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Interpretation ID: 23606



    Roger C. Fairchild, Esq.
    Vehicle Regulatory Consulting
    330 West Main St.
    Purcellville, VA 30132


    Dear Mr. Fairchild:

    This is in response to your letter of September 7, 2001, in which you sought an interpretation of Standard No. 201, Occupant Protection in Interior Impact (49 CFR 571.201). Specifically, you ask a number of questions regarding the applicability of S5.3 of Standard No. 201 to the covers of certain compartments and storage areas within the interior of a prototype vehicle. Your letter notes your belief that the determination of whether an interior compartment door is subject to the requirements of S5.3 requires a two-step inquiry. The first step is the determination of whether the particular door falls within the definition of an "interior compartment door" as set forth in 49 CFR 571.3(b). The second step involves an inquiry as to the location of the cover and whether it is located in a console, instrument panel, seat back or side panel. Based on your understanding of this two-step process, you ask a number of questions about the definition of "interior compartment door" and which areas of the vehicle interior are encompassed by the terms "console" and "instrument panel" for the purpose of S5.3.

    At the outset, I would like to note Part 576 of volume 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations (49 CFR 567) makes a vehicle's manufacturer responsible for certifying that the vehicle complies with all applicable provisions of the Federal motor vehicle safety standards. For this reason, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has no authority to approve, endorse, or offer assurances of compliance for any vehicle designs or features. NHTSA will, however, tentatively state our opinion of how the safety standards would apply to a vehicle design or feature. It is important that the manufacturer be aware that these tentative statements of agency opinion are based on the information presented to the agency by the manufacturer.

    You ask several questions regarding the definition of "interior compartment door." Your first question asks if covers for compartments that are intended to hold vehicle equipment or disposable non-personal items such as ashes are not considered to be "interior compartment doors" and therefore not subject to S5.3, even if they are located on the instrument panel, console, seatback or side panel. You also ask if the question of whether a door is "installed by the manufacturer as storage space normally used for personal effects" is determined by the manufacturer's intent or some other indicia of use.

    Standard No. 201 establishes performance requirements to reduce the risk of injury when occupants strike the interior of a vehicle during a crash. One of these requirements, found in S5.3 of Standard No. 201, specifies that doors to certain interior compartments must remain latched when subjected to certain forces that might be experienced in a crash. As S5.3 of Standard No. 201 applies only to "interior compartment doors" located in the instrument panel, console, seat back or side panels, the determination of whether a compartment cover is subject to the requirements of S5.3 of Standard 201 is determined by both the location of the cover and whether the cover fits within the definition of "interior compartment door."

    NHTSA has repeatedly indicated that the term "interior compartment door" does not refer to every door that covers a compartment that could potentially be used as a storage space for personal effects. Section 571.3(b) defines "interior compartment door" as "any door in the interior of the vehicle installed by the manufacturer as a cover for storage space normally used for personal effects" (emphasis added). Therefore, ash trays and spare tire compartment doors, which are not normally used for storing personal effects, are not considered to be "interior compartment doors." 33 FR 15794 (October 25, 1968). Similarly, the agency has also indicated that a fuse box door (July 3, 1984 letter to Mr. Bruce Henderson), the outside surface of a fold-down table (January 31, 1986 letter to Mr. Russ Bomhoff), and a cupholder (February 27, 1990 letter to Mr. George F. Ball), are not "interior compartment doors."

    A cover that is fitted over a compartment that would not normally be used to store personal effects is not an "interior compartment door." However, regardless of the manufacturer's intent in designing the compartment, the determination of whether a cover is an "interior compartment door" is controlled by whether the compartment would "normally" be used to store personal effects. If such an inquiry leads to the conclusion that the compartment would not normally be used for storage of such personal items, any cover would not be an "interior compartment door" for the purposes of Standard No. 201 regardless of its location.

    Your letter also asks several questions regarding the meaning of the term "instrument panel." You ask what area of the dashboard structure is considered to be the "instrument panel" for the purposes of S5.3, and whether an "instrument panel" includes the upward facing top section, downward facing lower section and lateral portions of the dashboard.

    As you correctly point out in your letter, the term "instrument panel" is not expressly defined in Standard No. 201. Your letter further indicates that NHTSA has, in an interpretation letter to the Blue Bird Company (January 31, 1982 letter to Thomas Turner), indicated that the instrument panel is the "panel below the windshield which is used to mount the speedometer, other gauges, etc." In that interpretation, NHTSA indicated that, for the purposes of S5.3 of Standard No. 201, the term "instrument panel" encompasses a greater area than that used to mount the speedometer and other gauges. For example, S5.1 of Standard No. 201 sets the head impact protection requirements for instrument panels. With the exception of certain zones set forth in S5.1.1, these performance requirements are applicable to the entire instrument panel. S5.1.1 sets out five exceptions to the instrument panel performance requirements because these areas are not likely to be struck by an occupant's head in a crash. For example, S5.1.1(c) provides that "areas closer to the windshield juncture than those statically contactable by the head form with the windshield in place" need not meet the impact requirements. Similarly, S5.1.1(e) provides that "areas below any point at which a vertical line is tangent to the rearmost surface of the panel" are also excluded.

    As the agency indicated in the January 31, 1982 letter to the Blue Bird Company, it is important to note that when NHTSA first promulgated the interior door requirements of S5.3, a number of commenters suggested that S5.3 apply only to those interior compartment doors that were within the areas of the instrument panel subject to impact testing under S5.1. (30 FR 15794). NHTSA declined to incorporate this limitation into S5.3 on the basis that open interior compartment doors outside this area could still cause injury. This supports the agency's conclusion that any door located within the instrument panel is subject to S5.3, including those on the top surface of the panel immediately below the windshield and those on the lower portion of the instrument panel as well.

    Your letter also contains a number of questions regarding "consoles." You ask how NHTSA defines what a "console" is, if a console includes any structure below the dashboard and between the seats and whether the padded cover on a center armrest is subject to S5.3. You also ask for guidance on how the agency differentiates between consoles and armrests for the purposes of S5.3.

    The term "console" is not defined in Standard No. 201. In prior interpretations, the agency has described a "console" as a "low-lying structure mounted on the floor of and [lying] primarily between the vehicle seats" (October 27, 1986 letter to Mr. Tsuyoshi Shimizu). As this structure is mounted to the vehicle floor, it is both fixed and not attached to the seat or seat structure. In contrast to a "console" attached to the vehicle floor, an armrest is either attached to a seat or to a door panel. S5.5.2 of Standard No. 201 establishes performance requirements for folding armrests that either fold into a seatback or between two seatbacks. These folding armrests typically occupy space between two outboard seating positions, and any door incorporated into such an armrest is not subject to the requirements for compartment doors in S5.3 of the Standard.

    A low-lying fixed structure mounted to the floor of a vehicle between two front bucket seats would be a "console" for the purposes of Standard No. 201. If a console incorporates a door with a top that closes over a storage space and this space would normally be used for the storage of personal effects, the cover would be an "interior compartment door." As such, this cover must meet the requirements of S5.3.

    I hope this information is helpful. Please feel free to contact Otto Matheke of my staff at (202) 366-5253 if you have any additional questions or need some additional information on this subject.

    Sincerely,

    John Womack
    Acing Chief Counsel

    ref:201
    d.10/18/01