[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 74 (Monday, April 19, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20423-20425]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-8981]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. NHTSA-2010-0041; Notice 1]
Fuji Heavy Industries USA, Inc., Receipt of Petition for Decision
of Inconsequential Noncompliance
Fuji Heavy Industries USA, Inc. (Fuji), on behalf of Subaru of
America, Inc.,
[[Page 20424]]
and Fuji Heavy Industries, Ltd., has determined that the front
passenger airbag suppression status telltale in some 2010 Subaru Legacy
passenger car and Outback multipurpose vehicle models, manufactured
from the start of their 2010 model year production \1\ through June 30,
2009, did not comply with paragraph S19.2.2 of 49 CFR 571.208, Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 208, Occupant Crash
Protection. Fuji estimates that less than 1 percent (0.8%) or about 27
out of a total of 3,405 vehicles potentially involved have the
noncompliance.\2\ Fuji has filed an appropriate report pursuant to 49
CFR Part 573, Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility and Reports.
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\1\ On April 8, 2010, Fuji provided the actual start of
production dates. The start of production for the subject Subaru
Legacy passenger cars was June 1, 2009, and the start of production
date for the subject Outback multipurpose passenger vehicles was
June 15, 2009.
\2\ The estimate of a less than one percent frequency rate for
the noncompliance was based on Fuji's inspection of approximately
5,400 vehicles on July 2-10, 2009, at their Subaru Automotive
Indiana plant after the noncompliance was discovered. Of this total,
the Company found 45 models with the noncompliance, or about 0.8% of
the inspected vehicles.
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Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 30120(h), Fuji has petitioned
for an exemption from the notification and remedy requirements of 49
U.S.C. Chapter 301 on the basis that this noncompliance is
inconsequential to motor vehicle safety.
This notice of receipt of Fuji's petition 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 petition.
Fuji estimated that 3,405 \3\ 2010 Legacy passenger cars and
Outback multipurpose passenger vehicles, produced at the Company's
Subaru Automotive Indiana plant between the start of model year 2010
production through June 30, 2009, are involved. Fuji also estimated
that 0.8% of those 3,405 have the subject noncompliance.
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\3\ Fuji's petition, which was filed under 49 CFR Part 556,
requests an agency decision to exempt Fuji as importer from the
notification and recall responsibilities of 49 CFR Part 573 for
3,405 vehicles manufactured prior to July 1, 2009. However, the
agency cannot relieve Fuji distributors of the prohibitions on the
sale, offer for sale, or introduction or delivery for introduction
into interstate commerce of any of the subject vehicles under their
control after Fuji recognized that the subject noncompliance
existed. Those vehicles must be brought into conformance, exported,
or destroyed.
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Paragraph S19.2.2 of FMVSS No. 208 requires:
S19.2.2 The vehicle shall be equipped with at least one telltale
which emits light whenever the passenger air bag system is
deactivated and does not emit light whenever the passenger air bag
system is activated, except that the telltale(s) need not illuminate
when the passenger seat is unoccupied. Each telltale:
(a) Shall emit yellow light;
(b) Shall have the identifying words ``PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF''
or ``PASS AIR BAG OFF'' on the telltale or within 25 mm (1.0 in) of
the telltale; and
(c) Shall not be combined with the readiness indicator required
by S4.5.2 of this standard.
(d) Shall be located within the interior of the vehicle and
forward of and above the design H-point of both the driver's and the
right front passenger's seat in their forwardmost seating positions
and shall not be located on or adjacent to a surface that can be
used for temporary or permanent storage of objects that could
obscure the telltale from either the driver's or right front
passenger's view, or located where the telltale would be obscured
from the driver's view if a rear-facing child restraint listed in
appendix A or A-1, as appropriate, is installed in the right front
passenger's seat.
(e) Shall be visible and recognizable to a driver and right
front passenger during night and day when the occupants have adapted
to the ambient light roadway conditions.
(f) Telltales need not be visible or recognizable when not
activated.
(g) Means shall be provided for making telltales visible and
recognizable to the driver and right front passenger under all
driving conditions. The means for providing the required visibility
may be adjustable manually or automatically, except that the
telltales may not be adjustable under any driving conditions to a
level that they become invisible or not recognizable to the driver
and right front passenger.
(h) The telltale must not emit light except when the passenger
air bag is turned off or during a bulb check upon vehicle starting.
Fuji explained that the noncompliance is that front passenger
airbag suppression status telltale lamp did not illuminate as required
by paragraph S19.2.2 of FMVSS No. 208. Fuji expressed the belief that
the cause of the noncompliance is an open circuit in the power supply
to the lamp. The Company said that ``installation of the wiring harness
to the multifunction display and passenger airbag suppression status
telltale was routed at the instrument panel subsupplier such that
tension was put on the wiring harness connector'' which can cause it to
come loose. To correct this problem, the Company has re-routed the
wiring harness to ``push'' rather than ``pull'' on the wiring harness
connector in vehicles manufactured after July 10, 2009.
