[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 180 (Monday, September 18, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48197-48198]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-23053]



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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
[Docket No. 95-39; Notice 2]


Volkswagen of America, Inc.; Grant of Application for Decision of 
Inconsequential Noncompliance

    Volkswagen of America, Inc. (VWoA) of Auburn Hills, Michigan, 
determined that some of its vehicles fail to comply with the power 
window requirements of 49 CFR 571.118, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety 
Standard (FMVSS) No. 118, ``Power-Operated Window, Partition, and Roof 
Panel Systems,'' and filed an appropriate report pursuant to 49 CFR 
Part 573, ``Defect and Noncompliance Reports.'' VWoA 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 May 17, 1995, 
and an opportunity afforded for comment (60 FR 26475).
    Paragraph S4(e) of FMVSS No. 118 states that power operated windows 
may be closed only ``during the interval between the time the locking 
device which controls the activation of the vehicle's engine is turned 
off and the opening of either of a two-door vehicle's doors or, in the 
case of a vehicle with more than two doors, the opening of its front 
doors.''
    From September 1, 1992 through March 5, 1995, VWoA manufactured 
approximately 1,200 1995 GTI vehicles and 18,795 1993-1995 Jetta III 
vehicles that do not comply with the power window requirements of FMVSS 
No. 118. The power windows in these vehicles can be operated when the 
ignition key is in the ``off'' position and the passenger side front 
door has been opened. The windows should not be able to be operated in 
this scenario.
    VWoA supported its application for inconsequential noncompliance 
with the following:
    The purpose of the requirement in S4(e) of FMVSS 118 specifying 
that the power window system not be functional if the ignition key is 
in the ``off'' position and one of the front doors has been opened, is 
to reduce the possibility of unsupervised children operating the power 
windows in the vehicle. S4(e) is based upon the assumption that before 
one of the front doors has been opened, an adult remains in the vehicle 
to supervise and protect children from the safety risks associated with 
the operation of the power window system. S4(e) further assumes that 
after one of the front vehicle doors has been opened, no adult remains 
in the vehicle and thereby creates a risk that children remaining in 
the vehicle may injure themselves by activating operational power 
windows without supervision. S4(e) seeks to eliminate that risk.
    In the case of the affected vehicles, the power windows cease to be 
operable if the driver door is opened, but remain operational for a 
period of 10 minutes after the passenger side front door has been 
opened. The rationale supporting the 10 minute period is to allow the 
driver to close any open windows even though he may already have turned 
off the ignition and the passenger may have opened the door and exited 
the vehicle. It is a convenience feature permitted by law in Europe and 
offered by Volkswagen to the market in Europe as a convenience feature.
    The power-operated roof panel systems cannot be operated after the 
ignition key has been turned off.
    VWoA believes that its European configuration inadvertently built 
into certain vehicles delivered in the United States does not affect 
their safety in a discernible way. VWoA believes that as long as the 
driver door of the vehicle has not been opened, a person of driving age 
inevitably remains in the vehicle because the exiting of the driver on 
the passenger side front door is extremely difficult and therefore 
unlikely. The affected vehicles are equipped with bucket seats and a 
center transmission console which cause the movement of the driver to 
the passenger side of the vehicle without contortion to be difficult 
and virtually impossible. Also, it makes no sense to suggest that a 
driver would exit the vehicle on the passenger side of a vehicle with 
bucket seats and [a] floor mounted transmission lever when he can 
conveniently open the driver's door for exit.
    VWoA has received no customer complaints or claims relating to the 
ability of the windows to operate after the passenger door has been 
opened.
    It should also be noted that the Volkswagen Owner's Manual contains 
an express warning against leaving children unattended in a vehicle and 
against misuse of the ignition key. The warning reads as follows: 

[[Page 48198]]


WARNING

    Do not leave children unattended in the vehicle especially with 
access to vehicle keys. Unsupervised use of the keys can result in 
starting of the engine and use of vehicle systems such as the power 
windows and power sunroof, which could result in serious personal 
injury.

    As explained, the probability of unsupervised children being 
exposed to injury from power-operated window systems during the 10 
minute interval after the ignition key has been turned off and the 
passenger side front door is opened and before the driver side front 
door is opened, is non-existent and that therefore this noncompliance 
is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety.
    VWoA requests that this [application] be granted so that an 
unnecessary and costly consumer recall action [can] be avoided. VWoA 
expects a particularly low owner response to such a recall, if it were 
undertaken, because the ability to operate the power windows after the 
front passenger side door has been opened would likely be viewed by the 
owner to offer a valuable convenience feature without any apparent 
safety disadvantage.
    No comments were received on the application.
    VWoA is correct that the purpose of requiring inoperative power 
windows is to reduce the possibility of unsupervised children operating 
them. In the noncompliant vehicles, the power window system remains 
operable only when the front passenger side door is opened, a time when 
the operator presumably remains behind the wheel. If the operator exits 
by the driver's door, the system is disabled; it is not likely that an 
operator would exit by means of the passenger door since that would 
entail passing over the cumbersome console between the two seats. Thus, 
the purpose of the requirement in this situation is still highly likely 
to be met.
    In consideration of the foregoing, the applicant has met its burden 
of persuasion that the noncompliance herein described is 
inconsequential to motor vehicle safety. Accordingly, the applicant is 
hereby exempted from the requirements of 49 U.S.C. 30118 and 30120 to 
notify and remedy a noncompliance with a Federal motor vehicle safety 
standard.

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

    Issued on: September 12, 1995.
Barry Felrice,
Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.
[FR Doc. 95-23053 Filed 9-15-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P