Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Theft Protection |
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Topics: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
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Barry Felrice
Federal Register
March 14, 1994
[Federal Register: March 14, 1994] ======================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 49 CFR Part 571 [Docket No. 1-21, Notice 12] RIN 2127-AE99 Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Theft Protection AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Department of Transportation (DOT). ACTION: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: Standard No. 114 currently requires automatic transmission vehicles with a ``park'' position on their transmission to have a key- locking system that prevents removal of the key unless the transmission is locked in ``park'' or becomes locked in ``park'' as the direct result of removing the key. In other words, under the first alternative, a vehicle must be designed so that the key cannot be removed when the transmission shift lever or other shifting mechanism is in any position other than ``park.'' NHTSA is proposing to amend this provision to prevent key removal only when the shift lever or other shifting mechanism is fully placed in any designated shift position other than ``park.'' This rulemaking action results from a petition submitted by Mazda. The agency believes that the proposed amendment would provide greater flexibility to manufacturers, and not have any measurable impact on safety. DATES: Comments must be received on or before May 13, 1994. The proposed amendments would become effective 30 days after publication of a final rule in the Federal Register. ADDRESSES: Comments should refer to the docket and notice numbers above and be submitted to: Docket Section, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590. Docket hours are 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Jere Medlin, Office of Vehicle Safety Standards, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590. Mr. Medlin's telephone number is (202) 366-5307. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 30, 1990, NHTSA amended Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 114, Theft Protection, to protect against injuries to children caused by vehicle rollaway in vehicles with automatic transmissions, where children were able to shift the transmission of a parked vehicle. 55 FR 21868. The amendment required automatic transmission vehicles with a ``park'' position to have a key- locking system that prevents removal of the key unless the transmission is locked in ``park'' or becomes locked in ``park'' as the direct result of removing the key. The amendment became effective on September 1, 1992. In adopting the amendment, the agency explained that a study focusing on child-injuring rollaway accidents in Orange County, California demonstrated that injuries caused by rolling vehicles posed a significant safety problem. That study uncovered nine cases of children releasing the brake or moving the transmission shift lever, or both, causing a parked vehicle to roll and injure the child operating the controls or children near the vehicle. Even though two of the cases could be discounted for the purposes of the rulemaking in question because the vehicle's engine was running and there was insufficient information to draw conclusions about some other situations, the study did establish that the type of accident at issue was occurring. NHTSA explained that although the then-current Standard No. 114 did not prohibit systems which permit the transmission lever to be shifted when the vehicle is parked and the ignition is locked, some manufacturers had voluntarily used a transmission shift lever lock that precludes this possibility. The agency stated that these transmission shift lever lock designs typically have two critical elements. First, the transmission shift lever lock requires the transmission shift lever to be in ``park'' before a person can remove the key. Second, the device also prevents shifting the transmission lever from ``park'' to another position once the key is removed. NHTSA estimated that installation of the required technology in the cars and light trucks not voluntarily equipped by the rule's effective date would prevent an estimated 50 to 100 child-injuring rollaway accidents annually. The agency stated that these injuries could be prevented at a relatively low cost. On February 2, 1993, Mazda submitted a petition for rulemaking requesting that the agency amend the provision added by the May 1990 final rule. That company claimed that an amendment was needed to clarify the requirement to make the compliance test procedure ``objective.'' Mazda stated that, in a December 12, 1992 letter, NHTSA had notified it of an apparent noncompliance with Standard No. 114. By way of explanation, the agency had sent Mazda a copy of a November 20, 1992 interpretation letter to Ford. That interpretation letter was a response to a Ford letter written to NHTSA concerning a compliance issue for certain of its keylocking systems which had been designed by Mazda. In its petition, Mazda stated that it was aware of at least five other manufacturers which had been informed of apparent noncompliances with