AGC Flat Glass North America, Inc., Grant of Petition For Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance

Topics:  Toyota Matrix

Jeffrey M. Giuseppe
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
March 2, 2015

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 41 (Tuesday, March 3, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11521-11522]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-04311]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2014-0078; Notice 2]


AGC Flat Glass North America, Inc., Grant of Petition For 
Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 
Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Grant of petition.

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SUMMARY: AGC Flat Glass North America, Inc., dba AGC Automotive 
Americas Co. (AGC) has determined that certain glazing that it 
manufactured as replacement equipment for model year 2003-2008 Toyota 
Matrix vehicles, do not fully comply with paragraph S5.1 of Federal 
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 205, Glazing Materials. AGC 
has filed an appropriate report dated May 23, 2013, pursuant to 49 CFR 
part 573, Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility and Reports.

ADDRESSES: For further information on this decision contact Luis 
Figueroa, Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance, National Highway Traffic 
Safety Administration (NHTSA), telephone (202) 366-5298, facsimile 
(202) 366-5930.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    I. AGC's Petition: Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 30120(h) and 
the rule implementing those provisions at 49 CFR part 556, AGC 
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.
    Notice of receipt of AGC's petition was published, with a 30-Day 
public comment period, on August 14, 2014 in the Federal Register (79 
FR 47722). One comment was received from Toyota Motor Engineering & 
Manufacturing North America, Inc. (Toyota). To view the petition, 
comment and 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-2014-0078.''
    II. Replacement Equipment Involved: Affected are approximately 
1,435 replacement back windows (backlites) for model year 2003-2008 
Toyota Matrix vehicles that AGC manufactured on February 28, 2012. The 
subject glazing is labeled ``AGC Automotive, DOT-376 M2H5 AS2, 30B, 
Temperlite.''
    In the associated Defect and Noncompliance Report that AGC 
submitted to NHTSA pursuant to 49 CFR part 573, AGC indicated that, as 
of May 23, 2014, approximately 941 of the affected 1,435 backlites have 
already been removed from the stream of commerce, leaving 494 of the 
backlites subject to notification and recall.
    III. Noncompliance: AGC explains that the noncompliance is that the 
affected glazing does not fully comply with Paragraph S5.1 of FMVSS No. 
205 because some portions of the glass located in the wing area of the 
affected backlites may not fragment into pieces that are small enough 
to meet the standard set forth in Section 5.7 of ANSI Z26.1-1996 
(fragment must weigh less than 4.25 g).
    IV. Rule Text: Paragraph S5.1 of FMVSS No. 205 incorporates by 
reference ANSI Z26.1-1996 and other industry standards. Specifically, 
Section S5.7 (Fracture Test) of ANSI Z26.1-1996 requires that no 
individual fragment free of cracks and obtained within 3 minutes 
subsequent to testing shall weigh more than 4.25 g (0.15 oz.).
    V. Summary of AGC's Analyses: AGC stated its belief that the 
noncompliance exhibited by some glass fragments breaking into pieces 
that weighing more than 4.25 g does not create a risk to motor vehicle 
safety for the following reasons:
    1. AGC testing demonstrates that the noncompliant fragments have no 
adverse impact on the characteristics of the glass performing as 
tempered glass.
    2. The design of the 2003-2008 Toyota Matrix leaves it unlikely to 
cause any safety risks to any vehicle occupant if the ARG backlite 
breaks.
    3. AGC's destructive testing confirmed all noncompliant fragments 
do not impact the safety of the vehicle or its occupants.
    AGC stated that while it recognizes that its tests were static and 
that the actual results in a crash might be somewhat different. For 
example, AGC stated its belief that in a rear or partial rear 
collision, if the glass breaks, most of that glass will fall and remain 
in the general area of the breakage since the remainder of the vehicle 
will be propelled forward in the later phases of the crash. This makes 
it even less likely that any glass will enter or be propelled forward 
enough to reach the passenger compartment of a vehicle. ARG expects 
that the subject backlites will react no differently.
    Refer to AGC's petition for more detailed descriptions of the data 
and analyses that it provided in support of its reasoning.
    AGC has additionally informed NHTSA that it has corrected the 
noncompliance so that all future production of the subject glazing will 
fully comply with FMVSS No. 205.
    In summation, AGC believes that the described noncompliance of the 
subject glazing is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety, and that 
its petition, to exempt AGC 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 Analysis: FMVSS No. 205 specifies labeling and performance 
requirements for automotive glazing. As related to the subject 
noncompliance, FMVSS No. 205 incorporates ANSI Z26.1 (1996) and other 
industry standards by reference (S.5.1). Paragraph 4.1 of ANSI Z26.1 
(1996)

