[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 119 (Wednesday, June 21, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32391-32392]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-15087]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. 95-49; Notice 1]
General Motors Corporation; Receipt of Application for Decision
of Inconsequential Noncompliance
General Motors Corporation (GM) of Warren, Michigan, has determined
that some of its vehicles fail 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 has filed
an appropriate report pursuant to 49 CFR Part 573, ``Defect and
Noncompliance Reports.'' GM 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 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.
In FMVSS No. 108, Table III lists turn signal lamps as required
equipment. Society of Automotive Engineers' (SAE) Standard J588, NOV84,
incorporated by reference in Table III, 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.
During the period of September 1990 through 1995, GM manufactured
approximately 544,420 Buick Centuries on which the turn signal lamps
failed to meet the photometric requirements referenced in Table III of
FMVSS No. 108. 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 supports 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
[[Page 32392]] 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 Fed. Reg. 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.
Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and
arguments on the application of GM 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, D.C. 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 filed and will be considered to the extent possible. When the
application is granted or denied, the notice will be published in the
Federal Register pursuant to the authority indicated below.
Comment closing date: July 21, 1995.
(15 U.S.C. 1417; delegations of authority at 49 CFR 1.50 and 501.8)
Issued on June 14, 1995.
Barry Felrice,
Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.
[FR Doc. 95-15087 Filed 6-20-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-M