that same provision of Standard No. 114. In its November 20, 1992 interpretation letter to Ford, NHTSA rejected a request by that company to interpret Standard No. 114 to prevent key removal only when the transmission shift lever is in one of the available gear positioning detents other than ``park,'' i.e., reverse, neutral, drive, first, or second, and not when the lever is at points between those detents. The agency stated that following: We cannot agree with your suggested interpretation, as it is inconsistent with the express language of S4.2.1. That section states that, with certain exceptions not at issue, the key-locking system must prevent removal of the key unless the transmission or transmission shift lever is locked in ``park'' or becomes locked in ``park'' as the direct result of removing the key. Stated more simply, key removal must be prevented in all circumstances save those specified in S4.2.1. Neither the transmission nor the transmission shift lever is locked in ``park'' when the lever is between the gear selector positioning detents. Therefore, under section S4.2.1, key removal must be prevented in that situation, unless the transmission/transmission shift lower becomes locked in ``park'' as a direct result of removing the key. In its petition, Mazda characterized the agency's interpretation as permitting ``intentional mispositioning'' of the transmission shift lever during compliance testing. That company argued that during the design and development of the vehicles which are the subject of the agency's December 1, 1992 letter, it never understood ``intentional mispositioning'' to be a reasonable and legitimate means for testing compliance with Standard No. 114. It also argued that even if it had such an understanding, it is not at all clear what kind of certification test procedure it would have used to assure that key removal could not occur in any possible situation. Mazda also argued that it had reexamined the rulemaking record and found nothing to indicate that ``intentional mispositioning'' of the transmission shift lever was ever contemplated. In addition, Mazda alleged that even if this is now believed by NHTSA to be an appropriate aspect of the performance required by the standard, the absence of an objective test procedure for determining compliance with the standard results in a lack of objectivity and fails to satisfy the requirements of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act. Mazda requested that Standard No. 114 be amended to incorporate a provision that it considers to set forth an objective performance requirement. The provision would specify testing with the transmission level in each detent position, and moving the lever from detent position to detent position using force levels specified by the manufacturer. NHTSA rejects Mazda's claim that the existing provision in Standard No. 114 is non-objective. There is nothing subjective about a requirement that a key-locking system must prevent removal of the key unless the transmission or transmission shift lever is locked in ``park'' or becomes locked in ``park'' as the direct result of removing the key. As discussed in the agency's interpretation letter, key removal must be prevented in all circumstances save those specified in S4.2.1. While the agency rejects Mazda's objectivity argument, NHTSA does believe it is appropriate to address in rulemaking whether Standard No. 114 should be amended along the lines suggested by that company, albeit for different reasons. In the preamble to the May 1990 final rule, the agency stated that it believed the injuries in question could be prevented at a relatively low cost to manufacturers since most vehicles would already comply with the amendments. This belief was based on the fact that the vast majority of vehicles with automatic transmissions already had transmission locking systems or had already been scheduled to have newly designed systems installed. The agency assumed that all of those locking systems were or would be designed in a manner that would comply with the requirements. However, it now appears that some of these transmission locking systems do not comply with the requirements. Based on agency testing of post-September 1, 1992 vehicles, the agency estimates that approximately 650,000 model year 1993 passenger cars and 18,000 light trucks do not meet the present requirement. For the final rule, the agency estimated the consumer cost of redesigning the transmission key-locking system to be $6.75 to $14.00 per vehicle. Those are maximum figures that include both the situation where a complying system must be installed and the situation in which an existing system need only be adjusted in order to comply. In that respect, those figures likely overstate costs for this rulemaking, especially those applicable to an existing system needing only a minor adjustment. Additionally, some manufacturers have likely modified model year 1993 systems to comply with the existing requirements. Therefore, the actual numbers of passenger cars and light trucks that do not now meet the requirements are probably less than the estimates suggested above. Since NHTSA did not anticipate the need for manufacturers to redesign a large number of transmission locking systems, the agency believes that it should consider whether it is