Ford Motor Company, Receipt of Petition for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance |
|---|
Topics: Ford Transit Connect
|
Jeffrey M. Giuseppe
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
June 19, 2014
[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 118 (Thursday, June 19, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35224-35225]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-14286]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. NHTSA-2014-0054; Notice 1]
Ford Motor Company, Receipt of Petition for Decision of
Inconsequential Noncompliance
AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),
Department of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Receipt of petition.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Ford Motor Company (Ford) has determined that certain model
year (MY) 2010-2014 Transit Connect vehicles do not fully comply with
paragraph S5.1 of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No.
205, Glazing Materials. Ford has filed an appropriate report dated
March 31, 2014, pursuant to 49 CFR part 573, Defect and Noncompliance
Responsibility and Reports.
DATES: The closing date for comments on the petition is July 21, 2014.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written data,
views,
[[Page 35225]]
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. Ford's Petition: Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 30120(h)
(see implementing rule at 49 CFR part 556), Ford 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 Ford'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 174,453 Transit
Connect vehicles built from March 20, 2009 through September 2, 2013 at
the plant in Kocaeli, Turkey as well those built from August 1, 2013
through February 28, 2014 at the plant in Valencia, Spain.
III. Noncompliance: Ford explains that the noncompliance is that
subject vehicles do not fully meet the requirements of paragraph S5.1
of FMVSS No. 205 because the windshields installed in the vehicles do
not include the ``A[darr]S1'' upper boundary markings specified in
Section 7 of ANSI/SAE Z 26.1-1996 Marking of Safety Glazing Materials
which is incorporated by reference in FMVSS No. 205.
IV. Rule Requirements: FMVSS No. 205 incorporates ANSI Z26.1-1996
and other industry standards in paragraph S.5.1 by reference. Paragraph
S6 of FMVSS No. 205 specifically requires manufacturers to mark the
glazing material in accordance with Section 7 of ANSI Z26.1-1996 and to
add other markings required by NHTSA. With respect to the subject
noncompliance, Section 7 of ANSI Z26.1-1996 specifies that in addition
to the item of glazing number and other required markings, the
manufacturer shall include the ``A[darr]S1'' upper boundary which will
identify the item of glazing, and the area that meets Test 2 of ANSI
Z26.1 (1996). The direction of the arrow will point to the direction of
the area that complies with Test 2 of ANSI Z26.1 (1996).
V. Summary of Ford's Analyses: Ford stated its belief that the
subject noncompliance is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety for
the following reasons:
(A) The windshield glazing of the affected vehicles otherwise meets
all marking and performance requirements of FMVSS No. 205 and ANSI
Z26.1-1996. Because all transparent sections of the affected glazing
fully meet all of the applicable performance requirements, Ford does
not believe the absence of the ``A[darr]S1'' upper boundary markings
impact the ability of the glazing to satisfy the stated purpose or
affect the performance of the glazing intended by FMVSS No. 205.
(B) No other related FMVSSs are affected. The vision zones used for
all other related FMVSSs are all in clear areas of the glazing and the
vehicles are fully compliant to FMVSS No. 103 Windshield Defrosting and
Defogging Systems and FMVSS No. 104 Windshield Wiping and Washing
Systems.
(C) The windshields are appropriately marked with the AS1 marking
adjacent to the Manufacturer's Trademark, as required by ANSI/SAE
Z26.1-1996.
(D) Ford made reference to a previous petition for inconsequential
noncompliance that addressed labeling issues that NHTSA granted.
Ford also stated that it is not aware of any field or owner
complaints, accidents, or injuries attributed to this condition.
Ford has additionally informed NHTSA that it has corrected the
noncompliance so that all future production vehicles will comply with
FMVSS No. 205.
In summation, Ford believes that the described noncompliance of the
subject vehicles is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety, and that
its petition, to exempt Ford 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 vehicles that Ford 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 Ford
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)
Jeffrey M. Giuseppe,
Acting Director, Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2014-14286 Filed 6-18-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P