[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 173 (Tuesday, September 8, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47545-47546]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-23966]


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Department of Transportation

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. NHTSA-98-4383; Notice 1]


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

    Kolcraft Enterprises of Chicago, Illinois, has determined that 
706,068 child restraint systems fail to comply with 49 CFR 571.213, 
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 213, ``Child 
Restraint Systems,'' and has filed an appropriate report pursuant to 49 
CFR Part 573, ``Defects and Noncompliance Reports.'' Kolcraft 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 judgement concerning the merits of the petition.
    FMVSS No. 213, S5.6.1.8, requires:
    In the case of each child restraint system that can be used in a 
position so that it is facing the rear of the vehicle, the instructions 
shall provide a warning against using rear-facing restraints at seating 
positions equipped with air bags, and shall explain the reasons for, 
and consequences of not following the warning. The instructions shall 
also include a statement that owners of vehicles with front passenger 
side air bags should refer to their vehicle owner's manual for child 
restraint installation instructions.
    In adopting the above requirement that certain vehicle owners be 
directed to their owner's manual for installation instructions, the 
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) stated that such 
instructions would ``complement'' the requirement that owner's manuals 
of vehicles having a front passenger side air bag provide information 
regarding ``proper positioning of occupants, including children, at 
seating positions equipped with an air bag.'' 59 FR 7643, 7646 (Feb. 
16, 1994)(final rule). This requirement

[[Page 47546]]

appears in S4.5.1(e) of FMVSS No. 208, which was added in 1993. 58 FR 
46551, 46564 (Sep. 2, 1993)(final rule).
    The items affected by the noncompliance are the instructions for 
proper use that were provided after August 15, 1994, with certain 
models of Kolcraft's child restraints in order to comply with S5.6 of 
FMVSS No. 213. Kolcraft's instructions provided the appropriate warning 
against using rear-facing restraints at seating positions equipped with 
air bags, as well as the reason for the warning and the consequences of 
not following it. However, Kolcraft's instructions did not include a 
statement expressly referring owners of vehicles with front passenger 
side air bags to their vehicle owner's manual for child restraint 
installation instructions. The noncompliance began August 15, 1994, the 
effective date of S5.6.1.8. The following models of child restraints 
were affected by the noncompliance: Rock ``n Ride (until April 1996); 
Auto-Mate (until June 1997); Traveler 700 (until December 1995); 
Performa (until June 1997); and Secure Fit (until June 1997). The total 
number of child restraints involved is 706,068. In response to an April 
17, 1997 letter from NHTSA concerning miscellaneous compliance issues, 
Kolcraft has subsequently revised its instructions to conform to 
S5.6.1.8.
    Kolcraft supports its application for inconsequential noncompliance 
with the following:
    S4.5.1(e) of FMVSS No. 208 requires owner's manuals to provide 
information regarding ``proper positioning of occupants, including 
children, at seating positions equipped with air bags.'' (Emphasis 
supplied.) It does not, however, require a vehicle manufacturer to 
include ``child restraint installation instructions'' in general. 
Indeed, for rear-facing infant restraints such as Kolcraft's Rock ``n 
Ride, there should be no child restraint installation instructions for 
``seating positions equipped with air bags,'' because rear-facing 
restraints should not be used in air bag equipped seats. And not 
surprisingly, no owner's manual we reviewed contains installation 
instructions for rear-facing infant seats at ``seating positions 
equipped with air bags'; rather, they consistently warn against 
installation of a rear-facing restraint at an air bag equipped seating 
position. While some owner's manuals contain child restraint 
installation instructions for other (non-air bag) seating positions, 
not all owner's manuals contain such information. Thus, since the 
vehicle owner's manual will not always yield the ``child restraint 
installation'' information apparently contemplated by S5.6.1.8 of FMVSS 
No. 213, the inadvertent omission from the Kolcraft instruction sheets 
of a reference to the vehicle owner's manual is not consequential to 
motor vehicle safety.
    Moreover, although Kolcraft does not question the usefulness of a 
statement directing vehicle owners to their owner's manual for 
``complement[ary]'' (59 Fed. Reg. at 7,646) information relating to the 
positioning of occupants `` especially children `` at seat positions 
equipped with air bags, Kolcraft's inadvertent failure to include such 
a statement in its instructions is inconsequential because Kolcraft's 
instructions set forth in detail the very information about child 
restraint installation and the proper positioning of children that is 
contemplated in S5.6.1.8 and the final rule promulgating the 
regulation, and, in many cases, exceed that information. In short, the 
omission of the statement directing owners of vehicles with front 
passenger side air bags to their owner's manual would not deprive 
vehicle owners using Kolcraft child restraints from any information 
germane to the safe installation of child restraints in vehicles 
equipped with air bags.
    For example, Kolcraft's instructions include warnings not to place 
a rear-facing child restraint in a seat equipped with air bags, as well 
as a statement explaining the reason for the warning and the 
consequences of ignoring it. The instructions provide information 
regarding appropriate seating positions. The instructions also provide 
elaborate information about how to install child restraints with a 
variety of seat belts, and they illustrate a number of different seat 
belt configurations, explaining which are and which are not appropriate 
for use in installing child restraints. The instructions also explain 
why certain configurations are inappropriate and what vehicle owners 
should do if a seat belt will not hold a child restraint tightly. Thus, 
Kolcraft's instructions provide all the information concerning 
installation and positioning of children that S5.6.1.8 apparently 
contemplates would be provided in owner's manuals, and, in many 
respects, exceed the information described in S5.6.1.8. Accordingly, 
Kolcraft's inadvertent noncompliance with S5.6.1.8's requirement of a 
statement referring to the vehicle owner's manual is inconsequential as 
it relates to motor vehicle safety.
    Kolcraft does not question the usefulness or importance of 
S5.6.1.8's requirement that the instructions for child restraints 
direct owners of vehicles with front passenger side air bags to their 
vehicle owner's manual for child restraint installation instructions. 
As soon as it learned of its noncompliance with the requirement, 
Kolcraft revised its instructions to conform exactly to S5.6.1.8. 
However, because Kolcraft's noncompliant instructions provide detailed 
information relating to the installation of child restraints with a 
variety of seat belt configurations, as well as information concerning 
the proper positioning of children in vehicles equipped with air bags, 
the omission of a statement referring to the owner's manual in 
Kolcraft's instructions was inconsequential with respect to vehicle 
safety.
    Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and 
arguments on the application of Kolcraft described above. Comments 
should refer to the docket number and be submitted to: U.S. Department 
of Transportation Docket Management, Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street, 
SW, Washington, DC 20590. It is requested, but not required, that two 
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: October 8, 1998.

(49 U.S.C. 30118 and 30120; delegations of authority at 49 CFR 1.50 
and 501.8)

    Issued on: September 1, 1998.
L. Robert Shelton,
Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.
[FR Doc. 98-23966 Filed 9-4-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P