Interpretation ID: Tunick.2

Mr. Lance Tunick
Vehicle Services Consulting, Inc.
P.O. Box 23078
Santa Fe, NM 87502-3078

Dear Mr. Tunick:

This responds to your October 18, 2004, letter in which you requested an interpretation of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 205, Glazing Materials (49 CFR 571.205). Specifically, you asked whether our September 26, 2003, Federal Register notice (68 FR 55544) making correcting amendments to the standard would preclude the use of Item 4A glazing in the rear window of a convertible. The answer to your question is no.

By way of background, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is authorized to issue FMVSSs that set performance requirements for new motor vehicles and items of motor vehicle equipment. One of those standards is FMVSS No. 205, which specifies performance requirements for various types of glazing. FMVSS No. 205 incorporates by reference the American National Standard Institutes (ANSI) Safety Code for Safety Glazing Materials for Glazing Motor Vehicles Operating on Land Highways (ANSI Z26.1). Accordingly, a manufacturer must certify compliance of its product with the requirements of FMVSS No. 205, including those requirements incorporated from ANSI Z26.1.

As noted in your letter, NHTSA is in the process of modifying the regulatory requirements under FMVSS No. 205, by shifting from the currently referenced 1977 version of ANSI Z26.1 (supplemented by Z26.1a-1980) to the 1996 version of that ANSI standard. A final rule to effect this change was issued on July 25, 2003 (68 FR 43964). However, subsequent notices were issued extending the compliance date for the final rule, most recently to September 1, 2006 (see 69 FR 51188 (August 18, 2004)).

One aspect of the amendments to existing Standard No. 205 involved the location requirements for Item 4A glazing. However, after issuance of the July 2003 final rule, NHTSA discovered that the location requirements for Item 4A glazing contained in the 1996 version of ANSI Z26.1 had the effect of modifying the agencys existing requirement that Item 4A glazing only be used in side windows rearward of the C pillar, by now permitting use of Item 4A glazing rearward of the B pillar. This substantive change to the Federal standard was unintended and contrary to long-standing agency policy. As stated in our August 12, 1996, final rule permitting

the installation of Item 4A glazing, "It has always been NHTSAs intent that Item 4A glazing not be permitted in areas where it may come into contact with an occupants head" (61 FR 41739, 41741). The concern has been to locate Item 4A glazing away from seating positions where occupants riding in those seating locations may be able to contact their heads against that glazing during a crash, because such glazing, when broken, could produce sharply pointed shards.

Accordingly, NHTSA published a correcting amendment to reinstate the location restrictions for Item 4A glazing contained in the previous version of FMVSS No. 205. To this end, paragraph S5.5 was added, providing, "Item 4A glazing, as specified in ANSI/SAE Z26.1-1996, may only be used in side windows rearward of the C pillar". (68 FR 55544, 55545

(Sept. 26, 2003)). This provision merely clarifies which side windows may use Item 4A glazing; it was not intended to restrict other specified locations where installation of Item 4A glazing is permissible.

We understand that Item 4A glazing meets or exceeds the properties of Item 4 glazing, so it would make little sense to impose more restrictive location requirements for Item 4A glazing. Thus, S5.5 does not alter that portion of ANSI Z26.1 that permits Item 4A glazing "[i]n all areas in which Item 4 safety glazing may be used", one of which is the rear window of convertible passenger car tops (see ANSI Z26.1 (1996 version) Item 4A(a), referencing permissible locations in Item 4(a)-(m)). We intend to issue a clarifying amendment in the near future.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact Eric Stas of my staff at this address or by telephone at (202) 366-2992.

Sincerely,

Jacqueline Glassman
Chief Counsel

ref:205
d.2/23/05