Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC, Receipt of Petition for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance |
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Topics: Mercedes-Benz AMG GT
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Otto G. Matheke III
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
21 May 2020
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 99 (Thursday, May 21, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31023-31025]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-10954]
[[Page 31023]]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. NHTSA-2019-0125; Notice 1]
Mercedes-Benz USA, 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: Mercedes-Benz AG (``MB AG'') and Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC
(``MBUSA'') (collectively, ``Mercedes-Benz''), formerly known as
Daimler AG has determined that certain model year (MY) 2019 Mercedes-
Benz AMG GT motor vehicles do not fully comply with Federal Motor
Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 201, Occupant Protection in
Interior Impact. Mercedes-Benz filed a noncompliance report dated
October 18, 2019, and subsequently petitioned NHTSA on November 7,
2019, for a decision that the subject noncompliance is inconsequential
as it relates to motor vehicle safety. This document announces receipt
of Mercedes-Benz's petition.
DATES: Send comments on or before June 22, 2020.
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 in the title of this notice and may be
submitted by any of the following methods:
Mail: Send comments by mail addressed to the 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 Delivery: Deliver comments by hand to the 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 for Federal Holidays.
Electronically: Submit comments electronically by logging
onto the Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) website at https://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 comments you have submitted by mail were
received, please enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard with the
comments. Note that all comments received will be posted without change
to https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information
provided.
All comments and supporting materials received before the close of
business on the closing date indicated above will be filed in the
docket and will be considered. All comments and supporting materials
received after the closing date will also be filed and will be
considered to the fullest extent possible.
When the petition is granted or denied, notice of the decision will
also be published in the Federal Register pursuant to the authority
indicated at the end of this notice.
All comments, background documentation, and supporting materials
submitted to the docket may be viewed by anyone at the address and
times given above. The documents may also be viewed on the internet at
https://www.regulations.gov by following the online instructions for
accessing the dockets. The docket ID number for this petition is shown
in the heading of this notice.
DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement is available for review in a
Federal Register notice published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477-78).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Overview: Mercedes-Benz has determined that certain MY 2019
Mercedes-Benz AMG GT motor vehicles do not fully comply with paragraph
S5.3.1(c) of FMVSS No. 201, Occupant Protection in Interior Impact (49
CFR 571.201).
Mercedes-Benz filed a noncompliance report dated October 18, 2019,
pursuant to 49 CFR part 573, Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility
and Reports, and subsequently petitioned NHTSA on November 7, 2019, for
an exemption from the notification and remedy requirements of 49 U.S.C.
Chapter 301 on the basis that this noncompliance is inconsequential as
it relates to motor vehicle safety, pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and
30120(h) and 49 CFR part 556, Exemption for Inconsequential Defect or
Noncompliance.
This notice of receipt of the Mercedes-Benz's petition is published
under 49 U.S.C. 30118 and 30120 and does not represent any agency
decision or another exercise of judgment concerning the merits of the
petition.
II. Vehicles Involved: Approximately 12 MY 2019 Mercedes-Benz GT63,
GT53, and GT63S AMG motor vehicles, manufactured between August 29,
2017, and March 4, 2019, are potentially involved.
III. Noncompliance: Mercedes-Benz explains that an interior
compartment door assembly in the subject vehicles, does not meet the
requirements of paragraph S5.3.1(c) of FMVSS No. 201. Specifically, the
front center console storage compartment sliding lid may open briefly
in certain types of forward crashes.
IV. Rule Requirements: Paragraphs S5.3, S5.3.1(a) and S5.3.1(c) of
FMVSS No. 201, include the requirements relevant to this petition. Each
interior compartment door assembly located in an instrument panel,
console assembly, seat back, or side panel adjacent to a designated
seating position shall remain closed when tested in accordance with
either S5.3.1(a) and S5.3.1(b) or S5.3.1(a) and S5.3.1(c). S5.3.1(a)
subjects the interior compartment door latch system to an inertia load
of 10g in a horizontal transverse direction and an inertia load of 10g
in a vertical direction in accordance with the procedure described in
section 5 of SAE Recommended Practice J839b (1965) (incorporated by
reference, see Sec. 571.5), or an approved equivalent. Further,
S5.3.1(c) subjects the interior compartment door latch system to a
horizontal inertia load of 30g in a longitudinal direction in
accordance with the procedure described in section 5 of SAE Recommended
Practice J839b (1965) (incorporated by reference, see Sec. 571.5), or
an approved equivalent.