The noncompliance was discovered on July 1, 2009, at the Company's
Subaru Indiana plant during a quality inspection process that revealed
a number of multi-function displays that did not illuminate and further
inspection revealed that this also affected the front passenger airbag
suppression status telltale.\4\
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\4\ The 2010 Subaru Legacy and Outback models' telltale has both
an air bag suppression status indicator for ON and OFF. Thus, either
ON or OFF on the telltale should be illuminated whenever the
ignition is on.
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On July 10, 2009, Fuji completed the inspection of 5,400 of its
vehicles awaiting shipment and corrected the noncompliance of 45
vehicles by ``pushing tight'' the harness connector. In addition,
Subaru of America, Inc. notified its U.S. dealers and distributors on
July 16, 2009, and included complete repair instructions for vehicles
in their inventory which had not been inspected or repaired prior to
shipment from the Company.
Fuji believes that the noncompliance is inconsequential to motor
vehicle safety. Fuji argues that:
Based on the inspection of approximately 5,400 vehicles still at
Subaru Automotive Indiana and a finding that the wiring harness
connector to the front passenger airbag suppression status telltale
or other multi-function display had been loose on 45 vehicles,
Subaru has determined that the expected occurrence rate is about
0.8% [less than one percent].
[Subaru] * * * has determined that 3,405 vehicles were shipped
to dealers prior to the discovery of this problem. Using the above
frequency rate,
* * * [the Company] expect that only about 27 vehicles will have
a noncompliance with FMVSS 208.
All other aspects of the front passenger advanced airbag
suppression system will continue to function properly.
Since Subaru has both an OFF and ON indication in the
suppression telltale, a complete absence of illumination is a
warning that the lamp is not functioning. Since power to the
telltale is also power to the multi-function display, the owner will
have a clear indication to quickly report a problem to a Subaru
dealer.
Vibration bench testing in Japan by the [Company's] supplier
revealed that no disengagement of a wiring harness connector that
originally worked properly will occur during the use of vehicle.
Dealers will receive a TSB with repair instructions on July 16,
2009 for any vehicles in their inventory, which had not been
inspected or repaired prior to shipment to dealers or for vehicles
where the owner reports a telltale/multi-function display problem.
Dealers will also be instructed to check both the telltale and
display at the first scheduled service (at 3,750 or 7,000 miles
depending on variant).
In summary, Fuji/Subaru states that it believes the noncompliance
is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety because the expected
occurrence rate for the noncompliance is less than one percent (about
0.8%); a complete absence of illumination on the telltale gives a clear
indication to the vehicle
[[Page 20425]]
owner to quickly report a problem to the Subaru dealer; the Company's
vibration testing supports the conclusion that this noncompliance is
not likely to later occur in vehicles that were produced without the
noncompliance; and Dealers will also be instructed to check both the
telltale and display at the first scheduled service (at 3,750 or 7,000
miles depending on variant) and will receive a technical service
bulletin (TSB) with repair instructions for any vehicles in their
inventory, which had not been inspected or repaired prior to shipment
to dealers or for vehicles where the owner reports a telltale/multi-
function display problem.
NHTSA notes that the statutory provisions (49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and
30120(h)) that permit manufacturers to file petitions for a
determination of inconsequentiality allow NHTSA to exempt manufacturers
only from the duties found in sections 30118 and 30120, respectively,
to notify owners, purchasers, and dealers of a defect or noncompliance
and to remedy the defect or noncompliance.
Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and
arguments on this petition. Comments must refer to the docket and
notice number cited at the beginning of this notice and be submitted by
any of the following methods:
a. By mail addressed to: U.S. Department of Transportation, Docket
Operations, M-30, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New
Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590.
b. By hand delivery to U.S. Department of Transportation, Docket
Operations, M-30, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New
Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590. The Docket Section is open on
weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. except Federal Holidays.
c. Electronically: by logging onto the Federal Docket Management
System (FDMS) Web site at http://www.regulations.gov/. Follow the
online instructions for submitting comments. Comments may also be faxed
to 1-202-493-2251.
Comments must be written in the English language, and be no greater
than 15 pages in length, although there is no limit to the length of
necessary attachments to the comments. If comments are submitted in
hard copy form, please ensure that two copies are provided. If you wish
to receive confirmation that your comments were received, please
enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard with the comments. Note that
all comments received will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided.
Documents submitted to a docket may be viewed by anyone at the
address and times given above. The documents may also be viewed on the
Internet at http://www.regulations.gov by following the online
instructions for accessing the dockets. DOT's complete Privacy Act
Statement is available for review in the Federal Register published on
April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477-78).
The petition, supporting materials, and all comments received
before the close of business on the closing date indicated below will
be filed and will be considered. All comments and supporting materials
received after the closing date will also be filed and will be
considered to the extent possible. When the petition is granted or
denied, notice of the decision will be published in the Federal
Register pursuant to the authority indicated below.
Comment closing date: May 19, 2010.
Authority: (49 U.S.C. 30118, 30120: delegations of authority at
CFR 1.50 and 501.8)
Claude H. Harris,
Director, Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2010-8981 Filed 4-16-10; 8:45 am]
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