appropriate to require such redesign. This is particularly true to the extent that the apparently noncomplying locking systems at issue result in essentially the same child-injury prevention safety benefits as would occur if the systems were redesigned to comply with the current requirement. As indicated above, Standard No. 114 currently requires automatic transmission vehicles with a ``park'' position to have a key-locking system that prevents removal of the key unless the transmission is locked in ``park'' or becomes locked in ``park'' as the direct result of removing the key. In other words, under the first alternative, a vehicle must be designed so that the key cannot be removed when the transmission shift lever or other shifting mechanism is in any position other than ``park.'' NHTSA is proposing to amend Standard No. 114 to instead require a key-locking system that prevents removal of the key: (1) Whenever the shift lever or other shifting mechanism is fully placed in the park position, unless the transmission and transmission shift mechanism are locked in park or become locked in ``park'' as the direct result of removing the key, and (2) whenever the shift lever or other shifting mechanism is fully placed in any designated shift position other than park, unless the transmission and transmission shift mechanism become locked in ``park'' as the direct result of removing the key. The standard would no longer address key removal when the transmission shift lever is between shift positions. (NHTSA notes that, for nearly all current designs, the key cannot be removed if the transmission shift lever is in a detent other than park. However, electronic designs can be produced which permit the key to be removed while the transmission is in a position such as drive and then automatically move the shifting mechanism and transmission to park. Both the existing language of Standard No. 114 and the proposed language permit such designs.) The basic rationale for limiting the key-removal requirement to situations where the transmission shift lever is in detent positions is that drivers are unlikely to attempt to remove the key when the transmission shift lever is between shift positions. As a practical matter, drivers are likely to either leave the transmission in the gear they had last used or attempt to put the transmission in park, before attempting key removal. The only chance for mispositioning is therefore in the latter situation, and the agency believes the chance for such mispositioning is small. Therefore, as a practical matter, when the agency decided to prohibit key removal in situations where the transmission was not in park, it was essentially addressing situations where the shift lever was in detent positions other than park. A more complete discussion of this rationale, which addresses the transmission designs currently at issue, is provided below. Since the key-removal requirement would be limited to situations where the shift mechanism is fully placed in any designated shift position, it would be necessary for the agency to specify a means for determining whether the mechanism is in such position. Under the proposal, a vehicle would be considered to be in ``park'' when the transmission gear selection indicator shows that ``park'' has been selected and the vehicle will not roll away on an incline when the parking brake is disengaged. A vehicle would be considered to be in a drive gear when the transmission gear selection indicator shows that a drive gear has been selected and the vehicle can be moved under its own power. A vehicle would be considered to be in ``neutral'' if the transmission gear selection indicator shows that ``neutral'' has been selected, the vehicle is stopped, and activation of the accelerator pedal does not cause the vehicle to move. As part of assessing the safety implications of the proposed amendment, it is necessary to evaluate the types of locking systems that would likely be produced under it. NHTSA believes that the most likely types of systems are ones like the Mazda-designed locking system that was the subject of the agency's November 1992 interpretation letter and the other locking systems that led the agency to issue letters concerning apparent noncompliances. Ford and Mazda first advised the agency of a possible compliance issue concerning the Mazda-designed locking system in September 1992, shortly after the requirement at issue became effective. Ford advised that if key removal were attempted while the transmission shift lever on a large proportion of 1993 Escorts and Tracers was placed at various points between the ``reverse'' and ``park'' detents, the key could be removed while the selector lever was held short of engaging the ``park'' detent, and without the transmission becoming locked in park. Ford and Mazda also demonstrated these vehicles to NHTSA personnel. These personnel found that the transmission shift lever could be moved to a position where it appeared to be in ``park,'' but where in fact the lever was not fully in the ``park'' position. After releasing the shift lever in this position, the personnel could remove the key without the transmission's becoming locked in park. As indicated above, in its November 1992 interpretation letter, NHTSA rejected Ford's suggestion that the agency interpret