[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 214 (Monday, November 4, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Page 56734]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-28227]



[[Page 56734]]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. 96-082; Notice 2]


General Motors Corporation; Grant of Application for Decision of 
Inconsequential Noncompliance

    This notice grants the application by General Motors Corporation 
(GM) of Warren, Michigan, to be exempted from the notification and 
remedy requirements of 49 U.S.C. 30118, and 30120 for a noncompliance 
with 49 CFR 571.108, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 
108, ``Lamps, Reflective Devices and Associated Equipment.'' The basis 
of the application is that the noncompliance is inconsequential as it 
relates to motor vehicle safety.
    Notice of receipt of the application was published on July 16, 
1996, and an opportunity afforded for comment (61 FR 37109).
    Standard No. 108 requires that turn signals be self-canceling by 
steering wheel rotation and capable of cancellation by a manually 
operated control. GM discovered that the self-canceling feature only 
works intermittently after left turns on slightly less than 2,000 1996 
Model Buick Skylarks, because of a ``defective multi-function switch.'' 
GM believes that the failure is inconsequential because it occurs 
intermittently and in one direction only, and because the Skylarks are 
equipped with a reminder chime that activates if the turn signal is 
still on after \1/2\ mile of driving.
    GM supported its application for inconsequential noncompliance with 
the following:
    ``No more than 5.5 percent of the 1,969 vehicles, or 108 vehicles, 
are predicted to have a defective switch. This prediction is based on a 
sort of 400 switches, of which 22 were determined to possibly be 
suspect. This projection may overstate the field condition since the 
sort was very conservative; many of the suspect 22 switches may 
function properly in vehicles. In addition, the projection is based on 
a sort of the latest shipments of switches before the supplier 
corrected its manufacturing problem. Since the condition was caused by 
tooling dimensions drifting out of specification, the actual rate of 
defective switches for the entire production run may well be less than 
the projected rate.
    ``The self-cancel feature will operate properly for a majority of 
turn signal activations even on vehicles with a defective switch. The 
self-canceling feature works correctly when signaling for all right 
turns, as well as for some left turns. The switch is sensitive to the 
rate of turn signal lever actuation and position of the steering wheel, 
and will not cancel only intermittently, for some left hand turns. On 
one of the vehicles discovered with this condition, it took about 20 
turn signal cycles to recreate the failure.
    ``All 1996 Skylarks have a turn signal reminder chime that will 
signal the driver if the turn signal indicator is still on after \1/2\ 
mile of driving. Therefore, even in those instances when the self-
cancel feature fails, the driver will get an additional cue that the 
turn signal is on and deactivate it.
    ``GM is not aware of any accidents, injuries, owner complaints or 
field reports associated with this condition.''
    No comments were received on the application.
    NHTSA accepts GM's analyses of the reported noncompliance and 
concur with their recommendation. The agency believes that the effects 
of this referenced noncompliance will not affect motor vehicle safety 
in a consequential position since the turn signal lamps meet all other 
requirements of Standard No. 108. Furthermore, GM has stated that the 
turn signals may be canceled through a manually-operated control and 
the 1996 Skylarks have a turn signal reminder chime that will signal 
the driver if the turn signal indicator is still on after \1/2\ mile of 
driving. Although the agency is concerned by the ``defective multi-
function switch'' reported by GM on the 1996 Model Buick Skylarks, the 
performance of the noncompliant equipment conforms to Standard No. 108 
a substantial part of the time.
    Accordingly, for the reasons expressed above, the petitioner has 
met its burden of persuasion that the noncompliance herein described is 
inconsequential to motor vehicle safety, and the agency grants GM'S 
application for exemption from notification of the noncompliance as 
required by 49 U.S.C. 30118 and from remedy as required by 49 U.S.C. 
30120. (49 U.S.C. 30118, 30120; delegations of authority at 49 CFR 1.50 
and 501.8).

    Issued on: October 29, 1996.
L. Robert Shelton,
Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards
[FR Doc. 96-28227 Filed 11-1-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P