Interpretation ID: nht74-3.10

DATE: 01/08/74

FROM: RICHARD B. DYSON -- NHTSA ASSISTANT CHIEF COUNSEL

TO: DARROLL P. YOUNG -- PRESIDENT YOUNG'S MACHINE CO. MONTICELLO, UTAH 84535

TITLE: N40-30 (TWH)

ATTACHMT: LETTER DATED 12/26/73 FROM DARRELL P. YOUNG -- PRESIDENT YOUNG'S MACHINE COMPANY TO THE OFFICE OF CHIEF COUNSEL NHTSA U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

TEXT: Dear Mr. Young:

In place of the two standards which you requested in your letter of December 26, 1973, I am providing the following discussion of what vehicles qualify as "motor vehicles" subject to our regulations. If your vehicles are not "motor vehicles" under this definition, they are not required to conform to Standards 105a and 121. Section 102(3) of the Act defines motor vehicle as:

any vehicle driven or drawn by mechanical power manufactured primarily for use on the public streets, roads, and highways, except any vehicle operated exclusively on a rail or rails.

Thus, a motor vehicle is a vehicle which the manufacturer expects will use public highways as part of its intended function.

Tracked and other vehicles incapable of highway travel are not motor vehicles. Agricultural equipment is another non-motor vehicle category, because Congress clearly did not intend to include them in its coverage. In addition, vehicles intended and sold solely for off-road use (e.g. aircraft runway vehicles and underground mining vehicles) are not considered vehicles even if operationally capable of highway travel. They would, however, be considered motor vehicles if the manufacturer knew that a substantial proportion of his customers actually would use them on the highway.

Just as clearly, vehicles which use the highway on a necessary and recurring basis to move between work sites are motor vehicles. The primary function of some vehicles is of a mobile, work-performing nature and as such their manufacturer contemplates a primary use of the highway. Mobile cranes, mobile drill rigs, and towed equipment such as brush chippers and pull-type street sweepers are examples in this area. Even if the equipment uses highways infrequently, it is considered a motor vehicle on the same basis as is a "mobile structure trailer" which is often towed only once from the factory to the home site. All these motor vehicles qualify as trucks or trailers. As such they are subject to several of the motor vehicle safety standards, and their manufacturer must comply with other regulations in Chapter V of Title 49, Code of Federal Regulations.

There are some vehicles which are excepted from the motor vehicle classification despite their use of the highway. Highway maintenance and construction equipment such as lane stripers, self-propelled asphalt pavers, and other vehicles whose maximum speed does not exceed 20 miles per hour and whose abnormal configuration distinguishes them from the traffic flow are not considered motor vehicles.

From these guidelines you should be able to determine whether your equipment qualifies as a motor vehicle, and if so, as a truck or a trailer. Please write again if you are unable to make this determination. I have enclosed an information sheet that advises you how to obtain an up-to-date copy of the regulations which apply to motor vehicles and their manufacturers.

ENCLOSURE

Yours truly,