[[Page 11522]]

specifies the grouping of tests applicable to each item of glazing. The 
groupings are also summarized in Table I. Fracture, Test No. 7 (par. 
5.7), is part of a grouping of tests specified for item of glazing 2 
(AS-2). The purpose of the fracture test is to ensure that resulting 
fragments are light enough to minimize risk of injury after a glazing 
fracture. Six production glazing items must be tested (paragraph 
3.2.1(3) of ANSI Z26.1 (1996)) and upon fracture no individual piece is 
to weigh more than 4.25 g (paragraph 5.7.4 of ANSI Z26.1 (1996)).
    In the subject petition AGC states that it was alerted to a 
possible noncompliance by a customer concerning replacement backlites 
that it manufactured for 2003-2008 Toyota Matrix vehicles. In response, 
AGC conducted fracture testing in accordance with paragraph 5.7 of ANSI 
Z26.1 (1996) and other testing. The fracture testing produced fragments 
weighting over the maximum allowed 4.25 g.
    AGC stated its belief that the backlites ``broke like tempered 
safety glass and exhibited all the characteristics of safety glazing 
material required in ANSI Z26.1.'' The fact that there were fragments 
that weigh over the required 4.25 g and some fragments weighing over 10 
g contradicts AGC's statement. A variation in the size of the 
fragmented material points to tempering that is not completely 
consistent with the intent of Test No. 7, ``verify that the fragments 
produced by fracture of safety glazing materials are such as to 
minimize risk of injury.'' As stated in ANSI Z26.1 this minimization of 
risk is afforded by fragments weighing 4.25 g or less.
    AGC also explains that the failures are constrained to the winged 
side edges of the backlites and that 90% of the glass meets the 4.25 g 
requirement. In addition, AGC claims that since ``virtually all'' of 
the black ceramic painted portion of the winged side edges is covered 
by the door frame and on the exterior of the car this portion of the 
backlite curves out towards the sides of the vehicle, and that the 
chances of passengers being injured by broken glass during a crash are 
small.
    NHTSA also reviewed Toyota's comment that it submitted to the 
docket in response to the publication of the notice of petition. In 
summary, Toyota states that it does not believe that the noncompliance 
poses an unreasonable risk to safety due to the small number of 
vehicles with the noncompliant glazing installed and because 90% of 
each backlite complies with the fracture test requirements.
    The agency does not agree with Toyota's reasoning. The purpose of 
FMVSS No. 205 is to ``reduce injuries'' without regard to the number of 
vehicles involved. However, AGC has shown that the noncompliance is 
limited to the winged black ceramic area of the backlite. In the 
vehicle's interior this area sits on top of the frame and is not 
exposed to passengers, and in the outside it faces away from the 
vehicle. Therefore, NHTSA concludes that in this specific case, due to 
the location of the noncompliant winged section of the backlite in 
conjunction with the shape of the subject vehicle, there is a low 
probability that fragments would be propelled to the inside of the 
vehicle in the event of a glazing fracture.
    NHTSA Decision: In consideration of the foregoing, NHTSA has 
decided that AGC has met its burden of persuasion that the subject 
FMVSS No. 205 noncompliance is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety. 
Accordingly, AGC's petition is hereby granted and AGC 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 the subject noncompliant glazing that AGC no longer 
controlled at the time it determined that the noncompliance existed. 
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 glazing under their control after AGC 
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. 2015-04311 Filed 3-2-15; 8:45 am]
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