Mazda North American Operations, Grant of Petition for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance |
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Topics: Mazda
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Claude H. Harris
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
June 24, 2013
[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 121 (Monday, June 24, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37881-37882]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-14920]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. NHTSA-2012-0118; Notice 2]
Mazda North American Operations, Grant of Petition for Decision
of Inconsequential Noncompliance
AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, DOT.
ACTION: Grant of Petition.
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SUMMARY: Mazda North American Operations (MNAO),\1\ on behalf of Mazda
Motor Corporation of Hiroshima, Japan (Mazda),\2\ has determined that
certain Mazda brand motor vehicles manufactured between 2007 and 2012
for sale or lease in Puerto Rico, do not fully comply with paragraph
S4.5 of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 138, Tire
Pressure Monitoring Systems. MNAO has filed an appropriate report
pursuant to 49 CFR Part 573, Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility
and Reports, dated June 21, 2012.
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\1\ Mazda North American Operations is a U.S. company that
manufactures and imports motor vehicles.
\2\ Mazda Motor Corporation is a Japanese company that
manufactures motor vehicles.
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Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 30120(h) and the rule
implementing those provisions at 49 CFR part 556, MNAO has petitioned
for an exemption from the notification and remedy requirements of 49
U.S.C. Chapter 301 on the basis that this noncompliance is
inconsequential to motor vehicle safety. Notice of receipt of the
petition was published, with a 30-day public comment period, on October
24, 2012 in the Federal Register (77 FR 65051). No comments were
received. To view the petition and all supporting documents log onto
the Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) Web site at: http://www.regulations.gov/. Then follow the online search instructions to
locate docket number ``NHTSA-2012-0118.''
Contact Information: For further information on this decision
contact Mr. Harry Thompson, Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance, the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), telephone
(202)366-5289, facsimile (202) 366-5930.
Vehicles Involved: Affected are approximately 16,748 Mazda brand
motor vehicles manufactured between 2007 and 2012 for sale or lease in
Puerto Rico* * *
Rule Text: Section S4.5 of FMVSS No. 138 specifically states:
S4.5 Written instructions.
(a) Beginning on September 1, 2006, the owner's manual in each
vehicle certified as complying with S4.5 must provide an image of
the Low Tire Pressure Telltale symbol (and an image of the TPMS
Malfunction Telltale warning (``TPMS''), if a dedicated telltale is
utilized for this function)with the following statement in English:
Each tire, including the spare (if provided), should be checked
monthly when cold and inflated to the inflation pressure recommended
by the vehicle manufacturer on the vehicle placard or tire inflation
pressure label. (If your vehicle has tires of a different size than
the size indicated on the vehicle placard or tire inflation pressure
label, you should determine the proper tire inflation pressure for
those tires.)
As an added safety feature, your vehicle has been equipped with
a tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) that illuminates a low tire
pressure telltale when one or more of your tires is significantly
under-inflated. Accordingly, when the low tire pressure telltale
illuminates, you should stop and check your tires as soon as
possible, and inflate them to the proper pressure. Driving on a
significantly under-inflated tire causes the tire to overheat and
can lead to tire failure. Under-inflation also reduces fuel
efficiency and tire tread life, and may affect the vehicle's
handling and stopping ability...
Summary of MNAO's Analyses: MNAO explains that the noncompliance is
that certain Mazda brand motor vehicles sold in Puerto Rico were not
delivered with the instruction statements required by paragraph S4.5(a)
of FMVSS No 138 written in English. The instructions were provided in
Spanish as part of the Spanish language version of the vehicle owner's
manual provided with the vehicles at first sale; however, no English
version owner's manuals were provided.
MNAO stated its belief that while the subject motor vehicles were
delivered to customers in Puerto Rico with owner's manuals that did not
include the statement as required by paragraph
[[Page 37882]]
S4.5(a) of FMVSS No. 138 in English, it is inconsequential as it
relates to motor vehicle safety for the following reasons:
1. All affected owner's manuals contain accurate Spanish
translations of the information.
2. In Puerto Rico, Spanish is the universally prevalent language.
According to a U.S. Census done by the Census Bureau in 2010, 95.7% of
Puerto Rico's population speaks Spanish as their primary language.
3. English owner's manuals for Mazda motor vehicles manufactured on
or after 2002 can be downloaded from MNAO's Web site or upon request
through MNAO dealerships and is available for customers in Puerto Rico
free of charge.
4. MNAO has not received any complaints or claims in Puerto Rico
with regards to the language of the owner's manuals.
MNAO has additionally informed NHTSA that it has corrected the
noncompliance so that all future production vehicles will comply with
FMVSS No. 138.
In summation, MNAO believes that the described noncompliance of the
subject vehicles is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety, and that
its petition, to exempt from providing recall notification of
noncompliance as required by 49 U.S.C. 30118 and remedying the recall
noncompliance as required by 49 U.S.C. 30120 should be granted.
NHTSA Decision: NHTSA agrees with MNAO that the noncompliance is
inconsequential to motor vehicle safety. MNAO has provided sufficient
documentation that the language in the Owner's Manual is the primary
language for Puerto Rico and does not present a safety risk.
In consideration of the foregoing, NHTSA has determined that MNAO
has met its burden of persuasion that the subject FMVSS No. 138
noncompliance in the vehicles identified in MNAO's Noncompliance
Information Report is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety.
Accordingly, MNAO's petition is hereby granted and MNAO is exempted
from the obligation of providing notification of, and a remedy for,
that noncompliance under 49 U.S.C. 30118 and 30120.
NHTSA notes that the statutory provisions (49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and
30120(h)) that permit manufacturers to file petitions for a
determination of inconsequentiality allow NHTSA to exempt manufacturers
only from the duties found in sections 30118 and 30120, respectively,
to notify owners, purchasers, and dealers of a defect or noncompliance
and to remedy the defect or noncompliance. Therefore, this decision
only applies to approximately 16,748 vehicles that MNAO no longer
controlled at the time that it determined that a noncompliance existed
in the subject vehicles. However, the granting of this petition does
not relieve vehicle distributors and dealers of the prohibitions on the
sale, offer for sale, or introduction or delivery for introduction into
interstate commerce of the noncompliant vehicles under their control
after MNAO notified them that the subject noncompliance existed.
Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30118, 30120: delegations of authority at
49 CFR 1.95 and 501.8.
Issued on: June 18, 2013.
Claude H. Harris,
Director, Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2013-14920 Filed 6-21-13; 8:45 am]
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