Tucker said the company advises in its owners' manuals that children not ride in the front seat of hearses, particularly because they are equipped with frontal air bags, which do not have on-off switches.
Another domestic funeral coach maker, Eagle Coach Co. near Cincinnati, followed suit, although it never heard of a child riding in the front seat. It said it wasn't that difficult to comply with the rule and that it was advised by General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. to install the devices. The company said it got a lot of calls about what "that thing" was in the back of the seat -- the anchor for the baby seat. Customers wanted to know what they were supposed to attach to the hook at the rear top of the seat.
| | | | __ Regulatory News By Agency __ | | | | | | |
|
Regulators at NHTSA said they wished Accubuilt had pressed the issue, as many petitioners do, because their intention was to grant the exemption.
"We regret any inconvenience or burden it caused to any manufacturer. We try to be responsible and accessible," said Roger Saul, director of NHTSA's Office of Crashworthiness Standards. "It's disappointing all the way around."
In May 2003 the agency told the funeral car industry it didn't have to install the baby seat anchors for the next year. But regulators did not want to grant a permanent exemption until they were sure funeral coaches were configured with only one row of seats.
"It is conceivable that a funeral coach could be built with rear seating positions in which a young child might ride. We do not believe that a coach that has rear seating positions should be excluded from the standard, since the vehicle could be used to transport a child who should be in a child restraint," the 2003 interim rule said.
Then, on Oct. 15, the agency ruled that the funeral coach companies were permanently exempt. It also came up with a new definition of a funeral coach so there wouldn't be a shadow of a doubt about the exemption. Officially, a funeral coach now is "a vehicle that contains only one row of occupant seats, is designed exclusively for transporting a body and casket, and that is equipped with features to secure a casket in place during the operation of the vehicle."
Lautermilch of Accubuilt said there were no hard feelings; he realized the delay was an oversight, especially since the issue applies to such a tiny segment of the vehicle market. In fact, Rick Gullette, Accubuilt's chief engineer, said that nothing about the rule made any sense. But he was pleased with the result. And for an industry that deals with finality, what was the rush? "It got done quicker than I expected," he said.
