Interpretation ID: nht92-5.36

DATE: June 30, 1992

FROM: Paul Jackson Rice -- Chief Counsel, NHTSA

TO: Walter T. Jakobowski -- President, Signal Dynamics Corp.

TITLE: None

ATTACHMT: Attached to letter dated 5/19/92 from Walter T. Jakobowski to Jamie McLaughlin Fish (OCC 7324)

TEXT:

This responds to your letter to Jamie Fish, a former employee of this agency. You referenced an October 1991 meeting with Taylor Vinson of this office, and other agency representatives, to discuss your aftermarket Safety System, and how it could be legally used. You write that "Mr. Vinson's position was that we could conduct testing with fleet and privately owned vehicles, because 'fleet owners' are considered individuals and therefore have the right to modify their vehicle as desired after manufacturing." You now request a confirmation of that interpretation.

You have not described your Safety System, but, as Mr. Vinson remembers it, your device changes the center highmounted stop lamp so that it operates in a manner that does not conform to the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 108. You were informed that 15 U.S.C. 1397(a)(2)(A) states that "No manufacturer, distributor, dealer, or motor vehicle repair business shall knowingly render inoperative, in whole or part, any device or element of design installed on or in a motor vehicle . . . in compliance with an applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standard . . . ." This means that none of the persons so named could install your Safety System without violating the Act. However, the owner of a vehicle is not precluded by Section 1397(a)(2) (A) from modifying his own vehicle without respect to whether the vehicle continues to comply with Standard No. 108. As you note, "State law, of course, is another matter."

You were further advised that commercial enterprises who own fleets of vehicles are also not considered to be manufacturers, dealers, distributors, or motor vehicle repair businesses within the meaning of Section 1397(a)(2)(A), and could have your Safety System installed by their own in-house private service facilities without violating the statute. Accordingly, I am pleased to confirm your interpretation.