[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 231 (Friday, November 29, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60746-60747]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-30514]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
[Docket No. 96-108; 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 571.115, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 
115, ``Vehicle Identification Number.'' 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 October 7, 
1996, and commenters were afforded an opportunity for comment (61 FR 
52493).
    Paragraph S4.6 of Standard No. 115 requires that the VIN for 
passenger cars, * * * be located inside the passenger compartment. It 
shall be readable, without moving any part of the vehicle, through the 
vehicle glazing under daylight lighting conditions by an observer 
having 20/20 vision (Snellen) whose eye-point is located outside the 
vehicle adjacent to the left windshield pillar. Each character in the 
VIN subject to this paragraph shall have a minimum height of 4 mm.
    GM's description of the noncompliance follows: Approximately 403 
Saturn passenger cars, Model Year 1996, were produced which fail to 
comply with requirements in FMVSS No. 115. These vehicles were built 
with VIN plates that are partially obstructed by the instrument panel 
upper trim cover. The characters on the VIN plates are 4 millimeters 
high. Based on measurements of 25 cars, Saturn estimates that up to one 
millimeter of some characters was covered on 91.9% of the cars and more 
than one millimeter was covered on only 8.1% of the cars (about 22 
cars). It is easy to read the VIN characters when up to one millimeter 
is covered.

[[Page 60747]]

    GM supported its application for inconsequential noncompliance with 
the following:
    ``The VIN is in two other easily accessible places--the 
certification label on the driver's door and the service parts label on 
the spare tire cover (the owner's manual identifies these locations). 
Derivatives of the VIN also appear on the engine and transmission. 
Because the VIN appears in several places on these cars, as well as on 
the car's title and registration, these cars can be easily identified 
for the purpose of determining whether they are subject to [recall] 
campaigns.
    ``GM uses a `posident style' font * * * in which each character has 
a unique upper and lower half. Police agencies have copies of the font 
sample and will be able to read the VIN even in the worst case 
condition (2.25 millimeters was the highest obscuration measured). Even 
without the aid of the font sample, a customer will likely be able to 
read most of the characters.
    ``Saturn has not received any field service reports or complaints 
from customers, dealers, motor vehicle registration officials, or law 
enforcement personnel. This indicates that no one is being seriously 
inconvenienced by this condition.
    ``The NHTSA has agreed that other comparable instances of non-
compliance with FMVSS 115 were inconsequential: Marina Mobili, Inc., 51 
Fed. Reg. 40367 (50 motorcycles with less than 17 characters in VIN); 
Volvo White Truck Corp., 47 Fed. Reg. 35063 (46 trucks with wrong model 
year code); General Motors Corp., 58 Fed. Reg. 32167 (630 cars with VIN 
characters smaller than 4 millimeters).
    ``[GM] this non-compliance is inconsequential to motor vehicle 
safety. A recall would impose costs on Saturn and inconvenience its 
customers without creating any safety benefit.''
    ``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 analysis of the reported noncompliance and 
concurs. The agency agrees that motor vehicle safety will not be 
compromised because of this reported noncompliance; neither will 
identification of stolen cars or cars subject to recall campaigns be 
compromised because the VIN is relatively visible, and located in two 
other easily accessible places--the certification label on the driver's 
door and the service parts label on the spare tire cover.
    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: November 25, 1996.
L. Robert Shelton,
Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.
[FR Doc. 96-30514 Filed 11-27-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P