[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 173 (Tuesday, September 8, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47545-47546]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-23966]
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Department of Transportation
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. NHTSA-98-4383; Notice 1]
Kolcraft Enterprises, Inc.; Receipt of Application for Decision
of Inconsequential Noncompliance
Kolcraft Enterprises of Chicago, Illinois, has determined that
706,068 child restraint systems fail to comply with 49 CFR 571.213,
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 213, ``Child
Restraint Systems,'' and has filed an appropriate report pursuant to 49
CFR Part 573, ``Defects and Noncompliance Reports.'' Kolcraft 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 judgement concerning the merits of the petition.
FMVSS No. 213, S5.6.1.8, requires:
In the case of each child restraint system that can be used in a
position so that it is facing the rear of the vehicle, the instructions
shall provide a warning against using rear-facing restraints at seating
positions equipped with air bags, and shall explain the reasons for,
and consequences of not following the warning. The instructions shall
also include a statement that owners of vehicles with front passenger
side air bags should refer to their vehicle owner's manual for child
restraint installation instructions.
In adopting the above requirement that certain vehicle owners be
directed to their owner's manual for installation instructions, the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) stated that such
instructions would ``complement'' the requirement that owner's manuals
of vehicles having a front passenger side air bag provide information
regarding ``proper positioning of occupants, including children, at
seating positions equipped with an air bag.'' 59 FR 7643, 7646 (Feb.
16, 1994)(final rule). This requirement
[[Page 47546]]
appears in S4.5.1(e) of FMVSS No. 208, which was added in 1993. 58 FR
46551, 46564 (Sep. 2, 1993)(final rule).
The items affected by the noncompliance are the instructions for
proper use that were provided after August 15, 1994, with certain
models of Kolcraft's child restraints in order to comply with S5.6 of
FMVSS No. 213. Kolcraft's instructions provided the appropriate warning
against using rear-facing restraints at seating positions equipped with
air bags, as well as the reason for the warning and the consequences of
not following it. However, Kolcraft's instructions did not include a
statement expressly referring owners of vehicles with front passenger
side air bags to their vehicle owner's manual for child restraint
installation instructions. The noncompliance began August 15, 1994, the
effective date of S5.6.1.8. The following models of child restraints
were affected by the noncompliance: Rock ``n Ride (until April 1996);
Auto-Mate (until June 1997); Traveler 700 (until December 1995);
Performa (until June 1997); and Secure Fit (until June 1997). The total
number of child restraints involved is 706,068. In response to an April
17, 1997 letter from NHTSA concerning miscellaneous compliance issues,
Kolcraft has subsequently revised its instructions to conform to
S5.6.1.8.
Kolcraft supports its application for inconsequential noncompliance
with the following:
S4.5.1(e) of FMVSS No. 208 requires owner's manuals to provide
information regarding ``proper positioning of occupants, including
children, at seating positions equipped with air bags.'' (Emphasis
supplied.) It does not, however, require a vehicle manufacturer to
include ``child restraint installation instructions'' in general.
Indeed, for rear-facing infant restraints such as Kolcraft's Rock ``n
Ride, there should be no child restraint installation instructions for
``seating positions equipped with air bags,'' because rear-facing
restraints should not be used in air bag equipped seats. And not
surprisingly, no owner's manual we reviewed contains installation
instructions for rear-facing infant seats at ``seating positions
equipped with air bags'; rather, they consistently warn against
installation of a rear-facing restraint at an air bag equipped seating
position. While some owner's manuals contain child restraint
installation instructions for other (non-air bag) seating positions,
not all owner's manuals contain such information. Thus, since the
vehicle owner's manual will not always yield the ``child restraint
installation'' information apparently contemplated by S5.6.1.8 of FMVSS
No. 213, the inadvertent omission from the Kolcraft instruction sheets
of a reference to the vehicle owner's manual is not consequential to
motor vehicle safety.
Moreover, although Kolcraft does not question the usefulness of a
statement directing vehicle owners to their owner's manual for
``complement[ary]'' (59 Fed. Reg. at 7,646) information relating to the
positioning of occupants `` especially children `` at seat positions
equipped with air bags, Kolcraft's inadvertent failure to include such
a statement in its instructions is inconsequential because Kolcraft's
instructions set forth in detail the very information about child
restraint installation and the proper positioning of children that is
contemplated in S5.6.1.8 and the final rule promulgating the
regulation, and, in many cases, exceed that information. In short, the
omission of the statement directing owners of vehicles with front
passenger side air bags to their owner's manual would not deprive
vehicle owners using Kolcraft child restraints from any information
germane to the safe installation of child restraints in vehicles
equipped with air bags.
For example, Kolcraft's instructions include warnings not to place
a rear-facing child restraint in a seat equipped with air bags, as well
as a statement explaining the reason for the warning and the
consequences of ignoring it. The instructions provide information
regarding appropriate seating positions. The instructions also provide
elaborate information about how to install child restraints with a
variety of seat belts, and they illustrate a number of different seat
belt configurations, explaining which are and which are not appropriate
for use in installing child restraints. The instructions also explain
why certain configurations are inappropriate and what vehicle owners
should do if a seat belt will not hold a child restraint tightly. Thus,
Kolcraft's instructions provide all the information concerning
installation and positioning of children that S5.6.1.8 apparently
contemplates would be provided in owner's manuals, and, in many
respects, exceed the information described in S5.6.1.8. Accordingly,
Kolcraft's inadvertent noncompliance with S5.6.1.8's requirement of a
statement referring to the vehicle owner's manual is inconsequential as
it relates to motor vehicle safety.
Kolcraft does not question the usefulness or importance of
S5.6.1.8's requirement that the instructions for child restraints
direct owners of vehicles with front passenger side air bags to their
vehicle owner's manual for child restraint installation instructions.
As soon as it learned of its noncompliance with the requirement,
Kolcraft revised its instructions to conform exactly to S5.6.1.8.
However, because Kolcraft's noncompliant instructions provide detailed
information relating to the installation of child restraints with a
variety of seat belt configurations, as well as information concerning
the proper positioning of children in vehicles equipped with air bags,
the omission of a statement referring to the owner's manual in
Kolcraft's instructions was inconsequential with respect to vehicle
safety.
Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and
arguments on the application of Kolcraft described above. Comments
should refer to the docket number and be submitted to: U.S. Department
of Transportation Docket Management, Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street,
SW, Washington, DC 20590. It is requested, but not required, that two
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: October 8, 1998.
(49 U.S.C. 30118 and 30120; delegations of authority at 49 CFR 1.50
and 501.8)
Issued on: September 1, 1998.
L. Robert Shelton,
Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.
[FR Doc. 98-23966 Filed 9-4-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P
