[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 64 (Monday, April 5, 1999)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 16358-16359]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-8186]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
49 CFR Part 571
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Lamps, Reflective Devices
and Associated Equipment
AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), DOT.
ACTION: Interpretive rule.
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SUMMARY: This document sets forth our interpretation of the location
requirements for identification and clearance lamps mounted on the rear
of trucks and trailers whose overall width is more than 2032 mm (80
in.). Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 108 requires that
identification lamps be mounted as close to the top of a vehicle as
practicable. The identical requirement applies to clearance lamps,
except when the rear identification lamps are mounted at the extreme
height of the vehicle. In the past, we have stated that the
manufacturer may make the initial determination as to whether it is
practicable to mount these lamps near the top of a vehicle, and that it
has been our enforcement policy to accept the manufacturer's
determination of practicability unless that decision appears clearly
erroneous. Under this approach, identification lamps on many vehicles,
especially van-type trailers, have been mounted on the lower sill below
the rear doors under various conditions, even on vehicles where the
header was up to 3 inches wide. Our enforcement policy was based in
part on the unavailability of narrow lamps. However, narrow lamps are
now readily available. Effective on the publication of this
interpretive rule, we interpret Standard No. 108 to require
manufacturers to satisfy an objective standard of practicability; i.e.,
if, under all the circumstances, it would be practicable to locate
lamps above the rear doors, the manufacturer must do so. We will no
longer defer to a manufacturer's subjective determination of
practicability.
DATES: Effective April 5, 1999.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Taylor Vinson, Office of Chief
Counsel, NHTSA (Phone: 202-366-5263; FAX: 202-366-3820).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 108 for
the Location of Identification and Clearance Lamps on Large Trucks
and Trailers
Table I of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 108, Lamps,
Reflective Devices and Associated Equipment, requires trucks and
trailers whose overall width is 2032 mm (80 inches) or more to be
equipped with a rear lighting system that includes three red
identification lamps and two red clearance lamps. Table II specifies
that the identification lamps are to be mounted on the rear ``as close
as practicable to the top of the vehicle at the same height, as close
as practicable to the vertical centerline.'' Table II also requires
that the clearance lamps shall be mounted on the rear ``to indicate the
overall width of the vehicle, one on each side of the vertical
centerline, at the same height, and as near the top thereof as
practicable.'' However, clearance lamps need not be located near the
top ``when the rear identification lamps are mounted at the extreme
height of a vehicle,* * *'' S5.3.1.4).
In general, location requirements specified by Standard No. 108 for
motor vehicle lamps and reflectors are expressed in terms of
practicability. Under this approach, the required lighting equipment
can be installed without unduly restricting the design of vehicles.
Past Policy Regarding the Meaning of ``Practicability'' With
Respect to the Upper Mounting Location for Identification and
Clearance Lamps
In 1968, when Standard No. 108 became effective for wide vehicles,
lighting technology had not advanced to the level where it is today,
and, in order to provide the required photometric performance,
generally lamps were somewhat larger than lamps that are now
commercially available. Manufacturers advised us that, in their
opinion, it would not be practicable to mount the lamps on the rear
header of some vehicles. Rather than make individual practicability
assessments in an enforcement context, we advised the industry that we
would not contest manufacturers' decisions to mount identification and
clearance lamps below the cargo doors, on an approximate horizontal
plane with other rear lamps, except where the manufacturer's decision
was clearly erroneous.
This deferential approach originated as a matter of enforcement
policy. Indeed, it was first articulated in a June 18, 1981 letter to
the Division of State Patrol of the Wisconsin DOT from Francis
Armstrong, who was the Director of NHTSA's Office of Vehicle Safety
Compliance. Over the years this enforcement policy was restated in
several letters signed by NHTSA's Chief Counsels.
However, over the years, narrow lamps have become available for use
on trucks and trailers with relatively narrow headers. Since it appears
that it is now ``practicable'' to locate clearance and identification
lamps on or above such headers, we decided to review the issue and
reconsider our earlier enforcement policy.
As part of our review, we conducted a field survey in which we took
photographs and measured rear lighting configurations of several
typical trailers. The photographs showed that some trailer
manufacturers are locating identification and clearance lamps on the
lower sill of many trailer models, even though there is sufficient
space to
[[Page 16359]]
put those same lamps in the header area.
NHTSA's Preliminary Evaluations and Manufacturers' Responses
Based on the field survey information, we opened Preliminary
Evaluations and sent information requests to eight van trailer
manufacturers in November 1997. The manufacturers responded that each
produces some models with identification and clearance lamps on the
lower sill. Of a total production of these manufacturers totaling over
440,000 vehicles, the number with identification lamps located on the
lower sill was approximately 225,000, or over half.
