General Motors, LLC, Receipt of Petition for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance |
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Topics: Chevrolet Silverado, GMC Sierra
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Claude H. Harris
Environmental Protection Agency
February 24, 2014
[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 36 (Monday, February 24, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10226-10227]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-03896]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. NHTSA-2013-0134; Notice 1]
General Motors, LLC, Receipt of Petition for Decision of
Inconsequential Noncompliance
AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),
Department of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Receipt of petition.
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SUMMARY: General Motors, LLC, (GM) has determined that certain model
year 2014 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra trucks manufactured
between January 29, 2013 and October 28, 2013, do not fully comply with
paragraph S5.3.1(e) of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS)
No. 101, Controls and Displays, and paragraph S3.1.4.1 of FMVSS No.
102, Transmission Shift Position Sequence, Starter Interlock, and
Transmission Braking Effect. GM has filed an appropriate report dated
October 31, 2013, pursuant to 49 CFR part 573, Defect and Noncompliance
Responsibility and Reports.
DATES: The closing date for comments on the petition is March 26, 2014.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written data,
views, and arguments on this petition. Comments must refer to the
docket and notice number cited at the beginning of this notice and be
submitted by any of the following methods:
Mail: Send comments by mail addressed to: U.S. Department
of Transportation, Docket Operations, M-30, West Building Ground Floor,
Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590.
Hand Deliver: Deliver comments by hand to: U.S. Department
of Transportation, Docket Operations, M-30, West Building Ground Floor,
Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590. The
Docket Section is open on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. except
Federal Holidays.
Electronically: Submit comments electronically by: logging
onto the Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) Web site at http://www.regulations.gov/. Follow the online instructions for submitting
comments. Comments may also be faxed to (202) 493-2251.
Comments must be written in the English language, and be no greater
than 15 pages in length, although there is no limit to the length of
necessary attachments to the comments. If comments are submitted in
hard copy form, please ensure that two copies are provided. If you wish
to receive confirmation that your comments were received, please
enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard with the comments. Note that
all comments received will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided.
Documents submitted to a docket may be viewed by anyone at the
address and times given above. The documents may also be viewed on the
Internet at http://www.regulations.gov by following the online
instructions for accessing the dockets. DOT's complete Privacy Act
Statement is available for review in the Federal Register published on
April 11, 2000, (65 FR 19477-78).
The petition, supporting materials, and all comments received
before the close of business on the closing date indicated below will
be filed and will be considered. All comments and supporting materials
received after the closing date will also be filed and will be
considered to the extent possible. When the petition is granted or
denied, notice of the decision will be published in the Federal
Register pursuant to the authority indicated below.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. GM's Petition: Pursuant to 49 U.S.C.
30118(d) and 30120(h) (see implementing rule at 49 CFR part 556), GM
submitted a petition 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.
This notice of receipt of GM's petition is published under 49
U.S.C. 30118 and 30120 and does not represent any agency decision or
other exercise of judgment concerning the merits of the petition.
II. Vehicles Involved: Affected are approximately 200,921 model
year 2014 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra trucks manufactured
between January 29, 2013 and October 28, 2013.
III. Noncompliance: GM explains that the noncompliance is that
under certain circumstances when an owner uses the steering wheel
controls to browse and select songs to play from an external device
(i.e., MP3 player) that is plugged into one of the vehicle's USB ports,
the instrument cluster may reset. When the instrument cluster resets
the analog gauges and identifications, the PRNDM [shift position]
indicator, and the cruise control telltale will briefly turn off. In
addition, some of the instrument cluster telltales may also illuminate
briefly without the condition the telltale is designed to indicate
being present.
IV. Rule Text: Paragraph S5.3.1(e) of FMVSS No. 101 requires in
pertinent part:
S5.3.1(e) Timing of illumination
(e) A Telltale must not emit light except when identifying the
malfunction or vehicle condition it is designed to indicate, or during
a bulb check . . .
Paragraph S3.1.4.1 of FMVSS No. 102 requires in pertinent part:
S5.3.1(e) Except as specified in S3.1.4.1 if the transmission
shift position sequence includes a park position, identification of
shift positions, including the positions in relation to each other
and the position selected, shall be displayed in view of the driver
whenever any of the following conditions exist . . .
