Interpretation ID: Dear [blank] latch in non-DSP 2

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Dear [ ]:

This responds to your letter asking about Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 225, Child Restraint Anchorage Systems (49 CFR 571.225). The agency has granted your request for confidential treatment of information contained in your letter. However, we asked for and you agreed to our including in this letter the following general description of your vehicle, to help make this interpretation of FMVSS No. 225 clearly understood.

You ask about a two-door vehicle that has only two front designated seating positions. You would like to install two LATCH-equipped child seat attachment positions behind the front seats in an area that you do not consider a seating area.[1] That rear area has two configurations. In one configuration, the rear area forms a flat cargo area similar to that of a 2-seat hatchback vehicle. In the other configuration, part of the rear area folds to form a surface where two LATCH-equipped child restraints could be placed to attach to LATCH anchors. You state that there are no seat belts or head restraints in the rear area, and that the area is configured with rigid protrusions, contoured surfaces, and lack of legroom clearance so as to discourage misuse of the area as a seating area. You ask whether you are permitted to install the LATCH-compatible child seat mounting locations in rear locations that are not designated seating positions. You state that the child seat anchorages will comply with the requirements of FMVSS 225, with some accommodation for the lack of an H-Point, seat cushion or seatback as reference points.

The question we answer in this letter is whether FMVSS No. 225 prohibits a child seat mounting location from being installed at a place that is not a designated seating position. To answer your question, we will assume for now there are no designated seating positions in the rear area. However, this does not mean that we have agreed that there are

no designated seating positions in the rear area. We simply cannot make a determination on this matter based on the limited information available to us at this time, nor do we need to make that determination in order to provide the interpretation you seek.[2]

With that understanding in mind, our answer is FMVSS No. 225 does not prohibit you from installing the child seat mounting location in areas that are not designated seating positions (non-designated seating positions). FMVSS No. 225 specifies the location and number of LATCH systems that must be installed in a vehicle (S4.4). Under S4.4(c), a vehicle, such as yours, without any forward-facing rear designated seating position shall be equipped with a tether anchorage at each front forward-facing passenger seating position. If there are no forward-facing designated seating positions in the rear area of your vehicle, you are not required to have a child restraint anchorage system in the rear area.

With one exception, the standard is silent on prohibiting LATCH or any other type of anchorage system in locations not required to have a LATCH system. The exception is a prohibition in FMVSS No. 225 that does not permit the installation of a LATCH system in front designated seating positions that do not have an on-off switch for the air bag system (S5(d)). That is the only express prohibition in the standard regarding where a LATCH system must not be installed. In the absence of a general prohibition, the agency has not interpreted broad restrictions in the standard. In past interpretations of FMVSS No. 225, the agency has not prohibited manufacturers from designating ISO-compatible anchorage systems in the center rear designated seating position.[3] Similarly, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has not prohibited the installation of LATCH systems in side- or rear-facing designated seating positions, even though the standard requires the systems in forward-facing designated seating positions only (December 9, 2002 letter to Alan Aylor). Those LATCH systems in the side- and rear-facing positions had to meet FMVSS No. 225, however, since they met the definition (S3), discussed below, of a child restraint anchorage system, and S4.1 of the standard specifies that all child restraint anchorage systems installed in a subject vehicle, either voluntarily or pursuant to the standard, must meet the requirements of FMVSS No. 225.

We would not consider your child seat attachment position to be a child restraint anchorage system (LATCH). FMVSS No. 225 defines (S3) a child restraint anchorage system as a vehicle system that is designed for attaching a child restraint system to a vehicle at a particular designated seating position, consisting of: (a) Two lower anchorages meeting the requirements of S9; and (b) A tether anchorage meeting the requirements of S6. Since your system is not installed at a designated seating position, it is not a child restraint anchorage system and is thus not subject to S4.1. Please note that since it is not a child restraint

anchorage system as defined in the standard, you must not refer to it as such or refer to it as a LATCH system. LATCH is a term used to refer to the anchorage system required by FMVSS No. 225.

We have determined that FMVSS No. 225 sets forth no prohibition against the installation of a child seat attachment position at a non-designated seating position. However, as a practical matter, we are concerned about how well a child would be protected in a non-designated seating position, in an environment with rigid protrusions and contoured surfaces and very limited room for head and knee excursion. The padding on the backs of the front passenger seats should be designed keeping in mind the potential presence of the child occupant in the rear area. In addition, you state that the attachment position meets the requirements of FMVSS No. 225. We agree that a manufacturer should ensure that the anchorages will perform adequately in a crash. Further, the position is subject to NHTSAs defect authority.

Finally, you ask for insight as to how you should express the passenger capacity of the vehicle, given that there would be two designated seating positions and two child seat mounting locations. Designated seating capacity is defined in 49 CFR 571.3 as the number of designated seating positions provided. The passenger capacity of the vehicle would be determined by the designated seating positions in the vehicle. As noted earlier, we do not have enough information at this point to make a determination as to how many designated seating positions there are in the vehicle.

If you have further questions, please contact Deirdre Fujita of my staff at (202) 366-2992.

Sincerely yours,

Stephen P. Wood

Acting Chief Counsel

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d.7/24/09