Interpretation ID: BressantEPAltr
- whether the vehicle will be advertised for use on-road as well as off-road, or whether it will be advertised exclusively for off-road use;
- whether the vehicle's manufacturer or dealers will assist the vehicle's purchasers in obtaining certificates of origin or title documents to register the vehicle for on-road use;
- whether the vehicle will be sold by dealers also selling vehicles that are classified as motor vehicles;
- whether the vehicle has affixed to it a warning label stating that the vehicle is not intended for use on the public roads; and
- whether states or foreign countries have permitted or are likely to permit the vehicle to be registered for on-road use.
Mr. Kerrin Bressant
United States Environmental Protection Agency
1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Dear Mr. Bressant:
This is in reply to your fax to Stephen R. Kratzke, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA's) Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards, providing descriptions of three small vehicles--the Kawasaki Mule 520, the Polaris Ranger 4 x 4, and the Cushman White Truck 611. You asked whether these vehicles meet our definition of a "low-speed vehicle" even though they were designed or are advertised as "off-road" only use vehicles, and whether a vehicle can be considered both an off-road vehicle and a low-speed vehicle at the same time. Your questions are addressed below.
By way of background information, the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act (Safety Act) authorizes our agency to issue safety standards applicable to new motor vehicles and new items of motor vehicle equipment. (49 U.S.C. 30101 et seq.) NHTSA has no authority to approve or certify any commercial product. Instead, Congress established a self-certification process under which each manufacturer is required to certify that each of its products meets all applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.
The term "motor vehicle" is defined by statute as "a vehicle driven or drawn by mechanical power and manufactured primarily for use on the public streets, roads, and highways . . ." 49 U.S.C. 30102(a)(6). Accordingly, only vehicles that are operated on the public streets, roads, and highways, as one of their primary uses, are considered to be motor vehicles, and vehicles which are solely used "off-road" are excluded.
For purposes of our regulations, "low-speed vehicles" are one of several categories of motor vehicles. The term "low-speed vehicle" is defined as "a 4-wheeled motor vehicle, other than a truck, whose speed attainable in 1.6 [kilometers] (1 mile) is more than 32 kilometers per hour (20 miles per hour) and not more than 40 kilometers per hour (25 miles per hour) on a paved level surface." 49 CFR 571.3(b) (emphasis added). Other categories of motor vehicles include passenger cars, multipurpose passenger vehicles, trucks, buses, motorcycles, and trailers.
As to your question of whether a vehicle can be considered both an off-road vehicle and a low-speed vehicle at the same time, I note that because low-speed vehicles are a type of motor vehicle, vehicles that are excluded from the definition of motor vehicle because they are solely used "off-road" are not considered to be low-speed vehicles under our regulations.
Some vehicles can, of course, be used for either on-road use or off-road use. As we have explained in a number of interpretation letters, vehicles that use the public highways on a necessary and recurring basis are motor vehicles. For instance, a utility vehicle like the Jeep is plainly a motor vehicle, even though it is equipped with special features to permit off-road operation. Moreover, if a vehicle's greatest use will be off-road, but it will spend a substantial amount of time on-road, NHTSA has interpreted the vehicle to be a "motor vehicle." Further, the agency has determined that a vehicle such as a dune buggy is a motor vehicle if it is readily usable on the public roads and is in fact used on the public roads by a substantial number of owners, regardless of the manufacturer's stated intent regarding the terrain on which the vehicle is to be operated.
In instances where the agency is asked whether a vehicle is a motor vehicle when it has both off-road and on-road operating capabilities, and about which there is little or no evidence about the extent of the vehicle's on-road use, the agency has applied five factors in offering its advice. These factors are:
I will now turn to the specific vehicles about which you inquire, the Kawasaki Mule 520, the Polaris Ranger 4 x 4, and the Cushman White Truck 611.
Because the Safety Act establishes a self-certification system, it is the manufacturer of each of these vehicles, and not this agency, that has the obligation to determine whether these products are motor vehicles. The manufacturers of each of these vehicles advertise them for off-road use and do not consider them to be motor vehicles.
NHTSA has issued interpretation letters addressing an earlier design of the Polaris Ranger and addressing vehicles which are similar to the other vehicles. I am enclosing copies of several of these letters for your information (addressed to Mr. Undlin, dated 8/6/99, Mr. Sanford, dated 1/25/99, Mr. Garcia, dated 1/17/95, and Mr. Kato, dated 10/13/88).
Finally, I would like to note that our definition of "low-speed vehicle" specifically excludes trucks. The vehicles you asked about all have cargo beds. If a manufacturer decided to produce vehicles similar to these for on-road use, they would not be low-speed vehicles under our regulations (regardless of their speed capability); they would be trucks.
I hope this information is helpful. If you have any questions, you may contact Robert Knop of this Office at (202) 366-2992.
Sincerely,
John Womack
Acting Chief Counsel
Enclosures
ref:571
d.3/7/02