Continental Tire the Americas, LLC, Receipt of Petition for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance

Topics:  Continental Tire

Jeffrey Giuseppe
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
May 4, 2015

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 85 (Monday, May 4, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25355-25356]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-10263]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2015-0030; Notice 1]


Continental Tire the Americas, 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: Continental Tire the Americas, LLC, (CTA), has determined that 
certain Continental Tire brand TKC80 motorcycle replacement tires do 
not fully comply with paragraph S6.5(c) of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety 
Standard (FMVSS) No. 119, New Pneumatic Radial Tires for motor vehicles 
with a GVWR of more than 4,536 Kilograms (10,000 pounds) and 
Motorcycles. CTA has filed an appropriate report dated February 18, 
2015, pursuant to 49 CFR part 573, Defect and Noncompliance 
Responsibility and Reports.

DATES: The closing date for comments on the petition is June 3, 2015.

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 
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. CTA's Petition

    Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 30120(h) (see implementing rule 
at 49 CFR part 556), CTA 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 CTA'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. Tires Involved

    Affected are approximately 1,062 Continental TKC80 size 120/70-19 
M/C 60Q diagonal (bias) motorcycle replacement tires manufactured 
between April 8, 2012 and January 31, 2015.

III. Noncompliance

    CTA explains that the noncompliance is that the tire size 
designation marking on the sidewalls of the subject tires does not 
contain the correct construction code designator symbol from The Tire 
and Rim Association yearbook. Therefore, the tires do not fully comply 
with paragraph S6.5(c) of FMVSS No. 119 because the tire size 
designation is not as listed in the documents and publications 
designated in S5.1. Specifically, the tires were marked with the 
construction code designator ``B'' indicating bias-belted construction 
and should have been marked with the designator ``-'' indicating 
diagonal (bias) construction.

IV. Rule Text

    Paragraph S6.5 of FMVSS No. 119 requires in pertinent part:
    S6.5 Tire Markings. Except as specified in paragraphs, each tire 
shall be marked on each sidewall with the information specified in 
paragraphs (a) through (j) of this section. . .
    (c) The tire size designation as listed in the documents and 
publications designated in S5.1.

V. Summary of CTA's Analyses

    CTA stated its belief that the subject noncompliance is 
inconsequential to motor vehicle safety for the following reasons:

    (A) CTA notes that the only improper marking on the sidewall of 
the subject tires is the use of the letter character ``B'' in the

[[Page 25356]]

tire size designation instead of a hyphen character ``-,'' and that 
from its experience it believes that most motorcycle tire consumers 
do not understand the differences in tire construction and therefore 
do not base tire purchases on the tire construction type.
    (B) CTA stated that the subject tires were built as designed and 
that the performance requirements and testing requirements specified 
in FMVSS No. 119 are exactly the same for both bias-belted and 
diagonal (bias) tires.
    (C) CTA believes that the subject noncompliance has no impact on 
the safety of vehicles on which the subject tires are mounted and 
that the subject tires meet or exceed all the performance 
requirement of FMVSS No. 119.
    (D) CTA also stated that it is not aware of any crashes, 
injuries, customer complaints, or field reports associated with the 
subject noncompliance.

    CTA additionally informed NHTSA that the molds at the manufacturing 
plant have been corrected so that no additional tires will be 
manufactured or sold with the noncompliance.
    In summation, CTA believes that the described noncompliance of the 
subject tires is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety, and that its 
petition, to exempt CTA 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 tires that CTA no longer 
controlled at the time it determined that the noncompliance existed. 
However, any decision on this petition does not relieve equipment 
distributors and dealers of the prohibitions on the sale, offer for 
sale, or introduction or delivery for introduction into interstate 
commerce of the noncompliant tires under their control after CTA 
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 Giuseppe,
Director, Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2015-10263 Filed 5-1-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-59-P