V. Summary of GM's Analyses: GM stated its belief that the subject
noncompliance is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety for the
following reasons:
A. The condition is extremely unlikely to occur.
Before the condition can occur, the driver must operate a media
device
[[Page 10227]]
inserted into one of the vehicle's USB ports in a very specific way,
while other associated conditions also occur as follows:
1. The driver must insert a media device, such as a jump drive or
MP3 player, into one of the USB ports to access songs on the media
device. The songs on that device will start playing without further
driver intervention.
2. To select a particular song, either the center cluster controls
or the steering wheel controls may be used. The condition will not
occur if the center cluster controls are used, but if the redundant
steering wheel controls are used to select a song, the condition may
occur if the following series of events also occurs:
a. The driver searches for a particular song by depressing the left
arrow on the right spoke of the steering wheel;
b. then selects ``audio'' using the steering wheel controls;
c. then selects ``browse'' using the steering wheel controls;
d. then scrolls to a particular song using the steering wheel
controls; and
e. then selects the song to play. At this point, operation remains
normal.
f. If the driver selects ``browse'' using the steering wheel
controls to select a second song, the subject condition may occur, but
only if the total information in titles of the buffered songs exceeds
2,000 bytes. (Note: Fifteen songs are uploaded at a time to the
buffer).
The combination of the specific series of events noted above,
together with the [total] information in the buffer exceeding 2000
bytes, is very unlikely.
GM is aware of only 2 incidents of the subject condition occurring.
These incidents were isolated to the test vehicle fleet (589 vehicles),
which has accrued over 7 million total miles.
GM checked all warranty claims on the subject vehicles and did not
find any complaints related to the subject condition. The subject
vehicles in the field are likely to have accrued over 106 million miles
with no field reports of the noncompliant condition.
GM is not aware of any complaints to NHTSA about this condition.
B. The condition is short-lived.
The disruption of the PRNDM and the activation of the telltales as
a result of this condition are very brief. In the unlikely event the
subject condition were to occur and the instrument cluster resets, the
gear [shift position] display extinguishes for one and one half seconds
and a telltale bulb check is triggered, which persists for
approximately five seconds. This momentary condition would be a clear
indication to the driver that service may be required.
GM is unaware of any previous recall for a short-lived activation
of the telltales. GM is also unaware of any previous recall for a
short-live disruption of the gear selector [display].
In addition, GM referred to a NHTSA response to a letter from Ford
Motor Company dated May 23, 1979, in which GM believes that NHTSA
acknowledged that a short-lived inability to view telltales does not
necessarily warrant manufacturers correcting the condition.
C. The condition has little effect on the normal operation of the
vehicle.
While the operation of the instrument panel is briefly affected by
the underlying condition, none of the other vehicle operations are
affected. Any underlying messages remain in place and will continue to
be displayed after the instrument panel resets. Other operations, like
cruise control, are unaffected by the subject condition. Only the
displays on the instrument panel are briefly affected by the condition.
If the condition were to occur it is unlikely the brief disruption
of the PRNDM will affect the driver. The condition can only be
triggered when the driver is searching for a song with the steering
wheel controls, which are located on the right spoke of the steering
wheel. If the driver is in the process of searching for a song, it is
unlikely the driver will shift the transmission for the one and one
half seconds the PRNDM is disrupted, since the driver would also use
his right hand to shift.
D. NHTSA has previously granted petitions for inconsequential
noncompliance that GM believes can be applied to a decision on its
petition. Refer to GM's petition for a complete discussion of its
reasoning.
GM has additionally informed NHTSA that it has corrected the
noncompliance so that all future production of these vehicles will
comply with FMVSS No. 110 and FMVSS No. 120.
In summation, GM 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 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, any decision on
this petition only applies to the subject noncompliant vehicles that GM
no longer controlled at the time it determined that the noncompliance
existed. However, any decision on 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 GM
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)
Claude H. Harris,
Director, Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2014-03896 Filed 2-21-14; 8:45 am]
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