that:

(I)f the transmission shift lever sequence includes a park position, identification of shift lever positions, . . . shall be displayed in view of the driver whenever any of the following conditions exist: (a) The ignition is in a position where the transmission can be shifted.

(b) The transmission is not in park.

You indicate that your question concerns the relationship between this section and S4.2.2(b)(1) of Standard No. 114, Theft Protection. S4.2.2(b)(1) allows vehicles to be able to shift out of "park" without a key under certain conditions. You point out that S4.2.2(b)(1) was added to permit the vehicle to be towed when there is an electrical failure of the system. (See final rule; response to petitions for reconsideration, 56 FR 12464; March 26, 1991.) In effect, you ask, "When a disabled vehicle's transmission is not in park because the vehicle is being towed, must the electronic transmission gear shift position be displayed?"

The answer is no. Standard No. 102 presumes a functioning vehicle with a functioning gear shift lever sequence. This is indicated in S1. Purpose and scope of Standard No. 102, where one of the purposes is to reduce the likelihood of shifting errors. Avoiding shifting errors is important when the vehicle is being driven. In the event of a power failure in a vehicle incorporating electronic transmission gear shift sequence displays, the vehicle would not be capable of being driven, or of having its gears shifted. Therefore, since the standard did not contemplate driving or shifting gears in the event of a power failure, the standard was not intended to regulate the transmission shift display in the event of an electrical or other power failure, when the vehicle is taken out of the "park" position in order to be towed.

I hope this responds to your concerns. If you have any further questions, please contact Dorothy Nakama of my staff at this address or by telephone at (202) 366-2992.