[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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