Mr. Sean P. Webb
6 Oak Hollow Drive
St. Peters, MO   63376

Dear Mr. Webb:

This responds to your May 13, 2004, letter, in which you seek clarification regarding certain provisions of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 108, Lamps, Reflective Devices and Associated Equipment, related to headlamps. In your letter and in a subsequent phone conversation with Mr. Michael Cole of the Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance, you described perceived problems with your 2003 vehicle, which was purchased new and unmodified. Specifically, you stated that your vehicle’s halogen headlamps (high beams and low beams) and fog lamps periodically "flicker off and on" or change intensity when activated.

In your letter, you asked whether FMVSS No. 108 requires headlamps to be steady-burning and whether "flickering" of the headlamps would impair the standard’s minimum illumination requirements. Our response to your questions follows.

The relevant section of FMVSS No. 108 reads as follows:

S5.5.10   The wiring requirements for lighting equipment in use are:

(a)     Turn signal lamps, hazard warning signal lamps, and school bus warning lamps shall be wired to flash;
(b)    Headlamps and side marker lamps may be wired to flash for signaling purposes;
(c)     A motorcycle headlamp may be wired to allow either its upper beam or its lower beam, but not both, to modulate from a higher intensity to a lower intensity in accordance with section S5.6;
(d)    All other lamps shall be wired to be steady-burning.

In short, S5.5.10(d) of FMVSS No. 108 requires that all lamps must be steady burning, unless otherwise permitted. The situation that you describe does not appear to fall within any of the exceptions to the steady-burning requirement.

We are unable to comment on the compliance of your specific vehicle with FMVSS No. 108 without conducting independent testing. We note, however, that Mr. Cole confirmed the entry of the information that you provided in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s consumer complaints database and provided you with a copy of 49 CFR Part 552, Petitions for Rulemaking, Defect, and Noncompliance Orders, which set forth the procedures for petitioning the agency to examine possible noncompliances or defects in motor vehicles or motor vehicle equipment.

I hope you find this information useful. If you have 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

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d.6/28/04