[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 14 (Monday, January 22, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1663-1664]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-712]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. 95-49; Notice 2]
General Motors Corporation; Grant of Application for Decision of
Inconsequential Noncompliance
General Motors Corporation (GM) of Warren, Michigan, determined
that some of its vehicles failed to comply with the requirements of 49
CFR 571.108, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 108,
``Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment,'' and filed an
appropriate report pursuant to 49 CFR Part 573, ``Defect and
Noncompliance Reports.'' GM 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 noncompliance is inconsequential
to motor vehicle safety.
Notice of receipt of the application was published on June 21,
1995, and an opportunity afforded for comment (60 FR 32391).
Turn signal lamps are required motor vehicle lighting equipment.
Society of
[[Page 1664]]
Automotive Engineers' (SAE) Standard J588 NOV84, incorporated by
reference in Table III of FMVSS No. 108 (and applicable to vehicles
whose overall width is 80 inches or less), provides that the
photometric requirements for turn signal lamps may be met at zones or
groups of test points, instead of at each individual test point. Within
a zone, the lamp is permitted to fail at individual test points as long
as the total light intensity of all the test points within the zone is
not below the specified level for the zone. SAE J588 specifies four
such zones for turn signals.
From September 1990 through February 6, 1995, GM manufactured
approximately 544,420 Buick Century passenger cars on which the turn
signal lamps failed to meet the photometric requirements of SAE J588
NOV84. Of the four zones tested on the turn signal lamps, zones 1, 2,
and 4 met the requirements, while zone 3 did not. The required light
intensity for zone 3 is 2,375 candela (cd). When tested, 17 of the
subject lamps produced, on average, a light intensity of approximately
2,145 cd or 90 percent of the required intensity. The three compliant
zones exceed the light intensity requirements by at least 20 percent.
GM supported its application for inconsequential noncompliance with
the following:
The difference between the FMVSS 108 requirement for zone 3 and
the average performance of the subject lamps is imperceptible to the
human eye. The average performance value for zone 3 for all 17
tested lamps is 10 percent below the 2375 cd federal requirement,
and every lamp fell within 20 percent of that requirement (ranging
from -1% to -18% of the requirement). As acknowledged in NHTSA's
notices granting other similar petitions for determination of
inconsequential noncompliance, and as demonstrated in the recent
study (DOT HS 808 209, Final Report dated September 1994) sponsored
by the agency, Driver Perception of Just Noticeable Difference in
Signal Lamp Intensities, a change in luminous intensity of
approximately 25 percent is required before the human eye can detect
a difference between the two lamps. (See, e.g., Notice granting
petition by Subaru of America (56 FR 59971); and Notice granting
petition by Hella, Inc. (55 Fed. Reg. 37602).) Since the average
discrepancy for the Buick lamp is only 10% with a maximum measured
discrepancy of 18%, the subject lamps do not compromise motor
vehicle safety as the noncompliance is not detectable by the human
eye.
The subject lamps otherwise meet or exceed all other
requirements of FMVSS 108, including the requirement of SAE J588,
November 1984, that ``the measured values at each test point shall
not be less than 60% of the minimum value in Table 3 [Photometric
Design Guidelines].''
GM is not aware of any accidents, injuries, owner complaints or
field reports related to this condition.
No comments were received on the application.
Although the agency is troubled by the duration of the
noncompliance and large number of affected vehicles, the criterion for
granting an application is not the care or good faith of the applicant,
but the effects of its noncompliance. The average noncompliance of the
zone is only 10%, and this is offset by the three other zones exceeding
the minima by 20%. On balance, then, the overall performance of the
turn signal lamps will be consistent with that of lamps meeting the
minimum requirements in every zone.
For the foregoing reasons, it is hereby found that the applicant
has met its burden of persuasion that the noncompliance herein
described is inconsequential to safety. Accordingly, the applicant is
exempted from its obligation to provide notice of the noncompliance as
required by 49 U.S.C. 30118, and to remedy the noncompliance as
required by 49 U.S.C. 30120.
(49 U.S.C. 30118, 30120; delegations of authority at 49 CFR 1.50 and
501.8)
Issued on: January 17, 1996.
Barry Felrice,
Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.
[FR Doc. 96-712 Filed 1-19-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-M
