[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 114 (Wednesday, June 14, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31345-31346]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-14488]



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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. 95-11; Notice 2]


Ford Motor Company; Grant of Application for Decision of 
Inconsequential Noncompliance

    Ford Motor Company (Ford) of Dearborn, Michigan, has determined 
that some of its windows fail to comply with the light transmittance 
requirements of 49 CFR 571.205, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 
(FMVSS) No. 205, ``Glazing Materials,'' and has filed an appropriate 
report pursuant to 49 CFR Part 573, ``Defect and Noncompliance 
Reports.'' Ford 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.
    Notice of receipt of the application was published on March 10, 
1995 (60 FR 13204). This notice grants the application.
    Standard No. 205 incorporates by reference the American National 
Standards Institute's (ANSI) ``Safety Code for Safety Glazing Materials 
for Glazing Motor Vehicles Operating on Land Highways,'' Z-26.1-1977, 
January 26, 1977, as supplemented by Z26.1a, July 3, 1980 (ANS Z-26.1). 
Standard No. 205 specifies that automotive glazing materials used in 
front, side and rear windows of passenger cars shall have a regular 
luminous transmittance of not less than 70 percent of the light, at 
normal incidence, when measured in accordance with ``Light 
Transmittance, Test 2'' of ANSI Z-26.1-1980.
    From the beginning of model year 1995 production in October 1994, 
through January 21, 1995, Ford manufactured approximately 8,250 1995 
Continental vehicles on which the front door windows had a luminous 
transmittance of approximately 68 percent. According to Ford, 
miscommunication between Ford Glass production and fabrication plants 
concerning the properties and intended use of the glass resulted in its 
being used in the fabrication of windows for Continental production. 
Beginning with vehicle production on January 23, 1995, front door 
windows with a luminous 

[[Page 31346]]
transmittance of greater than 70 percent have been installed.
    Ford supports its application for inconsequential noncompliance 
with the following:

    In Ford's judgement, the condition is inconsequential as it 
relates to motor vehicle safety. Computer modeling studies and in-
car evaluations previously conducted by Ford to assess the effect of 
reduced light transmittance windshields showed that even a 5 point 
reduction in the percentage of light transmittance, from 65 to 60 
percent, resulted in a reduction in seeing distance of only 1 to 2 
percent during night time driving, and little or no reduction in 
seeing distance during dusk and daytime driving. Based on these 
studies, the subject Continental front door windows with 68 percent 
light transmittance (67.5 percent at the door window installed 
angle) would be expected to result in no significant reduction (less 
than 1 percent) in seeing distance during night time driving, and 
virtually no reduction during dusk and daytime driving, compared to 
glass with a 70 percent transmittance. Reductions in seeing 
distances 2 percent or less have no practical or perceivable effect 
on driver visibility based on observers'' reports in vehicle 
evaluations by Ford of windshields with line-of-sight transmittance 
in the 60 to 65 percent range.
    The stated purpose of FMVSS No. 205 to which the light 
transmittance requirements are directed is ``to ensure a necessary 
degree of transparency in motor vehicle windows for driver 
visibility.'' NHTSA, in its March, 1991 ``Report to Congress on 
Tinting of Motor Vehicle Windows,'' concluded that the light 
transmittance of windows of the then new passenger cars that 
complied with Standard No. 205 did not present an unreasonable risk 
of accident occurrence. The ``new passenger cars'' that were 
considered to not present an unreasonable risk had effective line-
of-sight light transmittances through the windshields as low as 
approximately 63 percent (determined by a 1990 agency survey, the 
results of which were included in the report). While light 
transmittance and driver visibility through front door windows is 
important to safe operation of motor vehicles, it is not as 
important as driver visibility through vehicle windshields. It 
follows that if light transmittance levels as low as 63 percent 
through windshields do not present an unreasonable risk to safety, 
then the side window glass in the subject Continentals also presents 
no unreasonable risk to safety.
    Therefore, while the use of front window glazing with luminous 
transmittance less than 70 percent is technically a noncompliance, 
we believe the condition presents no risk to motor vehicle safety.

    No comments were received on the application.
    In assessing the effect of reduced light transmittance in 
windshields via computer modeling and in-car evaluations, Ford found 
that a five point reduction in the percentage of light transmittance in 
windshields, from 65 to 60 percent, resulted in a reduction in seeing 
distance of one to two percent at night and little to no reduction in 
daylight. NHTSA concurs with Ford that these test data show that a two 
point reduction in the percentage of light transmittance, from 70 to 68 
percent in the side windows, would reduce seeing distance negligibly.
    In addition, Ford cites a 1991 NHTSA report to Congress in which 
the agency concluded that the light transmittance of windows in new 
passenger cars that comply with FMVSS No. 205 did not present an 
unreasonable risk of accident occurrence. While the windshields in 
these vehicles had 70 percent or greater light transmittance when 
tested according to the FMVSS No. 205 compliance test, they had 
effective line-of-sight light transmittances as low as 63 percent. The 
light transmittance values obtained when testing in the line-of-sight 
direction are generally lower than those obtained using the FMVSS No. 
205 compliance test because the windows are tested at the angle at 
which they are installed. The FMVSS No. 205 compliance test specifies 
that the light transmittance be tested perpendicularly to the surface 
of the window. When tested at the installation angle, less light is 
transmitted. The subject windows have a line-of-sight light 
transmittance of 67.5 percent. NHTSA agrees with Ford that this 
information supports granting its petition.
    In consideration of the foregoing, NHTSA finds that the applicant 
has met its burden of persuasion that the noncompliance herein 
described is inconsequential to safety. Accordingly, its application is 
granted, and the applicant is exempted from providing the notification 
of the noncompliance that is required by 49 U.S.C. 30118, and from 
remedying the noncompliance, as required by 49 U.S.C. 30120.

(15 U.S.C. 1417; delegations of authority at 49 CFR 1.50 and 501.8)

    Issued on: June 8, 1995.
Barry Felrice,
Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.
[FR Doc. 95-14488 Filed 6-13-95; 8:45 am]
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