Interpretation ID: nht78-2.44

DATE: 03/29/78

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; J. J. Levin, Jr.; NHTSA

TO: Stanley Kuny

TITLE: FMVSS INTERPRETATION

TEXT: Joan Claybrook has asked that I respond to your February 24, 1978, letter asking whether the seller of a school bus that contains a safety-related defect is responsible for correcting the defect, whether the buyer would otherwise be entitled to a refund for the price of the defective equipment, and whether a brake pressure limiting valve may be installed on the front axles of school buses whose antilock systems are disconnected pursuant to a recall campaign. You also ask about the status of the reimplementation of requirements for school bus service brake stopping distance performance contained in Standard No. 121, Air Brake Systems.

Section 154 of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act (the Act) (15 U.S.C. 1414) requires the vehicle manufacturer to provide an adequate repair of safety-related defects found in its products, unless replacement of the vehicle or refund of its purchase price is undertaken. International Harvester (IH) is in the process of field-testing its remedy for these school buses and it should be available fairly soon.

As for the installation of front-axle brake pressure limiting valves, Federal regulations for vehicles in interstate commerce prohibit the installation of manual limiting valves in 121-equipped vehicles and regulate the installation of automatic limiting valves. Also, section 108(a)(2)(A) of the Act prohibits, with one exception, the knowing rendering inoperative by commercial facilities of a device or element of design installed in satisfaction of a Federal safety standard such as Standard No. 121. A private party is not prohibited under this provision, but the vehicle manufacturer should be consulted about safest configuration of the vehicle brake system. In this case, IH's notice on antilock disconnection explained that the deactivation would render the brake system identical to those produced by IH since the "no lockup" requirement was suspended in January 1976. Thus IH does not recommend any further modification of the brake system.

With regard to your belief that the antilock systems may have cost $ 1200.00, I would like to clarify that Standard No. 121 contains many requirements for improved braking, and the incremental price increase for the improved brakes is attributable only in part to the antilock systems. At present, the Kelsey-Hayes antilock system used on IH school bus chassis costs $ 412.11, and this price would presumably be lower if the system was installed on all bus production as standard equipment.

As for the status of the reimplementation of service brake stopping distance requirements for school buses on April 1, 1978, the NHTSA expects to reach a decision soon and publish it in the Federal Register. I have asked a member of my staff to call you when a decision is made public.