[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 6 (Monday, January 11, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1650-1651]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-538]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. NHTSA-98-3701; Notice 2]


Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America Inc.; Grant of Application for 
Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance

    Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America (MMSA) of Cypress, California, 
has determined that some of its 1994-1998 models fail to meet the 
requirements of paragraph S4 of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 
(FMVSS) No. 118, ``Power-operated window, partition, and roof panel 
systems,'' and has filed an appropriate report pursuant to 49 CFR part 
573, ``Defects and Noncompliance Reports.'' MMSA 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.
    A notice of receipt of an application was published in the Federal 
Register (63 FR 28024) on May 21, 1998. Opportunity was afforded for 
comments until June 28, 1998. No comments were received.
    During the periods indicated below, the applicant imported and sold 
or distributed approximately 57,294 vehicles equipped with power 
sunroofs that did not meet certain requirements mandated by FMVSS No. 
118. Specifically, paragraph S4 of FMVSS No. 118 requires that power 
windows, partitions, and sunroofs be closed only under certain 
circumstances. One of those circumstances is that a power sunroof may 
be closed:

    * * * during the interval between the time the locking device 
which controls the activation of the vehicle's engine is turned off 
and the opening of either of a two-door vehicle's doors or, in the 
case of a vehicle with more than two doors, the opening of either of 
its front doors.

    In the Mitsubishi vehicles identified below, activation of the 
power sunroof stops immediately after the ignition is turned off and 
the driver's side door is open. The sunroof continues to operate, 
however, for thirty seconds after the ignition is turned off and the 
passenger front door is opened. This continued operation does not 
comply with the requirements of S4 of FMVSS No.118.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                      No. of
             Make                       Line                  Model year             affected        Dates of
                                                                                     vehicles       manufacture
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MMC..........................  Mitsubishi 3000GT....  94 to 98..................           5,855       5/94-4/98
MMC..........................  Mitsubishi Mirage      97 to 98..................           1,383       6/96-5/98
                                (Coupe and Sedan).
Mitsubishi Motor               Mitsubishi Galant....  94 to 98..................          50,056       3/93-3/98
 Manufacturing of America,
 Inc.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    NHTSA agrees with MMSA's arguments in support of its application 
for inconsequential noncompliance. That discussion was published in the 
Federal Register (63 FR 28024) on May 21,1998. Essentially, NHTSA 
agrees with MMSA that FMVSS 118 sets forth requirements for power 
operated windows, partitions, and roof panel systems (e.g., sunroofs) 
to minimize the risk of injury or death from accidental operation of 
these systems and that FMVSS 118 S4(e) was designed to reduce the 
possibility of unsupervised children operating the power windows, 
partitions or sunroofs in a vehicle. It is expected that after a 
vehicle's ignition is turned off, but prior to opening either of the 
vehicle's front doors, an adult will remain in the vehicle to supervise 
and protect children from the safety risks associated with operation of 
a power window, partition, or sunroof system. Hence, there should be no 
additional risk in allowing continued operation of the power window, 
partition or sunroof after the ignition is turned off but prior to the 
opening of either front door because of the presence of the supervising 
adult. As MMSA said, ``This premise is especially true for the driver 
side door. In most circumstances, an adult driver normally exits the 
vehicle from the driver side door. If the vehicle's driver side door 
has not been opened, the adult driver is most likely still in the 
vehicle.'' It further states that the probability of unsupervised 
children being exposed to injury from the

[[Page 1651]]

foregoing sunroof system during the 30 seconds after the ignition key 
has been turned off and the front passenger door only is opened is 
extremely remote. NHTSA agrees that this is a reasonable argument 
regarding this particular situation.
    Additionally, MMSA asserted that the situation is similar to 
another situation involving vehicles manufactured by Volkswagen of 
America, Inc. (Volkswagen). In Volkswagen's case, the company 
manufactured approximately 20,000 vehicles with power windows. The 
power windows ceased to operate immediately after the ignition was 
turned off and the driver's side door was opened. The windows continued 
to operate, however, for ten minutes after the ignition was turned off 
and the front passenger door only was opened. Volkswagen petitioned the 
agency for a determination of inconsequential noncompliance [See 60 FR 
26475 (1995)]. NHTSA granted the petition based on reasons similar to 
those offered by MMSA [See 60 FR 48197 (1995)].
    NHTSA agrees with MMSA that its situation is similar to the 
Volkswagen situation. In that situation, the vehicles also were 
passenger cars, the same vehicle type as the Mitsubishi vehicles. In 
NHTSA's opinion, the driver was unlikely to exit the vehicle by moving 
over the transmission hump/console and going through the passenger door 
in a passenger vehicle. The agency reasoned that drivers were only 
likely to exit through the driver's door. When they did so, with the 
key in the off position, the power windows would cease to operate. The 
fact that the power windows would continue to operate when only the 
passenger side door opened occurred was deemed to be inconsequential, 
because the driver would still be present and in control of the 
vehicle. On the other hand, a similar situation occurred with the 
Nissan Quest and Mercury Villager vehicles, but NHTSA decided that the 
noncompliance was consequential to safety. The significant difference 
is that the Nissan and Mercury vehicles are minivans. Drivers are more 
likely to exit through the passenger door of a minivan because of the 
added interior space and because any transmission hump/console is not 
nearly such an obstacle in a minivan.
    In view of the two arguments offered by MMSA and reviewed by NHTSA, 
the agency does not deem this specific issue to be a serious safety 
problem warranting a safety recall. Accordingly, NHTSA has decided that 
the applicant has met its burden of persuasion that the noncompliance 
it described above is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety. 
Therefore, its application is granted, and the applicant is exempted 
from providing the notification of the noncompliance that is required 
by 49 U.S.C. 30118 and from remedying the noncompliance as required by 
49 U.S.C. 30120.

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

    Issued on: January 5, 1999.
Robert Shelton,
Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.
[FR Doc. 99-538 Filed 1-8-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P