[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 155 (Friday, August 11, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41148-41150]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-19897]



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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. 93-93; Notice 2]


Century Products Co. Grant of Petition for Determination of 
Inconsequential Noncompliance

    Century Products Company (Century) of Macedonia, Ohio, determined 
that some of its child safety seats failed to comply with the 
flammability requirements of 49 CFR 571.213, ``Child Restraint 
Systems,'' Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 213, and 
filed an appropriate report pursuant to 49 CFR part 573, ``Defect and 
Noncompliance Reports.'' Century also petitioned to be exempted from 
the notification and remedy requirements of 49 U.S.C. Chapter 301 
(formerly the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act) on the 
basis that the noncompliance is inconsequential as it relates to motor 
vehicle safety.
    Notice of receipt of the petition was published on December 29, 
1993, and an opportunity afforded for comment (58 FR 68985). No 
comments were received. This notice grants the petition.
    Paragraph S5.7 of FMVSS No. 213 states that ``[e]ach material used 
in a child restraint system shall conform to the requirements of S4 of 
FMVSS No. 302 (Flammability of Interior Materials) (571.302).'' 
Paragraph S4.3(a) of FMVSS No. 302 states that ``[w]hen tested in 
accordance with S5, material described in S4.1 and S4.2 shall not burn, 
nor transmit a flame front across its surface, at a rate of more than 4 
inches per minute.'' Paragraph S4.2.1 of FMVSS No. 302 states that 
``[a]ny material that does not adhere to other material(s) at every 
point of contact shall meet the requirements of S4.3 when tested 
separately.''
    From December 1991 to May 1993, Century manufactured and sold 
192,824 Model 4594 and 4595 child safety seats that did not comply with 
the flammability requirements of FMVSS No. 213. On June 7, 1993, NHTSA 
informed Century that, when its Model 4595 child safety seat was tested 
by a NHTSA contractor, the fabric seat cover failed to meet the 
Standard No. 213 flammability requirements (Century's Model 4594 has 
the same construction as its Model 4595). The contractor tested six 
samples of the seat covers, yielding burn rates of between 6.3 and 7.6 
inches per minute.
    The seats in question are constructed of fabric, fiberfill, and 
backing. The covers on these seats are formed by sewing three sections 
together: The left side, the right side, and the center. Each section 
is fully sewn around its perimeter and the three sections are sewn 
together. The entire perimeter of the cover is then permanently and 
completely sewn together with an overlock to assure that the layers are 
securely attached. There is additional stitching surrounding the buckle 
openings and belt loop areas. Because of the construction of the seats, 
Century decided that testing the fabric, fiberfill, and backing 
together (composite testing) would be appropriate. However, Century 
subsequently agreed that the exterior material of the seat cover ``does 
not adhere to other material(s) at every point of contact,'' and that 
therefore, pursuant to Paragraph S4.2.1 of FMVSS No. 302, the seat 
covers are ``required to meet the requirements of S4.3 when tested 
separately.''
    Century supported its petition for an exemption from the recall 
requirements of the statute with the following arguments and also 
submitted test reports. All of these submissions are available for 
review in the NHTSA docket.

    Under FMVSS No. 213, Section S5.7, ``each material used in a 
child restraint system shall conform to the requirements of S4 of 
FMVSS No. 302.'' 49 CFR 571.213 S5.7 (1992). FMVSS No. 302 sets the 
standard for the flammability of materials used in the interior of 
motor vehicles. The purpose of FMVSS No. 302 is to ``reduce the 
deaths and injuries 

