Interpretation ID: 22701.ztv

Mr. Don H. Strobel
Managing Partner
Exciting Lighting, LLC
P.O. Box 206
Watson, LA 70786

Dear Mr. Strobel:

This is in reply to your letter of February 9, 2001, asking for confirmation that "the light rails (Big Boyz Flashers) for pick up trucks and tow trucks" that your company manufactures "are acceptable . . . as being in conformance with the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 108 Lamps, Reflective Devices and Associated Equipment."

The light rails were most recently discussed in former Chief Counsel Seales' letter of December 23, 1998, to Robert Currie of your company (we appreciate your attaching a copy of it for our ready reference). Mr. Seales advised that the operation of the system was not totally in accord with Standard No. 108's requirements, but would be acceptable if it operated in the following manner:

The system flashes one or both light rails in a yellow color to indicate, respectively, the direction of a turn or activation of the hazard warning system, a present feature of the system. When the brakes are applied, the light rails illuminate a steady-burning red, also a present feature of Flashers. When the turn signal is on and the brakes are applied, however, the light rail in the direction of the turn must flash yellow/off (as it appears to do on the tow truck), or illuminate in a steady-burning red, but not both, while the light rail on the opposite side remains a steady-burning red.

You have informed us that:

The electrical circuit used now for a truck with a combination red stop/directional lamp will flash the rail on the directional side red/off with the OEM red/off brake/turn signal. The circuit used now for a truck with a separate amber turn signal will flash the rail on the signaled side yellow/off with the amber turn signal and when the brake is applied, will flash the rail red/off.

We were not quite sure how to interpret this and Taylor Vinson of this Office phoned you on March 26, 2001, for a clarification. You explained how the device works: when the turn signals

are activated, the light rails also flash an amber color. If the brake pedal is applied at any time while the turn signal is on, the light rails continue to flash but in the color red.

In this situation, when the rear turn signal lamp is red, it will be overriden by the stop lamp and the light rail will continue to flash red. When the rear turn signal lamp is amber, it will continue to flash when the stop lamp is applied, but the flashing light rail will have changed from amber to red. In the flashing mode, the light rails are serving as supplementary turn signal lamps. The question is whether Standard No. 108 permits supplementary turn signal lamps to be a different color than the original equipment turn signals, e.g. whether different colors flashing simultaneously can be viewed as creating an impairment. Because Standard No. 108 permits rear turn signals to be either red or amber, we consider it unlikely that red and amber turn signals flashing simultaneously will have an impairing effect on other rear lighting equipment.

In our previous letter, we commented on the yellow "strobe beacon" which would be installed on tow trucks. A feature of the system at that time was that, if the brake is applied when the yellow strobe beacon is activated, the light rails would alternate between a strobe pulse in yellow and a red steady-burning state. We advised that we believed that an alternatively flashing yellow/red has the potential to confuse motorists. You have informed us that "the light rails for tow trucks that use a halogen lamp and a strobe lamp have been set up so that the rails run yellow with the halogen." You clarified this by explaining to Taylor Vinson that tow trucks will be equipped with light rails of amber color only, and they will flash during turns. However, when the load has been attached to the tow truck, the driver can then activate the light rails in a strobe mode, as permitted by state law. We do not consider this configuration of the light rail system to create an impairment with the required lighting equipment.

We appreciate the continuing efforts of your company to redesign the system to meet Federal requirements. If you have further questions, please call Taylor Vinson of this Office (202-366-5263).

Sincerely,

John Womack
Acting Chief Counsel

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