Mr. Randy Burns
Rt. 2, Box 267
Linden, TX 75563
Dear Mr. Burns:
We are replying to your e-mail of April 25, 2000, to Taylor Vinson of
this Office. You relate that you have bought a set of "clear tail
lamps" for use on your truck, which "state that they are dot
approved." The units "have the red reflector." You are
"using red bulbs in the lamps to make the lights red." You ask
whether the lenses are legal.
In our view, the manufacture and/or sale of clear lenses intended for
use on stop lamps or taillamps violates Federal law because they are not
identical to the original lenses they are intended to replace, and would
not provide a proper lamp color. We further advise that, under certain
circumstances, installation of clear lenses on the rear of a motor
vehicle could also violate Federal law. And as we have advised before,
whether it is legal to drive a vehicle with clear lenses installed is a
question to be answered under the laws in effect where the vehicle is
driven. We have enclosed materials indicating that lamps with clear
lenses and red bulbs are not legal in Texas.
The Federal requirements for motor vehicle lighting equipment are
established by Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 108, Lamps,
Reflective Devices and Associated Equipment, which applies to
lighting equipment on new vehicles, and replacement equipment for that
original lighting equipment. Paragraph S5.8, Replacement Equipment,
of Standard No. 108 requires lighting equipment manufactured to replace
original lighting equipment to be designed to conform to Standard No.
108.
Under Table I and Table III of Standard No. 108 and appropriate SAE
Standards incorporated by reference, the color of the light from
taillamps and stop lamps must be red (If a manufacturer chooses red
rather than amber for the rear turn signal lamp, the color from that
lamp must be red as well. Rear clearance and identification lamps, and
rear side marker lamps must also be red). The
color red is defined by SAE Standard J578c, Color Specifications for
Electric Signaling Devices, February 1977, which S5.1.5 of Standard
No. 108 incorporates by reference. Although Standard No. 108 does
not expressly state that the lens of a rear signal lamp must be red and
the bulb white for the light to achieve the color red, we
are unaware of any original equipment lamp required to emit the color
red that consists of a clear lens and a red bulb and that is certified
to comply with Standard No. 108. This is not simply a design choice; we
know of no red bulb in production that conforms to Standard No. 108's
color specification. The combination of a clear bulb and a red lens,
therefore, is the only way to design a lamp that conforms to Standard
No. 108's requirement that its light be red. This means that the
manufacture of clear lenses or lamps intended to replace lenses or lamps
on lamps whose original color was red is a violation of S5.8 of Standard
No. 108, and the manufacture and sale of clear lenses or lamps for these
purposes is a violation of 49 U.S.C. 30112(a). This means that the use
of the DOT symbol on the lamp's lens or its container will be regarded
as a violation of the certification provisions of 49 U.S.C. 30115. We
shall maintain this position until we determine that a bulb conforming
to the color red is in production, and specifically intended for use in
lamps that will be certified as complying with Standard No. 108.
We contrast this with clear replacement lenses and lamps for turn
signal and parking lamps (and front side marker lamps, as well as front
clearance and identification lamps on wider vehicles). The light from
these lamps must be amber (also when amber is chosen over red for the
rear turn signals). The amber light from these lamps furnished as
original equipment is produced by either a white bulb and amber lens, or
by an amber bulb and a white lens. The latter is permissible because
amber bulbs meeting J578's color specification for amber are available.
Lamps incorporating white lenses and amber bulbs are being certified as
conforming to Standard No. 108. Thus, a clear lens for these specific
lamps is permissible as original equipment, provided that the lamp with
an amber bulb produces light meeting J578's amber color specification.
It follows that replacement lenses or lamps for original equipment lamps
with amber bulbs may also be clear, and that it is not a violation of
Federal law to manufacture and sell them, provided that they comply in
every way with Standard No 108.
We also note that, if any replacement lens or the lens of a
replacement headlamp is plastic, S5.1.2 requires it to conform to the
specifications of SAE Recommended Practice J576, Plastic Materials
for use in Optical Parts, Such as Lenses and Reflectors, of Motor
Vehicle Lighting Equipment, JUL91. Since conformance is determined
after a three-year outdoor exposure test, we have substantial doubts
that any aftermarket clear plastic lens or lamp intended for replacement
use on lamps required to produce red or amber light is manufactured from
materials that have been tested in accordance with SAE J576 JUL91, as
required for compliance with Standard No. 108.
You report that the clear lenses you bought incorporate a red
reflector. One of our previous objections to clear replacement taillamp
lenses was their lack of a red reflex reflector, present in many
original equipment red taillamp lenses and which the vehicle
manufacturer may have used to fulfill the requirement of Standard No.
108 that vehicles have red reflex reflectors on the rear, and if
included in the original lamp, a red reflector on the side that fulfills
the requirement for a red side reflex reflector.
You use the term "dot
approved," but we have no authority to "approve" or
"disapprove" vehicle lighting equipment, and such language is
improper. We believe you must mean that the lenses are marked
with a DOT symbol, or that the package in which they were sold stated
"DOT approved." The
use of the DOT symbol is reserved for representing the manufacturer's
own certification that the lens or lamp complies with all applicable
Federal motor vehicle safety standards, and not that we have
approved the product. As noted above, we doubt whether
manufacturers of these lenses have conducted the outdoor exposure test
to which they may be certifying compliance by use of the DOT symbol. It
is possible, also, that other tests for determining compliance have not
been done as well.
At the beginning of my letter, I remarked that the installation of
clear stop lamp and taillamp lenses could be a violation of Federal law
under certain circumstances. Under 49 U.S.C. 30122, manufacturers,
dealers, distributors, and motor vehicle repair businesses are forbidden
from making inoperative any equipment installed in compliance with a
Federal motor vehicle safety standard. If one of these persons replaces
the original red lens by a white lens, we will consider that a violation
of 49 U.S.C. 30122 has occurred, even if that person installs a red
bulb.
However, this prohibition does not apply to an individual vehicle
owner.
We enclose material that was published on June 8, 2000, on its
internet website by the Texas Department of Public Safety which states
that "clear tail lamp lenses utilizing red bulbs" are "in
violation of Texas law."
If you have any questions, you may again contact Taylor Vinson by
e-mail.
Sincerely,
Frank Seales, Jr.
Chief Counsel
Enclosure
ref:108
d.6/20/00
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