BMW of North America, LLC, Receipt of Petition for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance |
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Topics: BMW 5 Series
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Jeffrey Giuseppe
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
June 11, 2015
[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 112 (Thursday, June 11, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33332-33333]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-14254]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. NHTSA-2015-0040; Notice 1]
BMW of North America, 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: BMW of North America, LLC, (BMW) a subsidiary of BMW AG in
Munich, Germany, has determined that certain model year (MY) 2013 BMW 5
Series sedan passenger vehicles do not fully comply with paragraph
S8.1.11 of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 108,
Lamps, Reflective Devices and Associated Equipment. BMW has filed an
appropriate report dated March 26, 2015, pursuant to 49 CFR part 573,
Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility and Reports.
DATES: The closing date for comments on the petition is July 13, 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
[[Page 33333]]
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. BMW's Petition
Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 30120(h) (see implementing rule
at 49 CFR part 556), BMW 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 BMW'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 13,899 MY 2013 BMW 5 Series sedan
passenger cars manufactured between January 30, 2013 and June 28, 2013.
III. Noncompliance
BMW explains that the noncompliance is that some of the rear reflex
reflectors on the affected vehicles do not fully conform to the minimum
photometry performance required by paragraph S8.1.11 of FMVSS No. 108.
IV. Rule Text
Paragraph S8.1.11 of FMVSS No. 108 requires in pertinent part:
S8.1.11 Photometry. Each reflex reflector must be designed to
conform to the photometry requirements of Table XVI-a when tested
according to the procedure of S14.2.3 for the reflex reflector color
as specified by this section.
V. Summary of BMW's Analyses
BMW used Ricco's Law to determine a minimum required reflection
coefficient in its analysis. BMW chose Ricco's Law because they believe
it best corresponds to the human physiological condition in which a
light source of a given size and intensity is minimally capable (i.e.
illumination threshold) of producing visual perception.
As such, BMW created a graph whereby the y-axis represented the
reflection coefficient in units consistent with FMVSS No. 108. While
the x-axis represented the distance between two vehicles in order to
simulate the condition of an approaching vehicle and a parked or
stopped vehicle.
BMW provided the graph to illustrate that even with parameters
representing a ``worst-case scenario,'' sufficient visibility of the
rear reflex reflectors of the affected vehicles exists.
BMW stated that it has not received any contacts from vehicle
owners or other road users regarding issues related to the subject
noncompliance and is also not aware of any accidents or injuries that
have occurred as a result of this issue.
BMW has additionally informed NHTSA that it has corrected the
noncompliance so that subsequent vehicle production will conform to
paragraph 8.1.11 of FMVSS No. 108.
In summation, BMW believes that the described noncompliance of the
subject vehicles is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety, and that
its petition, to exempt BMW 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 BMW 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 BMW
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. 2015-14254 Filed 6-10-15; 8:45 am]
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