Standard No. 114 to prevent key removal only when the transmission shift lever is in one of the available gear positioning detents other than ``park.'' The agency stated that its interpretation was consistent with the agency's intent in promulgating S4.2.1, explaining: As discussed in several rulemaking notices, NHTSA amended Standard No. 114 to prevent vehicle rollaway caused by unattended children shifting the transmission lever in automatic transmission vehicles. If a driver were able to remove the key while the transmission or transmission shift lever were not locked in park, and if the transmission or transmission shift lever did not become locked in ``park'' as a result of removing the key, a child might later shift the transmission shift lever, thereby causing a vehicle rollaway. For this reason, we continue to believe that this amendment to Standard No. 114 meets the need for motor vehicle safety. Subsequent to issuing the November 1992 interpretation letter, the agency conducted a number of compliance tests for Standard No. 114. As a result of these tests, the agency sent letters to Mazda, Ford, Honda, GM, Suzuki, and Hyundai, advising that, for certain of their vehicles, there was an apparent noncompliance with Standard No. 114's provision requiring that key removal be prevented unless the transmission or transmission shift lever is locked in park or becomes locked in park as a direct result of removing the key. (Copies of the correspondence between NHTSA and these manufacturers, and the compliance test reports for the vehicles at issue, have been placed in the docket for this NPRM.) For all of the vehicles for which tests showed apparent noncompliances, it was possible to remove the ignition key from the key-locking system when the transmission shift lever was in a position between ``park'' and ``reverse,'' without the transmission becoming locked in ``park'' as a result of removing the key. The circumstances under which the ignition key could be removed when the transmission shift lever was between ``park'' and ``reverse'' varied. For some vehicles, the lever could simply be placed in a position between park and reverse, the hand that controlled it removed, and the key then removed. For certain of these vehicles, this happened only over a very small range of lever movement when the lever was very close to the park position and appeared to be in park, when in fact it was not fully in the park position. For other vehicles, this condition existed for about half of the range of lever movement between park and reverse. For another set of vehicles, key removal without the transmission becoming locked in park only happened if one hand was kept on the transmission lever while the key was removed with the other hand, since the transmission lever would ``spring'' into park if the hand holding it between the two positions was removed. NHTSA also notes that, while it was not a compliance issue before September 1, 1993, in some cases the transmission shift lever could be moved from the ``park'' position after the key was removed if the thumb button on the transmission shift lever was kept depressed while the shift lever was moved to the ``park'' position and the key was removed. (For a discussion of this issue, see October 21, 1992 interpretation letter to Transportation Research Center, Inc., which has been placed in the docket for this NPRM.) With respect to the problem of child-induced rollaway, the safety consequences of permitting these types of apparently noncomplying systems are dependent on the likelihood that drivers would, in fact, remove the key in a manner that the transmission would not be locked in park after such removal. If the existing requirement is complied with, removal of the ignition key gives absolute assurance that the transmission is (or will become) locked in ``park'' and that vehicle movement will not occur as a result of the shift lever being moved. If the proposed requirement is complied with, removal of the ignition key while the transmission shift lever is fully placed in any designated shift position would give the same assurance that the transmission is (or will become) locked in ``park,'' but the requirement would no longer prohibit key removal in the circumstance when the lever is between detents. NHTSA is not aware of any specific reported crashes that would be relevant to permitting these systems. For some of the vehicles tested by the agency, deliberate action by the driver appears to be necessary in order to remove the key without the transmission becoming locked in ``park.'' Such action is necessary where the driver must either hold the shift lever between ``park'' and ``reverse'' with one hand while removing the key with the other hand, or keep the thumb button depressed on the shift lever while removing the key. NHTSA tentatively concludes that there is no basis to believe that drivers would deliberately make such efforts to defeat the transmission shift lock. Therefore, the agency believes that permitting such systems would have no safety consequences, and that the existing requirement is unnecessarily design-restrictive with respect to these systems. For other of the vehicles tested by the agency, it is possible that a driver might inadvertently remove the key without the transmission becoming locked in ``park.'' This