V. Summary of Mercedes-Benz's Petition: The following views and
arguments presented in this section, V. Summary of Mercedes-Benz's
petition, are the views and arguments provided by Mercedes-Benz. They
have not been evaluated by the Agency and do not reflect the views of
the Agency. Mercedes-Benz described the subject noncompliance and
stated its belief that the noncompliance is inconsequential as it
relates to motor vehicle safety.
Background: Prior to the introduction of the MY 2019 AMG GT
vehicles to the United States market, MB AG found that the lid of the
front center console could open for a matter of milliseconds and that
the supplier of the compartment had tested the locking mechanism of the
door with 24g of force, instead of the 30g force requirement contained
in subparagraph (c). The crash lock was updated in production, prior to
[[Page 31024]]
introduction to the U.S. market, to ensure conformance to the force
requirements in subparagraph (c) and vehicles in the company's
possession were reworked.\1\ MB AG later identified 12 vehicles that
had not received the improved crash lock mechanism prior to being
released into the field and made a determination to submit a Part 573
Noncompliance Information Report on October 11, 2019. In support of its
petition, Mercedes-Benz submitted the following reasoning:
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\1\ The crash lock mechanism is not installed on vehicles
offered for sale outside of the United States, Canada and South
Korea, where FMVSS 201 or its equivalent has been adopted. MB AG is
not aware of any claims or reports of injuries due to the
performance of the interior compartment door in any market.
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1. At issue in this petition are a total of 12 MY 2019 Mercedes-
Benz AMG GT vehicles. MB AG previously determined that the interior
compartment door located within the vehicle's center console does not
fully meet the requirement in FMVSS No. 201, Occupant Protection in
Interior Impact, when tested to the demonstration procedure for frontal
crash set forth in the standard. In a frontal crash scenario, there is
a possibility for the lid of the interior compartment door in the
center console to open for a matter of milliseconds, after which the
door will automatically close again.
2. Mercedes-Benz says that due to the location and geometry of the
compartment door, there is no risk of injury even if it were to open in
a frontal crash. Mercedes-Benz stated that the door is located in the
center console, below the in-vehicle display, and does not present an
opportunity to strike vehicle occupants when opened. Further, because
the design of the door slides forward and into the center console when
it opens, there is similarly no risk of injury from the performance of
the door. Finally, although the purpose and objective of the standard
is to protect against injury from hard and sharp surfaces in the event
of a crash, because the compartment door will automatically close
within an extremely short period of time (a matter of milliseconds)
from opening and because the door may only open during a frontal crash
in which case any objects within the compartment would only move in a
forward direction and not rearward into the occupant compartment, there
is no risk of harm from objects inside the compartment escaping into
the occupant space.
3. The Performance of the Compartment Door Does Not Create an
Increased Safety Risk: Mercedes-Benz cited the provisions of the Safety
Act, 49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 30120(h) and the basis upon which NHTSA
evaluates an inconsequentiality petition ``whether an occupant who is
affected by the noncompliance is likely to be exposed to a
significantly greater risk than an occupant in a compliant vehicle.''
See 69 FR 19897, 19900 (April 14, 2004) (emphasis added).
As described below, the issue here does not impact the operational
safety of the vehicle and will not create an enhanced risk to vehicle
occupants because, in the limited, frontal crash scenario in which the
door could potentially open, neither the door itself nor any objects
within the compartment could cause injury to vehicle occupants.
4. Description of the Compartment Door: The interior compartment
door at issue in this petition is a storage compartment used in
vehicles with the Wireless Media Interface (WMI) package. The WMI
feature allows users to wirelessly charge cell phones within the
compartment and the compartment can also be used to store small objects
like coins and accessories. The compartment is located within the
center console between the driver and front passenger's seat and the
storage portion of the compartment is approximately 15 cm/6 inches long
and 13 cm/5 inches deep.
In normal use, the door remains shut until an occupant pushes the
door forward. The door moves forward in an upward direction, towards
the front of the vehicle. When reaching the top, the door is enclosed
within the housing of the compartment itself and, with an additional
push is snapped into place to remain open. Once it is snapped into
place, in order to close the door an occupant can pull the door
slightly from the housing. The door then closes automatically. As a
result, if the door does open briefly during a frontal crash and is not
pushed fully into the latched open position, it will quickly and
automatically close.
