---
kind: "section"
citation: "49 C.F.R. § 218.61"
title: "49"
number: "218.61"
heading: "Authority to deactivate safety devices."
url: "https://uscodex.org/cfr/49/218.61"
---

# §218.61. Authority to deactivate safety devices.

- (a) For the purpose of this chapter, it is lawful to temporarily render a safety device incapable of proper or effective action or to materially impair its function if this action is taken as provided for in paragraph [(b)](#b) or [(c)](#c) of this section.
- (b) If a locomotive is equipped with a device to assure that the operator is alert or not physically incapacitated, that device may be deactivated when:
  - (1) The locomotive is not the controlling locomotive;
  - (2) The locomotive is performing switching operations and not hauling cars in a manner that constitutes a train movement under [part 232](/cfr/49/part232.md) of this chapter:
  - (3) The locomotive is dead-in-tow; or
  - (4) **The locomotive is a mid-train slave unit being controlled by radio from a remote location.**
- (c) If a locomotive in commuter or intercity passenger service is equipped with a device to record data concerning the operation of that locomotive or the train it is powering, that device may be deactivated only under the provisions of [§ 229.135](/cfr/49/229.135.md) of this chapter. Inward- and outward-facing image recording devices on commuter or intercity passenger locomotives may be deactivated only under the provisions of [§ 229.136](/cfr/49/229.136.md) of this chapter. This section does not apply to inward- or outward-facing image recording devices that are installed on freight locomotives.

## Notes

### Amendments

[54 FR 5492, Feb. 3, 1989, as amended at 58 FR 36613, July 8, 1993; 88 FR 70760, Oct. 12, 2023]

### Source

Source: 54 FR 5492, Feb. 3, 1989, unless otherwise noted.

### Authority

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 20103, 20107, 20131, 20138, 20144, 20168; 28 U.S.C. 2461 note; and 49 CFR 1.89.

### Source

Source: 44 FR 2175, Jan. 10, 1979, unless otherwise noted.

### Amendments

[54 FR 5492, Feb. 3, 1989, as amended at 58 FR 36613, July 8, 1993; 88 FR 70760, Oct. 12, 2023]