could happen, for example, if the driver moved the lever so that it appeared to be in ``park'' but was in fact short of the full ``park'' position. However, in order for such systems to result in any adverse safety consequences related to child-induced rollaway, it would be necessary both for the driver to inadvertently fail to place the lever fully in the ``park'' position and for a child to then play with the lever and/ or the parking brake in a way that creates a rollaway. NHTSA believes that either event would occur only very rarely and has tentatively concluded that the possibility of both events occurring together is minuscule. Therefore, the agency does not believe that it is necessary to address this remote possibility in a safety standard. NHTSA notes that its safety standards are intended to address unreasonable safety risks and not all conceivable risks no matter how remote. The agency believes that its proposal is consistent with other actions that it has taken in this area. For example, while NHTSA decided in the May 1990 final rule to require transmission shift locks for automatic transmission vehicles, it also decided, based on a review of accident data, not to require such locks for manual transmission vehicles. This did not mean that there was no conceivable risk of child-induced rollaways for manual transmission vehicles, but instead that the risk was sufficiently small that the agency did not believe it was necessary to address in a safety standard. Similarly, in June 1990, NHTSA denied a petition for rulemaking submitted by Mr. W. A. Barr requesting that the agency issue requirements to address inadvertent vehicle movement associated with shifting automatic transmissions into ``park,'' in part because of lack of evidence that the extent of the alleged problem was great enough to warrant Federal intervention. NHTSA is also proposing to amend the Purpose and Scope section of Standard No. 114 to clarify that the purpose of the requirements at issue is to reduce the incidence of crashes resulting from the rollaway of parked vehicles with automatic transmissions as a result of children moving the shift mechanism out of the ``park'' position. That section currently indicates that the purpose of the requirements is to reduce the incidence of crashes resulting from rollaway of parked vehicles. NHTSA contemplates making the proposed amendments effective 30 days after publication of a final rule. The agency tentatively concludes that there is good cause for such an effective date, since the amendments would impose no new requirements but instead provide additional flexibility to manufacturers with no measurable impact on safety. Rulemaking Analyses and Notices Executive Order 12866 and DOT Regulatory Policies and Procedures NHTSA has considered the impacts of this rulemaking action under Executive Order 12866 and the Department of Transportation's regulatory policies and procedures. This action has been determined to be not ``significant'' under either. As explained above, the proposed amendments would impose no new requirements but instead provide additional flexibility to manufacturers, with respect to transmission shift lock designs, with no measurable impact on safety. Also as stated above, the agency estimates the annual consumer cost savings of adopting the proposed amendment to be a maximum of $6.75 to $14.00 per affected vehicle. Accordingly, a full regulatory evaluation is not required. Regulatory Flexibility Act NHTSA has also considered the effects of this regulatory action under the Regulatory Flexibility Act. I hereby certify that this proposal, if adopted as a final rule, would not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. The vehicle manufacturers affected by the proposed requirements would not typically qualify as small businesses. Further, since no price changes should be associated with this proposal, small businesses, small organizations and small governmental entities would not be affected in their capacity as purchasers of new vehicles if this proposal were adopted in a final rule. National Environmental Policy Act NHTSA has analyzed this proposal for the purposes of the National Environmental Policy Act and determined that a final rule adopting this proposal would not have a significant impact on the quality of human life. Executive Order 12612 (Federalism) The agency has analyzed this proposal in accordance with the principles and criteria set forth in Executive Order 12612. NHTSA has determined that this proposal does not have sufficient federalism implications to warrant the preparation of a Federalism Assessment. Civil Justice Reform This proposed rule would not have any retroactive effect. Under section 103(d) of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act (Safety Act; 15 U.S.C. 1392(d)), whenever a Federal motor vehicle safety standard is in effect, a state may not adopt or maintain a safety standard applicable to the same aspect of performance which is not identical to the Federal standard, except to the extent that the state requirement imposes a higher level of performance and applies only to vehicles procured for the State's use. Section 105 of the Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 1394) sets forth a procedure for judicial review of final rules establishing, amending