The manufacturers justified this location as one permitted by
previous NHTSA letters and as representing ``common industry
practice.'' They also argued that conspicuity treatment provides a
sufficient delineation of vehicle size. Addressing practicability, the
manufacturers contended that smaller lamps such as those using light-
emitting diodes (LEDs) could not be installed on narrow headers because
of the lack of availability of LEDs, the difficulty of wiring them in a
narrow area, and structural problems that could arise if the trailers
were redesigned to accommodate lamps at the top. Some manufacturers
argued that the lower sill location is needed to provide a surface that
is large enough and rigid enough for the lamps. The respondents may not
have been aware of very narrow lamps. Some incandescent lamps as narrow
as 17.3 mm (0.68 in.) and some LED lamps as narrow as 22.4 mm (0.88
in.) are now available.
One manufacturer also commented that lamps placed on the lower sill
are more conveniently replaced when replacement becomes necessary.
However, replacement would be less frequent with the use of reliable,
long-life LED lamps. Another mentioned that slim-line lamps do not
dissipate heat as effectively as larger incandescent lamps. However,
LED lamps emit only a low level of heat. Another mentioned that narrow
lamps do not seal out moisture as effectively, without also noting that
narrow lamps are available that are permanently sealed. None of the
manufacturers indicated that they planned to change the existing
location of their clearance or identification lamps.
Canada's Rear Identification and Clearance Lamp Location
Requirements
On November 10, 1996, Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No.
108 was amended to require that identification and clearance lamps be
mounted above or on the rear doors when the header extends at least 25
mm (1 in.) above the rear doors. When the header extends less than 25
mm, the lamps may be mounted above, on, or below the rear doors. Since
then, Canada has enforced this standard on trucks engaged in commerce
within its borders, including those manufactured in the United States
that operate in Canada. Some of these U.S. manufacturers have complied
with Canada's upper location requirements, but have nevertheless
continued to locate lamps on the lower sill of their trailers
manufactured for use in the United States which have a rear door and
header assembly identical to their counterparts sold for use in Canada.
The Canadian practice objectively supports the view that it would have
been ``practicable'' to locate the lamps at the top of the U.S.
vehicles.
Truck Trailer Manufacturer's Association's (TTMA) Recommended
Practice for Rear Identification and Clearance Lamp Placement
TTMA restates NHTSA's past approach on practicability in its
recommendations to its members on location of rear identification and
clearance lamps. It goes on to recommend that the lamps be on the
header when the header extends at least 50 mm (2 in.) above the rear
doors when there is a flat space of at least 25 mm (1 in.).
NHTSA's New Interpretive Rule
After reviewing the matter, we have concluded that clearance and
identification lamps that meet the photometric requirements of Standard
No. 108, and are of a size permitting mounting on the header above the
rear doors of most trailers and trucks, are available in the
marketplace. The prior enforcement policy has, in practice, deferred to
manufacturers who exercised their discretion to decide whether to mount
these lamps above the rear doors. This approach has not assured that
the safety purposes of the standard are achieved. The responses to
NHTSA's information requests demonstrate that many U.S. manufacturers,
including some of the largest trailer manufacturers, have placed, and
are continuing to place, identification and clearance lamps below the
rear doors, notwithstanding the fact that the ability of many of these
same manufacturers to comply with the new Canadian requirements
demonstrates that it is now practicable to mount identification and
clearance lamps on the rear header in most instances.
As reflected by the responses to our information requests, many
manufacturers have taken advantage of the deference conferred by our
longstanding enforcement policy in deciding where to locate these
lamps. In recognition of this practice, we have decided that it would
be preferable to provide notice that the prior policy has been changed
before bringing enforcement actions against such manufacturers without
providing notice that the prior policy has been changed. Accordingly,
we are publishing this interpretation of the requirement in Table II of
Standard No. 108 that rear clearance lamps and identification lamps
must be located ``as near the top thereof as practicable'' to make it
clear that, henceforth, manufacturers will be required to satisfy an
objective standard of practicability, i.e., if under all the
circumstances it would be practicable to locate the identification and
clearance lamps above the rear doors, the manufacturer must do so.
Moreover, based on the experiences of manufacturers who have been able
to comply with the Canadian requirements, NHTSA will presume that it is
practicable to locate lamps on the header of a vehicle when the header
extends at least 25 mm (1 in.) above the rear doors.
This interpretive rule is effective as of its publication in the
Federal Register. However, as a matter of enforcement discretion, we do
not intend to bring enforcement actions based on this interpretive rule
immediately. This will be addressed separately.
Authority: 49 CFR 1.50 and 501.8(d)(5).
Issued on: March 30, 1999.
Frank Seales, Jr.,
Chief Counsel.
[FR Doc. 99-8186 Filed 4-2-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P
