Interpretation ID: 18268.jeg
Robert C. Sanders, Esq.
Director and General Counsel
Parents for Safer Air Bags
Suite 300, 1250 24th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20037
Dear Mr. Sanders:
This responds to your letter asking about the "one-truck credit" provisions of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 208. I apologize for the delay in our response. The question you ask is answered below. This letter also responds to a question you asked in a subsequent telephone conversation about the "one-car credit" provisions.
By way of background information, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) established the one-truck credit provisions as part of its March 1991 final rule extending automatic crash protection requirements to light trucks. The final rule established a phase-in implementation of the automatic crash protection requirements for light trucks, with a specified percentage of each manufacturer's production of light trucks required to be equipped with automatic crash protection beginning with vehicles manufactured on or after September 1, 1994. The phase-in ended on September 1, 1997, after which date all light trucks were required to be equipped with automatic crash protection.
During the phase-in period, the 1991 final rule provided a number of "credits" for light truck manufacturers, including the "one-truck credit." While the requirements for automatic protection generally applied to both the driver's and right front passenger's positions, the one-truck credit provisions allowed manufacturers to count light trucks equipped with an air bag at the driver's position (which met Standard No. 208's unbelted test requirements) and a dynamically-tested manual lap/shoulder belt at the right front passenger's position as one truck equipped with automatic crash protection during the phase-in.
The 1991 final rule also provided that the one-truck credit provisions extended for one year beyond the end of the phase-in. From September 1, 1997 through August 31, 1998, manufacturers were permitted to count light trucks equipped with an air bag at the driver's position and a dynamically-tested manual lap/shoulder belt at the right front passenger's position as a truck that complied with the automatic crash protection requirement.
Congress ultimately decided to require light trucks to be equipped with air bags and manual lap/shoulder belts, and specified a one-year phase-in of this requirement during the September 1, 1997 through August 31, 1998 time period. Under this statutory requirement, the one-truck credit remained available during this one-year period.(1)
You ask whether a vehicle which was otherwise eligible for the one-truck credit remained eligible if the manufacturer installed a passenger-side air bag that did not enable the vehicle to meet the unbelted test requirements of Standard No. 208, e.g., because the air bag had a sufficiently low inflator power level. The answer to this question is yes.
The specific language implementing the one-truck credit provisions for the light truck automatic restraint phase-in states that each vehicle "whose driver's seating position complies with the requirements of S4.1.2.1(a) by means not including any type of seat belt and whose right front passenger's seating position is equipped with a manual Type 2 seat belt that complies with S5.1 of this standard" is counted as a vehicle complying with the automatic crash protection requirements. (S4.2.5.4(c) and S4.2.5.5(a)(2).) The specific language implementing the one-truck credit provisions for the light truck air bag phase-in states that each vehicle "whose driver's seating position complies with S4.1.5.1(a)(1) by means of an inflatable restraint system and whose right front passenger's seating position is equipped with a manual Type 2 seat belt assembly that complies with S5.1 of this standard" is counted as a vehicle complying with the air bag requirements. (S4.2.6.1.1.)
As indicated by this language, all that was needed under the one-truck credit provisions at the right front passenger's seating position was a dynamically tested lap and shoulder belt. The agency has long stated that manufacturers are free to install systems or components in addition to the required safety components, provided that the additional systems do not destroy the ability of the required systems to comply with the applicable safety standards. Thus, prior to September 1, 1998, if a manufacturer wished to install a passenger-side air bag, it was free to do so under the one-truck credit provisions, even if the air bag did not enable the vehicle to meet the unbelted test requirements of Standard No. 208.
In your letter, you cite a March 1997 statement by a vehicle manufacturer indicating that some light trucks were manufactured with passenger-side air bags that did not satisfy the unbelted test requirements of Standard No. 208. While we have not researched the matter comprehensively, our Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance has advised that a number of manufacturers produced light trucks with passenger-side air bags that were not certified to the unbelted test requirements.
In a telephone conversation with Edward Glancy of my staff, you asked that we address the question you asked about the "one-truck credit" provisions with respect to the "one-car credit" provisions. I note that the "one-car credit" provisions preceded the "one-truck credit" provisions and were adopted as part of the phase-in of automatic protection requirements for passenger cars. The agency adopted essentially the same language for implementing the one-truck credit provisions as had been used for the one-car credit provisions.(2) Therefore, our answer to your question about the one-truck credit provisions also applies with respect to the one-car credit provisions, i.e., a vehicle which was otherwise eligible for the one-car credit remained eligible if the manufacturer installed a passenger-side air bag that did not enable the vehicle to meet the unbelted test requirements of Standard No. 208.
I hope this information is helpful. If you have any further questions, please feel free to call Edward Glancy of my staff at (202) 366-2992.
Sincerely,
Frank Seales, Jr.
Chief Counsel
d.10/29/98
ref:208
1. See 57 FR 59043, 59044-45 (December 14, 1992) and 58 FR 46551 (September 2, 1993).
2. Compare S4.2.5.4(c), S4.2.5.5(a)(2), and S4.2.6.1.1 with S4.1.3.4(a)(2) and S4.1.4.1. The one-car credit provisions applied both during the phase-in of the automatic protection requirements for passenger cars (September 1, 1986 through August 30, 1989) and for the four years immediately following the phase-in (September 1, 1989 through August 31, 1993). I note that during the phase-in, all that was needed under the one-car credit provisions at the right front passenger's seating position was a manual lap/shoulder belt. For the four years following the phase-in, a dynamically tested manual lap/shoulder belt was required at the right front passenger's seating position. See 52 FR 10096 (March 30, 1987).