Interpretation ID: nht74-5.6

DATE: 02/20/74

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; Lawrence R. Schneider; NHTSA

TO: Douglas F. Welebir, Esq., Attorney at Law

TITLE: FMVSS INTERPRETATION

TEXT: Thank you for your letter of December 28, 1973, File No. 1041, requesting information on the Federal installation requirements for safety belts in a 1971 Toyota Land Cruiser.

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 208, Occupant Crash Protection (formerly titled "Seat belt installation"), required safety belts in all designated seating positions of all passenger cars manufactured on or after January 1, 1968. Similar requirements were instituted for trucks and multipurpose passenger vehicles manufactured after July 1, 1971. The Toyota Land Cruiser is classified as a multipurpose passenger vehicle. If it were manufactured before July 1, 1971, no installation requirement would have applied. It should be noted that seat belts were not factory-installed in some Land Cruisers, and we know of one Arizona dealer who failed to install seatbelts in a Land Cruiser built after that date.

In answer to your second question, the Land Cruiser did not have any exemption under 15 U.S.C. @ 1410 or any other section of the Act.

ENC.

December 28, 1973

Director National Highway Safety Bureau

I represent a young man injured in an automobile accident primarily because of the lack of seat belts in a 1971 Toyota Land Cruiser. Would it be possible to obtain a copy of the vehicle safety standards enacted pursuant to the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 relating to the installation of seat belts in new automobiles.

I would also appreciate knowing whether or not Toyota Motor Company of the United States has been exempt from compliance with this Act under 15 USC 1410 or any other section.

I thank you for your assistance and helpfulness in this important matter.

DOUGLAS F. WELEBIR