Final Rule and Resolution of Key Issues

A. Summary

The final rule establishes a new class of 4-wheeled vehicles, called LSVs, and excludes them from passenger car class. LSVs are 4-wheeled vehicles, other than trucks, whose maximum speed exceeds 20 but is not greater than 25 miles per hour.

By removing them from the passenger car class, the rule relieves manufacturers of LSVs of the need they would otherwise have of complying with the full range of FMVSSs for those classes and substitutes Standard No. 500 as the only applicable FMVSS.

With the exception of the warning label, which was not adopted, LSVs are required to have all the safety features and equipment proposed in the NPRM, including seat belts, plus two additional items added in response to comments: a VIN, and a reflex reflector on the rear.

However, as an alternative to an AS-1 windshield, an AS-5 plastic windshield may be used.

B. Authority and Safety Need for this Final Rule

NHTSA was presented with a variety of arguments regarding its authority to regulate low-speed vehicles. WLF raised questions whether the vehicles covered by the agency's proposal are motor vehicles.

That organization also argued that issuing the final rule would not promote safety because there is no safety problem to be addressed. Conversely, Advocates and CFA argued that excluding small vehicles from the FMVSSs will create a safety problem.

AIA and Advocates stated that the agency had not adequately gathered and considered relevant data prior to issuing the proposal, citing agency statements about the dearth of data on LSV crashes and about the foreign experiences with small vehicles.