[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 47 (Friday, March 8, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9517-9518]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-5566]



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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. 95-77; Notice 2]


Cantab Motors, Ltd.; Grant of Application for Decision of 
Inconsequential Noncompliance

    Cantab Motors, Ltd. (Cantab) of Purcellville, Virginia, determined 
that some of its vehicles fail to comply with the automatic restraint 
system requirements of 49 CFR 571.208, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety 
Standard (FMVSS) No. 208, ``Occupant Crash Protection,'' and filed an 
appropriate report pursuant to 49 CFR Part 573, ``Defect and 
Noncompliance Reports.'' Cantab also applied to be exempted from the 
notification and remedy 

[[Page 9518]]
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 September 18, 
1995, and an opportunity afforded for comment (60 FR 48195). This 
notice grants the application.
    Paragraph S4.1.4 of FMVSS No. 208 requires that vehicles 
manufactured on or after September 1, 1989, be equipped with a 
restraint system at each front outboard designated seating position 
that meets the standard's frontal crash protection requirements by 
means that require no action by vehicle occupants. This type of system 
is referred to as an automatic restraint system.
    The agency granted an exemption for Cantab to manufacture vehicles 
without automatic restraints between May 16, 1990 and May 1, 1993. 
Cantab imported and manufactured nine vehicles without automatic 
restraint systems during this time period. However, after the exemption 
had expired, Cantab imported and manufactured nine more vehicles 
without automatic restraint systems. Of these nine vehicles, seven 
entered the U.S. during 1994 and two in 1995. These vehicles all meet 
the requirements of Standard No. 208 prior to the implementation of 
automatic restraint requirements. Cantab subsequently applied for and 
was granted a new exemption from the automatic restraint requirements 
for this type of vehicle (60 FR 47422).

    Cantab supported its application for inconsequential 
noncompliance with the following.
    [Cantab] submits that, during the entire time period subsequent 
to its initial grant of exemption in May of 1990, it has imported 
and manufactured a total of eighteen cars. Nine of these were 
imported during the period of exemption, nine subsequent to its 
lapsing and prior to [Cantab's] submission of a second application 
for exemption. Each of these eighteen cars was identically 
constructed to meet all applicable FMVSS, including those of FMVSS 
208 prior to implementation of the automatic restraint requirements. 
During this time, [Cantab] has made substantial progress in the 
development of a dual air bag system and expects to have it 
installed and operative within a year.
    [Cantab] has previously suggested to NHTSA in its [May 10, 1995] 
petition for exemption, the unusual nature of its vehicles--cars 
driven by enthusiasts for pleasure, rather than daily for business 
commuting or on long trips, by people who own two or more other 
passenger cars for such purposes.
    [Cantab] respectfully suggests that its nine noncomplying cars, 
representing a minuscule proportion of the total number of motor 
vehicles sold and operated in the U.S. during the period of 1994-
1995, operated as noted above, constructed with well-proven safety 
systems, would not materially affect overall motor vehicle safety, 
and that their operation would be in the public interest and would 
be consistent with the objectives of the National Traffic and Motor 
Vehicle Safety Act.

    No comments were received on the application.
    As noted, the agency has granted Cantab's application for temporary 
exemption, on grounds that immediate compliance would cause it 
substantial economic hardship. An additional finding was that the 
exemption would be consistent with the public interest and motor 
vehicle safety. This finding was reached in part on the limited number 
of vehicles that will be covered by the exemption during its life. 
Given the fact that there are far fewer vehicles covered by the 
application under consideration, and that the noncompliance apparently 
cannot be remedied by repair, the agency wishes to reach a decision 
that is consistent with that reached in granting the application for 
temporary exemption. Given the fact that there are nine vehicles 
involved here, and that they comply with the requirements of FMVSS No. 
208 that were once in effect, Cantab's noncompliance may be deemed 
inconsequential to safety.
    In consideration of the foregoing, it is hereby found 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: March 5, 1996.
Barry Felrice,
Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.
[FR Doc. 96-5566 Filed 3-7-96; 8:45 am]
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