[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 216 (Wednesday, November 6, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57514-57515]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-28575]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration


Denial of Petition for a Defect or Noncompliance Investigation

    This notice sets forth the reasons for the denial of a petition 
submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) 
under 49 U.S.C. Sec. 30162(a)(2) (formerly section 124 of the National 
Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966, as amended).
    By letter dated May 9, 1996, Frank J. Ciano, Esq., petitioned 
NHTSA's Administrator to investigate the alleged tendency of model year 
(MY) 1984-1996 Chevrolet Corvettes suddenly to pull to the left or 
right, on an intermittent basis, when the brakes are applied and to 
issue an Order concerning the notification and remedy of an alleged 
safety-related defect or noncompliance in those vehicles. Mr. Ciano 
stated that his firm represents the owner of a MY 1990 Chevrolet 
Corvette that exhibited an alleged intermittent brake pull problem. The 
petition was based in part upon a synopsis of 166 ``similar'' 
complaints that the petitioner obtained from NHTSA's Technical 
Reference Division in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.
    Mr. Ciano originally reported the same brake pull complaint, 
alleging an initial failure date of August 1990, to NHTSA's Auto Safety 
Hotline on March 21, 1995. Neither the original complaint nor the 
petition alleged that an accident had occurred, and neither identified 
a specific vehicle subsystem or component that might have been involved 
in or caused the reported problem.
    NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) reviewed the synopses 
of 166 ``similar'' complaints that the petitioner submitted, and 
concluded that only six of those complaints may be related to the 
alleged defect that the petitioner described. ODI also searched its 
computerized data system on MY 1984-1996 Chevrolet Corvettes for 
braking system complaints that might pertain to the alleged defect, and 
also for relevant steering and suspension system complaints. The search 
revealed the identical six other complaints that may be related to the 
alleged problem, all of which were received before July 1987. None of 
these six complaints involved a MY 1990 Corvette. Four involved 1984 
models (including one which allegedly was involved in an accident); the 
other two were 1986 models. None of these six complaints identified a 
specific defect which could have caused the brake problem.
    This number of complaints is extremely small, considering the fact 
that over 280,000 Corvettes were registered over the 13 model years 
covered by the petition. Accounting for exposure time, these vehicles 
have a complaint rate of about four complaints per million registered 
vehicle years, which is very low.
    ODI's review also revealed that in June 1983, General Motors 
Corporation (GM) recalled 9,197 MY 1984 Corvettes for partially 
detached front brake calipers which could cause brake pull. Although 
this could not be confirmed because of the age of the complaints, this 
defect could have been the cause of the four complaints in ODI's 
database that involved MY 1984 Corvettes. There were no other relevant 
GM service bulletins in ODI's files.
    The petition also requested that NHTSA issue an order requiring a 
recall for noncompliance with the applicable Federal motor vehicle 
safety standard (FMVSS). That standard is FMVSS No. 105, ``Hydraulic 
brake systems,'' which includes stopping distance performance 
requirements. NHTSA's Office of

[[Page 57515]]

Vehicle Safety Compliance tested a MY 1984 Corvette some years ago, and 
it met all of the requirements of FMVSS No. 105. From the facts 
presented, there is no reason to conclude that later Corvette models 
did not meet the standard.
    Given the number of vehicles, the large number of exposure years, 
the absence of any complaints (other than the petitioner's) pertaining 
to the alleged problem in the last 9 years, and the absence of an 
identifiable defective component which could cause the alleged problem 
(other than the partially detached front brake caliper for which GM 
conducted its recall of MY 1984 Corvettes), the failure reported in the 
petition appears to be an isolated problem.
    Therefore, in view of the need to allocate and prioritize NHTSA's 
limited resources to best accomplish the agency's safety mission, and 
because there is no reasonable possibility that the requested order to 
notify and remedy an alleged defect or noncompliance in the braking 
systems of all MY 1984-1996 Corvettes would be issued at the conclusion 
of an investigation, the petition was denied.

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30162(a); delegations of authority at 49 
CFR 1.50 and 501.8.

    Issued on: October 31, 1996.
Michael B. Brownlee,
Associate Administrator For Safety Assurance.
[FR Doc. 96-28575 Filed 11-5-96; 8:45 am]
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