Interpretation ID: aiam2380
Staff
Safety
Nissan Motor Co.
Ltd.
560 Sylvan Avenue
Englewood Cliffs
New Jersey 07632;
Dear Mr. Iinuma: This is in response to your January 26, 1976, question whether Standar No. 124, *Accelerator Control Devices*, requires that the throttle return to the 'idle position' within specified time limits in the case where an 'automatic speed control device' is in operation and a failure occurs in it.; The requirements of S5.1 and S5.2 of the Standard require a return o the throttle to the idle position when either one source of throttle 'return energy' or a component of the accelerator control system fails or is disconnected. In the case you describe, failure does not occur as outlines in S5.1 and S5.2. Therefore, this failure is not regulated by the standard. This is the case, because the NHTSA does not consider throttle-setting devices to be a component that 'regulate[s] engine speed in direct response to movement of the driver-operated control and that return[s] the throttle to the idle position upon release of the actuating force' as defined in S4.1. As set out in the definition of 'idle position', the agency considers the effect of a throttle-setting device to be a separate condition that affects the setting of the accelerator control system.; Yours truly, Frank Berndt, Acting Chief Counsel