[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 203 (Friday, October 19, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53283-53284]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-26463]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA 2000-8247; Notice 2]


Cooper Tire & Rubber Company; Grant of Application for Decision 
of Inconsequential Noncompliance

    Cooper Tire & Rubber Company (Cooper) has determined that 
approximately 8,824 motorcycle tires produced at the Melksham, England, 
tire manufacturing facility of Cooper-Avon Tyres Limited, do not meet 
the labeling requirements mandated by Federal Motor Vehicle Safety 
Standard (FMVSS) No. 119, ``New Pneumatic Tires for Vehicles Other than 
Passenger Cars,'' and has filed an appropriate report pursuant to 49 
CFR Part 573, ``Defect and Noncompliance Reports.'' Cooper 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.
    Notice of receipt of the application was published, with a 30-day 
comment period, on January 2, 2001, in the Federal Register (66 FR 
131). NHTSA received no comments.
    The purpose of FMVSS No. 119, according to S2, is ``to provide safe 
operational performance levels for tires used on motor vehicles other 
than passenger cars, and to place sufficient information on the tires 
to permit their proper selection and use.'' Paragraph S6.5(d) of FMVSS 
No. 119 requires that each tire be marked with the maximum load rating 
and corresponding inflation pressure, and provides the following 
example ``Max Load ______ lbs at ______ psi cold.''
    Cooper's noncompliance relates to the mislabeling of approximately 
8,824 tires. The tires are the MT90-16 71H, Load Range B, motorcycle 
tires sold to one original equipment manufacturer/customer under the 
brand names AVON MT90-16 Roadrunnner, AVON MT90-16 Gangster, and Avon 
MT90-16 Indian. These tires were produced with the incorrect maximum 
load rating on the serial side of the tire during the first through the 
twentieth production weeks of 2000. Approximately 8,124 of the tires 
involved have been accounted for in either Cooper's inventory or the 
inventory of original equipment manufacturer/customer, leaving an 
estimated 700 tires not accounted for in either inventory. The 
incorrect plate read ``MAX LOAD 345 KG AT 2.9 BAR COLD, 760 LBS AT 42 
PSI COLD.'' The correct information should have been ``MAX LOAD 770 LBS 
AT 36 PSI COLD.''
    According to Cooper, this mislabeling does not present a safety-
related defect. The tires involved are designed to carry a heavier load 
(770 lbs.) than the incorrect labeling specified (760 lbs.). 
Consequently, any misapplication of the tire would be for the user to 
carry a lighter load than the load for which the tires are designed. 
The tires produced from this mold during the aforementioned production 
periods comply with all other requirements of 49 CFR 571.119.
    Based on the agency's telephone discussions with the petitioner, 
Cooper management has extensively reviewed the processes, the causes of 
these noncompliances have been isolated, and changes in the processes 
have been instituted to prevent any future occurrences. The 
noncompliance is limited to the equipment addressed in this notice. In 
addition, Cooper stated that all of its motorcycle tires assembled 
after this noncompliance were constructed in compliance with FMVSS No. 
119 requirements.
    The agency has reviewed Cooper's petition and believes this 
labeling noncompliance is inconsequential as it relates to motor 
vehicle safety. The primary safety purpose of this label is to ensure 
that the owners can select a tire appropriate for their motorcycle. In 
this case, Cooper understated the load carrying capability of the tire 
by labeling the maximum load on the tire as 760 pounds instead of 770 
pounds. Cooper, in effect, produced a better tire than the label would 
indicate to the purchaser. Regarding the mis-marked inflation pressure, 
Cooper stated, in a telephone conversation, that the pressure was 
initially to be labeled on the tire as 36 psi, even though the tire was 
designed to accommodate a much higher inflation pressure. [Note: Per 
the Tire and Rim Association's 2000 Yearbook, page 7-09: A motorcycle 
tire of size MT-90-16, Load Range B, is 783 pounds at 36 psi. In 
addition, footnote no. 2 on that page states ``For special operating 
conditions, inflation pressure may be increased up to 40 psi maximum 
with no increase in load]. During the agency's technical discussions 
with Cooper, the tire manufacturer stated that the tires were designed 
to accommodate a higher inflation pressure than the mis-marked maximum 
inflation pressure of 42 psi. Cooper verified with the motorcycle 
manufacturer using the subject tire as a rear tire that when the tire 
is inflated to 40 psi, it could safely carry the maximum load. Cooper 
conducted a safety verification of these various inflation pressures 
with indoor test

[[Page 53284]]

wheels and production motorcycles on a closed track.
    The agency agrees with Cooper's rationale that a motorcycle 
equipped with the mis-labeled tires and loaded per the incorrect 
maximum load rating would not cause an unsafe condition, because the 
motorcycle would carry a lighter load than the load for which the tires 
are designed and be inflated to a pressure level below the tire's 
designed maximum inflation pressure.
    In consideration of the foregoing, NHTSA has decided that the 
applicant has met its burden of persuasion that the noncompliance it 
describes is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety. Accordingly, 
Cooper's application is hereby granted, and the applicant is exempted 
from the obligation of providing notification of, and a remedy for, the 
noncompliance.

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

    Issued on: October 15, 2001.
Stephen R. Kratzke,
Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.
[FR Doc. 01-26463 Filed 10-18-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P