[[Page 41149]]
to motor vehicle occupants caused by vehicle fires, especially those 
originating in the interior of the vehicle from sources such as 
matches or cigarettes.''
    When FMVSS No. 302 was originally proposed, materials used in 
the interior of motor vehicles were to be tested separately 
regardless of how the materials were used. FMVSS No. 302 was revised 
prior to its release to require testing as a composite if the 
surface material is ``bonded, sewed or mechanically attached to the 
underlying material.'' 36 FR 290 (1971). The purpose of the revision 
was to eliminate ``an element of complexity found unnecessary for 
safety purposes.'' Under this version of FMVSS No. 302, Century's 
infant restraint would have been tested as a composite and readily 
passed the standard.
    However, in 1975, the testing procedure was again revised, and 
the standard now in place was adopted. 40 FR 14,318 (1975). Under 
the revised standard, materials are tested as a composite only if 
the material ``adhere[s] to other materials(s) at every point of 
contact.'' 49 CFR 571.302 S4.2.1. The standard was revised to take 
into account some omissions in the testing scheme ``and to reduce 
the complexity of testing single and composite materials.'' 40 FR 
14,319 (1975). The standard was not revised because former FMVSS No. 
302 was found to be inadequate to meet the safety standards of the 
Act, but to reduce the complexity of the testing.
    The current version of FMVSS No. 302 may go further than 
necessary to prevent the ``unreasonable risk of injury or death.'' 
This is evidenced by the results of a study completed by Failure 
Analysis Associates in March of 1991. A study of the U.S. CPSC NEISS 
database and the NHTSA Complaint File back to 1978 revealed not one 
instance in which an infant or child was injured because a car seat 
ignited. Failure Analysis Associates, Inc., Flammability Tests and 
Examination of Accident/Injury and Complaint Data 11 (1991). A study 
conducted by James H. Shanley, Jr. in conjunction with Fisher-
Price's petition for determination of inconsequential noncompliance 
also found no instances in which a vehicle fire started in a child 
safety seat. Fisher-Price, Dkt. No. 93-79, 58 FR 59,511 (1993) 
(Notice of Receipt of Petition for Determination of Inconsequential 
Noncompliance). Century realizes that the facts in their case are 
different from Fisher-Price and only cites the document for the 
purpose stated in this Petition. Moreover, in 1971 a much larger 
portion of our society smoked. Now, with fewer and fewer Americans 
smoking, the risks that an infant or child restraint would be set on 
fire by lighted cigarettes or matches is becoming more remote.
    The Agency could submit that the reason there have been no fires 
is because of FMVSS 302 and their aggressive enforcement of the 
standard. But, it is important to remember that the Agency standard 
does not require nonflammable materials; it only requires material 
which burns slowly. Hence, the standard, while admirable, would not 
explain the fact that there has been no recorded evidence of a fire.
    The frequency of incidents involving nonconforming or defective 
equipment is a factor in determining whether defects or 
noncompliance has an impact on safety. See, e.g., United States v. 
General Motors Corp., 656 F. Supp. 1555 (D.D.C. 1987), aff'd, 841 
F.2d 400 (D.C. Cir. 1988) (premature wheel lockup in 1980 X-cars was 
not a ``safety related defect'' when the risk of failure was no 
worse than, and in most instances better than, the rate for all 
cars); United States v. General Motors Corp., 561 F.2d 923 (D.C. 
Cir. 1977), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 1033 (1978) (government presented 
evidence of a disproportionately high number of replacement parts 
(35,366) and inferred, in the absence of challenge by General 
Motors, that replacement part sales were due to a disproportionately 
high rate of failures and concluded that defect safety-related). The 
fact that no child has been injured by fire caused by a child car 
seat for the last 15 years militates strongly against a finding that 
Century's noncompliance has an effect on safety.
    NHTSA has recognized that some technical violations of NHTSA 
standards do not affect safety and (has) exempted manufacturers from 
the notice and remedy requirements of the Act. See, e.g., General 
Motors Corp., Dkt No. 92-23, 57 FR 45,866 (1992) (one test point on 
side reflex reflector failed to meet standard, but when values for 
reflector considered overall, noncompliance inconsequential). 
Another example, in General Motors Corp., Dkt. No. 91-10-IP-No. 2, 
56 FR 33,323 (1991), NHTSA found that the technical violation at 
issue had an inconsequential effect on safety because the potential 
hazards were so remote.
    In General Motors Corp., General Motors' high beam telltale in 
its 1990 Oldsmobile Toronado was not in compliance with NHTSA 
standards because when the cigar lighter was in use, the telltale 
dimmed or extinguished. The Agency granted GM's petition for 
inconsequential noncompliance because problems would occur only 
under a particular set of circumstances:
    The noncompliance could only manifest itself during upper beam 
use when the cigar lighter was also in use. But only a comparatively 
small portion of driving occurs at night, the time of headlamp 
activation. Because of State and local laws prohibiting upper beam 
use, only a very small percentage of nighttime driving is performed 
using the upper beam. The 25-second use of the cigar lighter would 
comprise only a limited amount of the time the upper beam is in use. 
The safety hazard most likely to be created by the noncompliance is 
glare in the eyes of oncoming driver on a two or three-lane road, 
but, if discomforted, the instinctive reaction of that driver would 
be to flash the upper beams, alerting the noncompliant vehicle to 
lower that vehicle's upper beams. The probability of all these facts 
occurring simultaneously is low. (Emphasis added.) Id. at 33,324.
    The ``probability of all these facts occurring simultaneously'' 
in this Century case is exceedingly low. When tested as a composite, 
Century's Model 4594 and 4595 infant restraints fall within NHTSA's 
burning rate. The components of the infant restraint are securely 
sewn together. In order for Century's infant restraint to pose a 
hazard to a passenger, (1) the seat would have to have somehow torn 
apart around the numerous sewn seams; (2) the fabric would have to 
be frayed in such a way that the fabric is sticking up away from the 
fiberfill; and (3) the source of ignition would have to land on the 
exposed fabric. Again, the ``probability of all these facts 
occurring simultaneously'' is low. Coupling the need for these 
unlikely probabilities with the fact that there has never been a 
fire caused by a child car seat ignition should make this a case 
where fairness requires a granting of the Petition.
    Under the standard as enacted in 1971, Century's infant 
restraint would have been tested as a composite, and therefore, 
would be in compliance with NHTSA standards. FMVSS No. 302 was 
revised in 1975, not to address safety concerns, but simply for 
purposes of administrative ease. The fact that the requirements of 
FMVSS No. 302 are in excess of those needed to ensure the safety of 
the restraint's occupants was dramatically demonstrated by the 
results of a study performed by Patrick Kennedy, an expert retained 
by Fisher-Price. Mr. Kennedy's study revealed that typical 
children's clothing burns at a rate far in excess of the standard 
imposed by FMVSS No. 302. Therefore, an infant sitting in Century's 
infant restraint is at far greater risk from the clothing he or she 
wears than from the infant restraint itself.
    Century's infant restraints do not pose an unreasonable risk to 
the infants they hold. The question of whether Century's infant 
restraint meets the objectives of the Act could be phrased in this 
fashion: Would a reasonable parent, after being made aware of all 
the facts and circumstances surrounding this noncompliance, still be 
willing to place his or her infant in the Model 4594 or 4595 infant 
restraint? Century is satisfied that a reasonable parent would use 
their Model 4594 and 4595 restraints without any hesitation.
    Century understands how serious the flammability issue is to the 
Agency and commends the Agency for its vigilance. Century is also 
serious about the issue, and would not consider selling a product 
that would place a child at risk. Century strongly believes that if 
there is a risk in this case, it is not an unreasonable risk as 
required by the Act. As Century's tests have shown, the seat pad on 
the infant restraint as a composite burns well within the burn rate 
acceptable to the Agency. Furthermore, the seat pad is constructed 
in a way that makes tears unlikely. Because Century's infant 
restraints meet the objectives of the Act, Century's noncompliance 
is inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety. For these 
reasons, Century respectfully requests that NHTSA grant its petition 
for exemption.

