(a) Purpose and scope. This section requires manufacturers of utility vehicles to alert the drivers of those vehicles that they have a higher possibility of rollover than other vehicle types and to advise them of steps that can be taken to reduce the possibility of rollover and/or to reduce the likelihood of injury in a rollover.

(b) Application. This section applies to utility vehicles.

(c) Definitions.

Utility vehicles means multipurpose passenger vehicles (other than those which are passenger car derivatives) which have a wheelbase of 110 inches or less and special features for occasional off-road operation.

(d) Required information—

(1) Rollover Warning Label.

(i) Except as provided in paragraph (d)(2) of this section, each vehicle must have a label permanently affixed to either side of the sun visor, at the manufacturer's option, at the driver's seating position. The label must conform in content, form and sequence to the label shown in Figure 1 of this section, and must comply with the following requirements:

(A) The heading area must be yellow, with the text and the alert symbol in black.

(B) The message area must be white with black text.

(C) The pictograms must be black with a white background.

(D) The label must be appropriately sized so that it is legible, visible and prominent to the driver.

(ii) Vehicles manufactured on or after September 1, 1999 and before September 1, 2000. When the rollover warning label required by paragraph (d)(1)(i) of this section and the air bag warning label required by paragraph S4.5.1(b) of 49 CFR 571.208 are affixed to the same side of the driver side sun visor, either:

(A) The rollover warning label must be affixed to the right (as viewed from the driver's seat) of the air bag warning label and the labels may not be contiguous; or

(B) The pictogram of the air bag warning label must be separated from the pictograms of the rollover warning label by text, and

(1) The labels must be located such that the shortest distance from any of the lettering or graphics on the rollover warning label to any of the lettering or graphics on the air bag warning label is not less than 3 cm, or

(2) If the rollover warning and air bag warning labels are each completely surrounded by a continuous solid-lined border, the shortest distance from the border of the rollover warning label to the border of the air bag warning label is not less than 1 cm.

(iii) The manufacturer must select the option to which a vehicle is certified by the time the manufacturer certifies the vehicle and may not thereafter select a different option for that vehicle. If a manufacturer chooses to certify compliance with more than one compliance option, the vehicle must satisfy the requirements applicable to each of the options selected.

(iv) Vehicles manufactured on or after September 1, 2000. When the rollover warning label required by paragraph (d)(1)(i) of this section and the air bag warning label required by paragraph S4.5.1(b) of 49 CFR 571.208 are affixed to the same side of the driver side sun visor the pictogram of the air bag warning label must be separated from the pictograms of the rollover warning label by text and:

(A) The labels must be located such that the shortest distance from any of the lettering or graphics on the rollover warning label to any of the lettering or graphics on the air bag warning label is not less than 3 cm, or

(B) If the rollover warning and air bag warning labels are each completely surrounded by a continuous solid-lined border, the shortest distance from the border of the rollover warning label to the border of the air bag warning label must be not less than 1 cm.

(2) Alternate location for warning label. As an alternative to affixing the warning label required by paragraph (d)(1)(i) of this section to the driver's sun visor, a manufacturer may permanently affix the label to the lower rear corner of the forwardmost driver's side window. The label must be legible, visible and prominent to a person next to the exterior of the driver's door.

(3) Rollover Alert Label. If the label required by paragraph (d)(1) of this section and affixed to the driver side sun visor is not visible when the sun visor is in the stowed position, an alert label must be permanently affixed to that visor so that the label is visible when the visor is in that position. The alert label must comply with the following requirements:

(i) The label must read:

ROLLOVER WARNING

Flip Visor Over

(ii) The label must be black with yellow text.

(iii) The label must be no less than 20 square cm.

(4) Owner's Manual. The owner's manual must include the following statements and discussions:

(i) The statement “Utility vehicles have a significantly higher rollover rate than other types of vehicles.”

(ii) A discussion of the vehicle design features which cause this type of vehicles to be more likely to rollover (e.g., higher center of gravity);

(iii) A discussion of the driving practices that can reduce the risk of a rollover (e.g., avoiding sharp turns at excessive speed); and

(iv) The statement: “In a rollover crash, an unbelted person is significantly more likely to die than a person wearing a seat belt.”

(5) Combined Rollover and Air Bag Alert Warning. If the warnings required by paragraph (d)(1) of this section and paragraph S4.5.1(b) of 49 CFR 571.208 to be affixed to the driver side sun visor are not visible when the sun visor is in the stowed position, a combined rollover and air bag alert label may be permanently affixed to that visor in lieu of the alert labels required by paragraph (d)(3) of this section and paragraph S4.5.1(c)(2) of 49 CFR 571.208. The combined rollover and air bag alert label must be visible when the visor is in the stowed position. The combined rollover and air bag alert warning must conform in content to the label shown in Figure 2 of this section, and must comply with the following requirements:

(i) The label must read:

AIR BAG AND ROLLOVER WARNINGS

Flip Visor Over

(ii) The message area must be black with yellow text. The message area must be no less than 20 square cm.

(iii) The pictogram shall be black with a red circle and slash on a white background. The pictogram must be not less than 20 mm in diameter.

(6) At the option of the manufacturer, the requirements in paragraph (d)(1)(i) for labels that are permanently affixed to specified parts of the vehicle may instead be met by permanent marking and molding of the required information.

[64 FR 11733, Mar. 9, 1999, as amended at 64 FR 47123, Aug. 30, 1999]