5. It is Not Possible for the Compartment Door to Strike Occupants:
The performance of the interior compartment door does not present any
of the safety risks contemplated by FMVSS No. 201 because there is no
risk of vehicle occupants coming into contact with or striking the
compartment door. When originally promulgated, the interior compartment
door provisions in FMVSS No. 201 were focused on preventing injuries
that could occur from hard interior doors, such as the glove
compartment door, striking an occupant. See 33 FR 15794 (October 24,
1968) (considering ``the potential injury that can be caused by an open
interior compartment door because . . . [prior requirements] do not
afford protection against the type of protrusion created by an open
interior compartment door'') (emphasis added); see also Letter to M.
Smith, August 26, 1988 (``the purpose of the requirement is to prevent
a door from flying open and striking an occupant in a crash.'') The
standard, which was also promulgated at a time when seat belt use was
substantially lower than it is today, was directed toward mitigating
injuries that can be caused by interior doors with hard and sharp
surfaces opening unexpectedly. That risk is not present here.
The location, geometry, and operation of the compartment door
prevent it from causing or contributing to an injury in the event of a
crash. The door is located in the bottom of the center console, in the
area between the driver and front passenger seats. The door is
installed in a location where it could not strike a vehicle occupant
should it open in a crash. The door, moreover, does not have any sharp
edges and is not comprised of a hard, metal surface.
Further, because of the manner in which the door opens, there is no
opportunity for the door to strike a vehicle occupant. The door
covering slides forwards and into the housing of the compartment
itself, it does not extend outwards into the passenger compartment
which is the concern that the standard is intended to address. In
typical use, the operator slides the door covering away towards the
front of the vehicle, away from the occupant compartment and into the
center console where it becomes fully enclosed within the housing. By
contrast, glove box doors and other interior compartment doors on
hinges that open outwards and into the occupant compartment are the
traditional types of doors that FMVSS No. 201 was designed to address
because the door's surface could come into contact with a vehicle
occupant if it opened in a crash. This same risk does not exist with
the door covering in the AMG vehicles based on its geometry and design.
Additionally, the compartment door will automatically close after
opening if it has not been snapped into place to stay open. In the
event of a frontal crash force that is severe enough to cause the door
to open, the door would open for an extremely short period of time, a
matter of milliseconds, and then would automatically pull back into
place and the door will close again. Because of the design and
operation of the door, it remains open for a matter of milliseconds
seconds after which it will retreat back into its fully closed
position.
[[Page 31025]]
6. There is No Risk of Injury to Occupants from Objects Escaping
the Compartment: Mercedes-Benz says there is no potential for items
inside the storage compartment to escape and injure vehicle occupants.
Although the scope of the standard has always been focused on risks of
injury presented by the hard surface of vehicle doors opening in a
crash, there is similarly no enhanced risk to safety from items
escaping the compartment and causing injury. The compartment door has
the potential to open only in specific situations, a frontal crash with
loads exceeding 24g of force. The compartment door operates within the
requirements of the standard at all other times.\2\ Even in a crash
where the load force was severe enough, the compartment lid would open
and completely close again all within approximately 250 ms of the
crash. Further, even in a front end crash that was severe enough to
open the compartment door, the direction of the crash forces precludes
objects from escaping. In a front end collision with high vehicle
deceleration, any objects inside the storage compartment at the time
would shift forward, in the same direction in which the vehicle is
moving. Because the force of deceleration causes the items to shift
forward, they will move forward and deeper into the compartment and
will remain enclosed within the compartment during the crash event.
During the intervening moments following the crash, the door will
automatically close and secure the items within the compartment.
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\2\ The vehicles fully meet the performance requirements when
tested to S5.3.l(a) and S5.3.l(b).
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7. Mercedes-Benz stated that the above described marking
discrepancy does not create a safety risk and that they are not aware
of any warranty claims, field reports, customer complaints, legal
claims, or injuries related to this noncompliance. Even if the
compartment door was to open in the event of a severe crash, there is
no increased risk of injury due to the location of the door covering
itself, its operation and design that allows it to retract into the
console housing and the fact that it will automatically close shut
after an extremely short period of time. Vehicle occupants are not at
risk of coming into contact with the door itself (when opened or
closed) and there is no risk of objects stored inside the compartment
from escaping into the occupant space.
Mercedes-Benz concluded that the subject noncompliance is
inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety and that its
petition to be exempted from providing notification of the
noncompliance, as required by 49 U.S.C. 30118, and a remedy for the
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 Mercedes-Benz
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
Mercedes-Benz 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.
Otto G. Matheke III,
Director, Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2020-10954 Filed 5-20-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P