Interpretation ID: 7396
Project Engineer
Wenger Corporation
555 Park Drive
Owatonna, MN 55060
Dear Mr. Decker:
We have received your letter of October 25, 1994, petitioning for exemption from S5.7 of Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 108, which establishes conspicuity requirements for large trailers.
Your letter states that Wenger Corporation "manufactures and sells a complete line of music education and performance equipment" including "Wenger Showmobiles, mobile performance stages in trailer form." The reason for your request is that "[t]he addition of the conspicuity striping is unacceptable for many of our potential customers because of how it would impact their graphics on the sides and rear of the product."
The agency's exemption authority is prescribed by statute, and has been implemented by a regulation, 49 CFR Part 555, a copy of which I enclose. Your letter does not contain the information needed for an exemption petition. There appear to be two bases upon which Wenger could apply for an exemption, under the hardship provisions of Sec. 555.6(a) and the safety level provisions of Sec. 555.6(d). If Wenger submits an application that contains the information required by Part 555, we shall give the matter further consideration. The desire of manufacturers to use retroreflective logos as a substitute for conspicuity marking was considered in the rulemaking proceedings that established S5.7 but was not adopted because the agency saw greater safety benefits in adopting a standardized pattern.
We have studied the photo in your product literature that shows the trailer ready for performance. It would appear that the upper rear conspicuity treatment is not visible to an audience when the trailer is open. Noting that Wenger
provides an optional skirt for the platform, we see that the skirt hides the lower side and rear conspicuity treatment required by S5.7. We believe that the simplest solution is to provide the skirt as standard equipment with the trailer.
Sincerely,
Philip R. Recht Chief Counsel ref:108#555 d:11/16/94