Interpretation ID: aiam4370
Associate Superintendent for Administrative Services
Rock Hill School District Number Three
P.O. Drawer 10072
522 East Main Street
Rock Hill
SC 29731;
Dear Mr. Kelly: This responds to your letter to the National Highway Traffic Safet Administration (NHTSA) asking two questions about the applicability of our school bus safety standards to vans. I apologize for the delay in our response.; Before I begin to answer your specific questions, it might be helpfu to provide some background information on our school bus regulations. Our agency has two sets of regulations for school buses. The first set, issued under the authority of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, applies to the manufacture and sale of new motor vehicles and includes the motor vehicle safety standards for new school buses. We believe that those motor vehicle safety standards for school buses are the 'school bus regulations' to which you refer in your letter.; In general, the parties subject to the Vehicle Safety Act ar manufacturers and sellers of new school buses. The Act requires manufacturers to certify that their vehicles meet all Federal safety standards applicable to buses and also those specifically applicable to 'school buses.' Further, under the Vehicle Safety Act, each person selling a new bus to a school must ensure that the bus complies with our motor vehicle safety standards for school buses or be potentially subject to fines under Federal law. Because the Vehicle Safety Act applies to the manufacture and sale of new motor vehicles and not to vehicle use, there is no Federal prohibition directed against a school or school district that uses noncomplying buses to carry school children.; NHTSA issued the second set of 'regulations' for school buses under th authority of the Highway Safety Act. Those regulations, or 'highway safety program standards,' are recommendations from this agency to the states for developing their highway safety programs. Highway Safety Program Standard No. 17, *Pupil Transportation Safety* (copy enclosed) includes recommendations for the operational aspects of state pupil transportation programs, such as school bus identification, maintenance and driver training. Individual states have chosen to adopt some or all of the guidelines as their own policies governing their highway safety programs. A state that has adopted this standard might have specifications applying to small 'vans' used as school vehicles. Because the issue is one concerning state law, South Carolina officials would be able to provide you with more information on state requirements for the operation of smaller school vehicles.; With this background, I will now address your specific questions. You first question asked whether a vehicle carrying 11 or fewer persons (driver included) must conform to Federal school bus requirements. our regulations issued under the Vehicle Safety Act specify that a new vehicle designed for carrying 11 or more persons (including the driver) is considered a 'bus,' and is considered to be a 'school bus' if sold for school-related purposes. If a new vehicle is designed for carrying *10* or fewer persons, it is considered under our regulations to be either a 'passenger car' or a 'multipurpose passenger vehicle' (MPV). We do not prohibit the sale of MPV's to carry school children nor do we require them to comply with Federal school bus safety standards. Instead, they must meet safety standards applicable to MPV's.; Your second question was 'Can a van designed for 14 passengers b redesigned for 10 passengers and not be required to meet Federal school bus requirements?' Before I explain the consequences under Federal law of removing seats from a 14-passenger bus, I would like to reiterate that our authority under the Vehicle Safety Act does not extend to the use of school buses by school districts or individual schools. Therefore, Federal law does not require your school district to use only complying school buses or to restrict the seating in your 14-passenger vans to take them out of our 'school bus' category. While persons selling your school district new 14-passenger vans *are obligated to sell* buses which conform to our school bus safety standards, transporters of school children are not required by the Vehicle Safety Act to ensure that all their vehicles designed for seating 11 or more persons comply with Federal school bus safety standards. I would also like to point out that the following discussion concerns only whether the modification you described would be permitted under our statutes and regulations. Since the States set their own operational requirements for school vehicles, you should contact South Carolina officials to determine the consequences of such a modification under State law.; In general, the answer to your question is yes. However, if the seat are removed by a commercial business such as a motor vehicle dealer or distributor, there are Federal restrictions on the way the modification may be made. Also, separate considerations arise depending on whether the seats are removed before the vehicle's first sale (i.e., from a new vehicle) or after its first sale (from a used vehicle).; Altering a 14-passenger bus by removing some of its seats so that i would no longer have a passenger capacity that would classify it as a bus is, in theory, permissible. If a manufacturer or dealer reduces the passenger capacity of a *new* bus to less than 10 *before* the vehicle is sold or delivered to the owner, that manufacturer or dealer is considered an 'alterer' under our regulations. By so reducing the passenger capacity, the vehicle's classification would be changed from a bus to an MPV. Accordingly, the alterer would be required to certify that the vehicle complies with all of the Federal safety standards applicable to MPV's. Among other things, this would require the alterer to install safety belts at all seating positions.; If the modifications were made after the vehicle's first purchase, ou regulations on vehicle alteration would no longer apply. However, modifications to used vehicles are subject to a statutory restriction. Specifically, section 108(a)(2)(A) of the Vehicle Safety Act prohibits motor vehicle manufacturers, distributors, dealers and repair businesses from knowingly rendering inoperative equipment or designs that are incorporated in motor vehicles in compliance with Federal motor vehicle safety standards. This means that a commercial modifier in any of the above categories may remove seats in your vehicle, but must ensure that the vehicle continues to comply with all applicable Federal safety standards after the seats have been removed. The Safety Act specifies a civil penalty of up to $1,000 for any person who violates section 108(a)(2)(A). Neither the prohibition against rendering inoperative in S108(a)(2)(A) of the Safety Act nor our regulations issued under the Safety Act applies to an owner modifying his or her own vehicle. Therefore, if your school district chooses to reduce the passenger capacity of your vehicles, you may perform the work on your own vehicles without regard to any Federal regulations administered by this agency. Again, however, you should ensure that the modification is done in conformance with any applicable South Carolina laws.; I hope this information is helpful. Please contact us if you hav further questions.; Sincerely, Erika Z. Jones, Chief Counsel