Motor vehicle safety standards; exemption petitions, etc.: Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America Inc.,

[Federal Register: May 21, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 98)]

[Notices]

[Page 28024-28026]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr21my98-184]

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-98-3701; Notice 1]

Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America Inc.; Receipt of Application for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance

Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America (MMSA) of Cypress, California, has determined that some of its 1994-1998 models fail to meet the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 118, ``S4,'' and has filedan appropriate report pursuant to 49 CFR Part 573, ``Defects and Noncompliance Reports.'' MMSA has also applied to be exempted from the notification and remedy requirements of 49 U.S.C. Chapter 301--``Motor Vehicle Safety'' on the basis that the

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noncompliance is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety.

This notice of receipt of an application 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 application.

During the periods indicated below, the applicant imported and sold and/or distributed approximately 57,294 vehicles equipped with power sunroofs that did not meet certain requirements mandated by Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 118. Specifically, FMVSS No. 118 requires that power windows, partitions, and sunroofs only be operable under certain circumstances. One of those circumstances specifies that a power sunroof may operate:

during the interval between the time the locking device which controls the activation of the vehicle's engine is turned off and the opening of either of a two-door vehicle's doors or, in the case of a vehicle with more than two doors, the opening of either of its front doors. 49 CFR 571.118 S4(e) states that once the ignition key is turned off and either of the two front doors is opened, the power sunroof must not operate.

In the Mitsubishi vehicles identified below, activation of the power sunroof stops immediately after the ignition is turned off and the driver's side door is open. The sunroof continues to operate, however, for thirty seconds after the ignition is turned off and the passenger front door is opened. This continued operation does not comply with the requirements of S4 FMVSS No.118.

No. of

Make

Line

Model year affected

Dates of vehicles manufacture

MMC................................... Mitsubishi 3000GT.......

1994-985,855 5/94--4/98 MMC................................... Mitsubishi Mirage (Coupe

1997-981,383 6/96--5/98 & Sedan).

Mitsubishi Motor Manufacturing of Mitsubishi Galant.......

1994-9850,056 3/93--3/98 America, Inc.

MMSA supports its application for inconsequential noncompliance with the following:

MMSA does not believe that the foregoing noncompliance will impact motor vehicle safety for the following reasons, FMVSS 118 sets forth requirements for power operated windows, partitions, and roof panel systems (e.g., sunroofs) to minimize the risk of injury or death from accidental operation of these systems. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA or the Agency) has identified children as the group of people most likely at risk from unsupervised or inadvertent operation of power windows and sunroofs. See 57 FR 23958 (1992). In order to address the foregoing concerns, FMVSS 118 S4 specifies the conditions under which a power window, partition or sunroof may operate. S4(e) specifically requires that power windows, partitions and sunroofs not be operational when the ignition key is off and either one of the vehicle's front doors is opened. The power windows may continue to operate after the ignition has been turned off, but prior to the opening of either of the vehicle's front doors.

``FMVSS 118 S4(e) was designed to reduce the possibility of unsupervised children from operating the power windows, partitions or sunroofs in a vehicle. Specifically, S4(e) is based on the logical presumption that after a vehicle's ignitions is turned off, but prior to opening either of the vehicle's front doors, an adult will remain in the vehicle to supervise and protect children from the safety risks associated with operation of a power window, partition, or sunroof system. Hence there is little to no additional risk in allowing continued operation of the power window, partition or sunroof after the ignition is turned off but prior to the opening of either front door because of the presence of the supervising adult. This premise is especially true for the driver side door. In most circumstances, and adult driver normally exits the vehicle from the driver side door. If the vehicle's driver side door has not been opened, the adult driver is most likely still in the vehicle''.

MMSA believes that the failure to comply is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety for the following reasons:

``The power sunroof immediately ceases to operate when the ignition key is turned off and the driver side door is open. The sunroof will continue to operate, however, for approximately 30 seconds after the ignition key is turned off and the passenger side door is open. The rationale supporting this feature was to allow the driver to close the sunroof even if the driver has turned off the ignition and the passenger has opened the door and exited the vehicle. This delay in operation cut-off is a convenience feature similar to those found in Japanese and European versions of the affected Mitsubishi vehicles. As long as the driver door remains closed, the adult driver inevitably remains in the vehicle to supervise any operation of the power sunroof. It is highly unlikely that the driver would exit from the front passenger side in the affected vehicles. Each of the vehicles listed above has a front seating configuration consisting of two bucket type seats and a center console that rises up from the floor space between the driver and passenger seats. The transmission shift lever for these automatic and standard transmission vehicles rises up from the center console. The combination of bucket seats, center console, and gear shift make exiting the affected vehicles from the driver's side through the passenger side door extremely difficult and highly unfeasible. In addition, the period of operation for the sunroof after the front passenger door is extremely short (i.e., 30 seconds). This short period of time is sufficient to allow drivers to close the sunroof prior to exiting the vehicle, but insufficient to cause any safety concerns for children. Consequently, continued, short-term operation of the sunroof after the ignition has been turned off and the passenger side door opened, but prior to the opening of the driver's side door, does not pose any significant safety concern. The probability of unsupervised children being exposed to injury from the foregoing sunroof system during the 30 seconds after the ignition key has been turned off and the front passenger door only is opened is non-existent.''

Additionally, MMSA asserts that the situation is similar to another situation involving vehicles manufactured by Volkswagen of America, Inc. (Volkswagen). In Volkswagen's case, the company manufactured approximately 20,000 vehicles with power windows. The power windows ceased to operate immediately after the ignition was turned off and the driver's size door was opened. The windows continued to operate, however, for ten minutes after the ignition was turned off and the front passenger door only was opened. Volkswagen petitioned the Agency for a determination of inconsequential noncompliance. See 60 FR 26475 (1995). NHTSA granted the petition based on reasons similar to those set forth above by MMSA. See 60 FR 48197 (1995).

Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and arguments on the application of the petitioner described above. Comments should refer to the docket number and be submitted to: Docket Section, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Room 5109, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590. It is requested but not required that six copies be submitted.

All comments received before the close of business on the closing date indicated below will be considered. The application and supporting materials, and all comments received after the closing date, will also be filedand will be considered to the extent possible. When the application is granted or denied, the notice will be published in

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the Federal Register pursuant to the authority indicated below.

Comment closing date: June 28, 1998.

(49 U.S.C. 30118 and 30120; delegations of authority at 49 CFR 1.50 and 501.8)

Issued on: May 14, 1998. L. Robert Shelton, Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.

[FR Doc. 98-13520Filed5-20-98; 8:45 am]

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