[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 115 (Monday, June 16, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32676-32677]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-15709]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. 97-037; Notice 1]


Fleetwood Enterprises, Inc.; Receipt of Application for Decision 
of Inconsequential Noncompliance

    Fleetwood Enterprises, Inc. (Fleetwood) of Riverside, California 
has determined that front side windows of some of the motor homes it 
manufactured fail to comply with the light transmittance requirements 
of 49 CFR 571.205, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 
205, ``Glazing Materials,'' and has filed an appropriate report 
pursuant to 49 CFR Part 573, ``Defect and Noncompliance Reports.'' 
Fleetwood 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.
    This notice of receipt of an application is published under 49 
U.S.C. 30118 and 30120 and does not represent any agency decision or 
other exercise of judgment concerning the merits of the application.
    Standard No. 205, which incorporates by reference, the American 
National Standards Institute's (ANSI) ``Safety Code for Safety Glazing 
Materials for Glazing Motor Vehicles Operating on Land Highways'' Z-
26.1-1977, January 26, 1977, as supplemented by Z26.1a, July 3, 1980 
(ANS Z26.1), specifies that glazing materials used in windshields and 
in windows to the immediate right and left of the driver of trucks and 
buses shall have a luminous transmittance of not less than 70 percent 
of the light, at normal incidence, when measured in accordance with 
``Light Transmittance, Test 2'' of ANSI Z-26.1-1980. It specifies that 
all windows of an automobile shall have a luminous transmittance of not 
less than 70 percent.
    During the period of July, 1995 through January, 1997, Fleetwood

[[Page 32677]]

manufactured approximately 1,438 1996 and 1997 model year Flair brand 
motor homes having front side windows with a luminous transmittance of 
62 percent and approximately 188 Bounder brand motor homes and 733 
Discovery brand motor homes, also of model years 1996 and 1997, having 
double panes of the same glazing in the front side windows. Fleetwood 
reported a luminous transmittance of 41 percent for the dual pane 
application. Beginning with vehicle production in January, 1997, front 
side windows with a luminous transmittance of greater than 70 percent 
have been installed in all Fleetwood motor homes.
    Fleetwood supports its application for inconsequential 
noncompliance with the following:
    Fleetwood considered a Ford Motor Company inconsequentiality 
petition that references computer modeling studies and in-car 
evaluations conducted by Ford Motor Company that were used in their 
petition dated February 6, 1995 which showed a 5 point reduction in the 
percentage of light transmission, from 65 to 60 percent, resulted in a 
reduction of seeing distance of only 1 to 2 percent during night time 
driving, and little or no reduction in seeing distance during dusk and 
daytime driving. Based on these studies, the subject Flair brand motor 
home driver and passenger side windows with 62 percent light 
transmittance would be expected to result in no significant reduction 
in seeing distance during night time driving and virtually no reduction 
during dusk and daytime driving, compared to glass with a 70 percent 
transmittance. Reductions in seeing distances of 1 percent or less have 
no practical or perceivable effect on driver visibility based on 
observer's reports in vehicle evaluations by Ford of windshields with 
line-of-sight transmittance in the 60 to 65 percent range. The subject 
Bounder and Discovery brand motor home driver and passenger side 
windows with 41 percent light transmittance would be expected to result 
in no significant reduction in seeing distances during night time 
driving, and little to no reduction in seeing distance during dusk and 
daytime driving.
    Fleetwood also considered that the stated purpose of FMVSS No. 205 
to which the light transmittance requirements are directed is ``to 
ensure a necessary degree of transparency in motor vehicle windows for 
driver visibility.'' NHTSA, in its March, 1991 ``Report to Congress on 
Tinting of Motor Vehicle Windows'', concluded that the light 
transmittance of windows of the then new passenger cars and vans that 
complied with Standard No. 205 did not present an unreasonable risk of 
accident occurrence. The new passenger cars and vans that were 
considered to not present an unreasonable risk had effective line-of-
sight light transmittances through the windshields as low as 
approximately 63 percent on passenger car windshields and 55 percent on 
van windshields (as determined by a 1990 agency survey, the results of 
which were included in the Report to Congress). Fleetwood feels that 
while light transmittance and driver visibility through front side 
windows is important to the safe operation of motor homes, it is not as 
important as driver visibility through motor home windshields. 
Therefore, while the use of front side window glazing with luminous 
transmittance less than 70 percent is technically a non-compliance, we 
believe the condition presents no risk to motor vehicle safety.
    Fleetwood's opinion that this non-compliance is not safety related 
is also based upon the consideration of the great amount of visibility 
that is inherent in the driver packaging of the subject motor homes. 
Factors which contribute to this visibility are:
    1. The windshield glass is approximately 100 inches wide by 36 
inches tall.
    2. The windshield glass is installed at an incidence angle of 4 
degrees back from vertical.
    3. The involved side window glass on the Flair and Bounder brand 
motor homes is approximately 46 inches long by 31 inches tall. The 
involved side window glass on the Discovery brand motor home is 
approximately 52 inches long by 34 inches tall.
    4. The involved side window glass is flat and is installed 
perpendicular to the ground.
    5. The driver' s seat H point ranges from approximately 50 to 62 
inches from the ground.
    6. The involved windows have a slider feature which allows them to 
be positioned out of line of sight (if desired), and
    7. Side window visibility is primarily key in sharp turning 
maneuvers which are typically performed at low speeds.
    Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and 
arguments on the application of Fleetwood, described above. Comments 
should refer to the docket number and be submitted to: Docket Section, 
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Room 5109, 400 Seventh 
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590. It is requested but not required 
that six copies be submitted. All comments received before the close of 
business on the closing date indicated below will be considered. The 
application and supporting materials, and all comments received after 
the closing date will also be filed and will be considered to the 
extent possible. When the application is granted or denied, the notice 
will be published in the Federal Register pursuant to the authority 
indicated below.

    Comment closing date: (July 16, 1997).

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

    Issued on: June 10, 1997.
L. Robert Shelton,
Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.
[FR Doc. 97-15709 Filed 6-13-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P