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Interpretation ID: 24257ownermodifying

Paul Wagner, President
Bornemann Products Incorporated
402 Industrial Drive
P.O. Box 427
Bremen, IN 46506

Dear Mr. Wagner:

This responds to your March 27, 2002, and April 29, 2002, letters to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) asking about Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 225, Child Restraint Anchorage Systems (49 CFR 571.225). I regret the delay in responding. Before addressing your specific questions, we would like to note that several of your questions have been raised in petitions for reconsideration of the final rule establishing Standard No. 225 (March 5, 1999) (see Docket No. 98-3390, Notice 2). We indicate where the answers to those questions will be addressed by NHTSA in responding to the petitions for reconsideration. We anticipate that the response will be issued shortly.

Question 1.

Standard No. 225 requires vehicles to be equipped with a certain number of child restraint anchorage systems and tether anchorages, depending on the number of designated seating positions in the vehicle (S4.4 of the standard). The standard also specifies the location of the anchorage systems. [1]

You ask about a vehicle owner modifying his or her own vehicle (specifically, a vehicle that has three rows of seating), after the vehicles purchase, to suit his or her needs or preferences. You ask:

[I]f a vehicle purchased by a consumer complies with the Standard at the time of purchase (as in Diagram A) [two child restraint anchorage systems in the second row, and a tether anchorage in the third row], and the consumer later makes revisions as illustrated in Diagrams 1, 2, 3 and 4 of Attachment A, would the vehicle be deemed as non-compliant due to these modifications? Please consider that any revisions indicated as made by the consumer did not create any other non-compliant issue with any other FMVSS codes.

Diagrams 1, 2 and 4 show the second and/or the third rows removed. Diagram 3 shows the second row removed from the vehicle and the third row moved to where the second row was.

There are two parts to our answer. Normally, consumer modifications do not affect the compliance of a vehicle. The FMVSSs apply to new motor vehicles, i.e., until the vehicles first purchase in good faith other than for resale (see 30112(b)(1) of 49 U.S.C. Chapter 301, the Vehicle Safety Act). The Vehicle Safety Act prohibits persons from manufacturing or selling any new motor vehicle that does not comply with all applicable FMVSSs until the first purchase of the vehicle by a consumer. After the vehicle is purchased, the vehicle manufacturer is not responsible for modifications that vehicle owners may make to the vehicle.[2]

However, an issue raised by your letter concerns whether the vehicle is designed so consumers can easily change seating arrangements by simple operations such as releasing a latch or removing easily accessible mounting hardware. Where a manufacturer designs a vehicle in this manner and alerts consumers of the flexibility of the seating arrangements, e.g., through advertising or an entry in the owners manual, should the manufacturer be responsible for designing the vehicle so that these simple operations cannot be used to create configurations that do not comply with S4.4 of Standard No. 225? This issue was raised in petitions for reconsideration of the final rule. We will respond to it in the context of the rulemaking proceeding.[3]

Question 2.

S9.1.1(c) of Standard No. 225 specifies that the lower anchorages must be not less than 25 mm, but not more than 40 mm in length. You ask whether the not less than 25 mm but not more than 40 mm language refers to the inside opening of the anchorages (bars), or to the overall length of the bar including the 6 mm steel material. The answer is the inside opening of the bar, and not the overall length of it. We plan to amend S9.1.1(c) to clarify the meaning of the text, in accordance with this interpretation.

Question 3.

S9.1.1(f) of Standard No. 225 requires that the lower bars must be an integral and permanent part of the vehicle or vehicle seat. You ask whether the bars can be bolted or otherwise attached without the use of a tool. This issue has been raised in petitions for reconsideration and will be answered by us in the upcoming response.

I hope that this information is helpful. If you have any other questions, please contact Deirdre Fujita of my staff at (202) 366-2992.

Sincerely,
Jacqueline Glassman
Chief Counsel
ref:225
d.6/28/02

[1] Among other issues, petitions for reconsideration have asked that the number of tether anchorages required for certain vehicles (multipurpose passenger vehicles with seating capacity of 5) be reduced from three to two. Petitions have also asked that NHTSA reconsider the requirement that a tether anchorage must be placed in a center rear seating position, if such a position exists. See Docket No. 98-3390, Notice 2.

[2] If a motor vehicle were modified by a manufacturer, distributor, dealer, or motor vehicle repair business, 30122 of the Vehicle Safety Act limits the modifications that may be made. That section prohibits those entities from knowingly making inoperative any part of a device or element of design installed on in a motor vehicle or motor vehicle equipment in compliance with an applicable motor vehicle safety standard. Section 30122 does not apply to individual owners modifying their own vehicle.

[3] The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers asked for clarification that providing a user-ready tether anchorage at a seat that can be used at either an outboard or a non-outboard (center) seating position meets the subject requirement. Petitioner stated that some vehicles are now equipped with vehicle seats that can be moved from an outboard position to a non-outboard position. Petitioner wanted to know how the agency would position such a movable seat in determining compliance with the requirement that a tether anchorage must be provided in a center seating position.