Interpretation ID: nht93-6.40

DATE: September 21, 1993

FROM: John Womack -- Acting Chief Counsel, NHTSA

TO: James N. Doan -- Counsel - Operations, Eaton Corporation

TITLE: None

ATTACHMT: Attached to letter dated 6/17/93 from James N. Doan to John Womack (OCC-8805)

TEXT:

This responds to your request for an interpretation of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 101, Controls and Displays. You asked whether an automatic vehicle speed control (also known as a cruise control), that you describe as "mounted on the transmission shift lever," must be illuminated. As explained below, the answer is no.

S5.3.1 sets requirements concerning controls which must be illuminated. S5.3.1 excludes from the illumination requirements hand operated controls that are mounted on the floor, floor console or steering column.

You believe that your proposed control would be considered "mounted on the floor or floor console" and thus excluded from S5.3.1's illumination requirements. We agree that locating the control on the shift lever is similar to locating it on the floor console for the purposes of the illumination requirements. This interpretation is based on agency precedent concerning S5.3.1's exception for controls on steering columns. In the preamble to a final rule of May 4, 1971 (36 FR 8296), NHTSA determined that the exception for controls mounted on the steering column extends to controls mounted on the steering wheel. Since the transmission shift lever bears the same relationship to the floor console as does the steering wheel to the steering column, controls on the transmission shift lever are excepted from S5.3.1's illumination requirements.

I hope that this information is useful. If you have any further questions, please contact Dorothy Nakama of my staff at (202) 366-2992.