or revoking Federal motor vehicle safety standards. That section does not require submission of a petition for reconsideration or other administrative proceedings before parties may file suit in court. Public Comments Interested persons are invited to submit comments on the proposal. It is requested, but not required, that 10 copies be submitted. All comments must not exceed 15 pages in length. (49 CFR 553.21). Necessary attachments may be appended to these submissions without regard to the 15-page limit. This limitation is intended to encourage commenters to detail their primary arguments in a concise fashion. If a commenter wishes to submit certain information under a claim of confidentiality, three copies of the complete submission, including purportedly confidential business information, should be submitted to the Chief Counsel, NHTSA, at the street address given above, and seven copies from which the purportedly confidential information has been deleted should be submitted to the Docket Section. A request for confidentiality should be accompanied by a cover letter setting forth the information specified in the agency's confidential business information regulation. 49 CFR part 512. All comments received before the close of business on the comment closing date indicated above for the proposal will be considered, and will be available for examination in the docket at the above address both before and after that date. To the extent possible, comments filed after the closing date will also be considered. Comments received too late for consideration in regard to the final rule will be considered as suggestions for further rulemaking action. Comments on the proposal will be available for inspection in the docket. The NHTSA will continue to file relevant information as it becomes available in the docket after the closing date, and it is recommended that interested persons continue to examine the docket for new material. Those persons desiring to be notified upon receipt of their comments in the rules docket should enclose a self-addressed, stamped postcard in the envelope with their comments. Upon receiving the comments, the docket supervisor will return the postcard by mail. List of Subjects in 49 CFR Part 571 Imports, Incorporation by reference, Motor vehicle safety, Motor vehicles, Rubber and rubber products, Tires. In consideration of the foregoing, NHTSA proposes to amend 49 CFR 571.114, Theft Protection, to read as follows: PART 571--FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARDS 1. The authority citation for part 571 would continue to read as follows: Authority: 15 U.S.C. 1392, 1401, 1403, 1407; delegation of authority at 49 CFR 1.50. Sec. 571.114 [Amended] 2. Section 571.114 would be amended by revising S1 and S4.2.1 to read as follows: Sec. 571.114 Standard No. 114, Theft protection. S1 Purpose and Scope. This standard specifies requirements primarily for theft protection to reduce the incidence of crashes resulting from unauthorized operation of a motor vehicle. It also specifies requirements to reduce the incidence of crashes resulting from the rollaway of parked vehicles with automatic transmissions as a result of children moving the shift mechanism out of the ``park'' position. * * * * * S4.2.1(a) Except as provided in S4.2.2(a) and (b), the key-locking system required by S4.2 in each vehicle which has an automatic transmission with a ``park'' position shall prevent removal of the key-- (1) Whenever the shift lever or other shifting mechanism is fully placed in any designated shift position other than park, unless the transmission and transmission shift mechanism become locked in ``park'' as the direct result of removing the key, and (2) Whenever the shift lever or other shifting mechanism is fully placed in the park position, unless the transmission and transmission shift mechanism are locked in park or become locked in ``park'' as the direct result of removing the key. (b) The following procedure is used for determining whether the shift lever or other shifting mechanism is fully placed in a designated position. The lever or other shifting mechanism is moved to a designated position and physical contact with the lever or other shifting mechanism is ended. The lever or other shifting mechanism is considered to be fully placed in the ``park'' position if the transmission gear selection indicator shows that ``park'' has been selected and the vehicle will not roll away on a 10 percent grade when the parking brake is disengaged. The lever or other shifting mechanism is considered to be fully placed in the ``neutral'' position if the ``neutral'' position is selected, the transmission gear selection indicator shows that ``neutral'' has been selected, and activation of the accelerator pedal does not cause the vehicle to move. The lever or other shifting mechanism is considered to be fully placed in a forward or reverse drive position if the transmission gear selection indicator shows that a drive position has been selected and the vehicle can be driven under its own power. For purposes of S4.2.1, rollaway is movement of a vehicle greater than 100 mm. * * * * * Issued on March 4, 1994. Barry Felrice, Associate Administrator for Rulemaking. [FR Doc. 94-5487 Filed 3-11-94; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4910-59-M