    The agency has reviewed Century's petition and has determined that 
the noncompliance is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety. NHTSA 
agrees with Century that the noncompliant seat covers are unlikely to 
pose a flammability risk when they are securely sewn to the seat, which 
is the normal condition for these seats. 

[[Page 41150]]
Century supported this point by performing flammability testing under 
two conditions: first on the seat and cover as a composite, i.e., as it 
exists on a child seat with the two items sewn together; and second, by 
bunching or gathering the noncompliant seat cover and attempting to 
ignite it. In both cases the seat cover burned at a rate below the four 
inches per minute maximum set out in FMVSS No. 302.
    The agency granted a petition for inconsequential noncompliance 
submitted by PACCAR (57 FR 45868) in which the circumstances were 
similar to those in this petition. PACCAR manufactures mattresses for 
the sleeper areas of certain truck tractors. A small portion of the 
material used in the construction of the mattresses, and subject to the 
requirements of FMVSS No. 302, failed the burn rate test. The agency 
determined that ignition of the noncompliant material was unlikely and, 
due to the small volume of the material, would not pose the threat of a 
serious fire if ignited. As a result of this analysis, the PACCAR 
petition was granted.
    The circumstances here are similar to those in which the agency 
granted a petition for inconsequentiality by General Motors in 
connection with a noncompliance of the upper beam indicator. 56 FR 
33323 (1991). The indicator was noncompliant only when the cigarette 
lighter was operating. The agency determined that the possibility of 
the upper beams being operated simultaneously with the cigarette 
lighter posed a very limited safety hazard. Similarly, it is unlikely 
that sections of the noncompliant cover fabric large enough to cause 
serious burn injuries would be separated from the cushion lining. Even 
if a large section of the fabric was torn away, NHTSA considers the 
possibility that this material would be exposed to a potential ignition 
source to be extremely remote.
    Although it is possible that fuel-fed fires from vehicle crashes 
could consume a vehicle's interior, the flammability of the seat cover 
materials would be irrelevant to the severity of such a fire and to the 
potential injuries incurred by a child.
    NHTSA's evaluation of the consequentiality of this noncompliance 
should not be interpreted as a diminution of the agency's concern for 
child safety. Rather, it represents NHTSA's assessment of the gravity 
of the noncompliance based upon the likely consequences. Ultimately, 
the issue is whether this particular noncompliance is likely to 
increase the risk to safety. Although empirical results are not 
determinative, the absence of any reports of fires originating in these 
child restraints supports the agency's decision that the noncompliance 
does not have a consequential effect on safety.
    For the above reasons, the agency has determined that Century has 
met its burden of persuasion that the noncompliance at issue here is 
inconsequential to motor vehicle safety and its petition is granted. 
Accordingly, Century is hereby exempted from the notification and 
remedy provisions of 49 U.S.C. 30118 and 30120.

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30118(d), 30120(h); delegations of 
authority at 49 CFR 1.50 and 501.8.

    Issued on: August 8, 1995.
 Barry Felrice,
Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.
[FR Doc. 95-19897 Filed 8-10-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P