[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 48 (Tuesday, March 12, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11160-11161]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-5799]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA 2001-10944; Notice 2]


Advanced Bus Industries, Grant of Application for Decision That 
Noncompliance Is Inconsequential to Motor Vehicle Safety

    Advanced Bus Industries, LLC, (ABI) of Marysville, Ohio, has 
determined that approximately 68 Mauck Special Vehicles (MSV) with tag 
axles, manufactured between May 31, 1995 and February 2, 2000, do not 
meet the requirements of paragraph S5.1 of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety 
Standard (FMVSS) No. 105, ``Hydraulic and Electric Brake Systems.'' 
Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 30120(h), ABI petitioned for a 
determination that this noncompliance is inconsequential to motor 
vehicle safety and filed an appropriate report pursuant to 49 CFR 
Section 573, ``Defect and Noncompliance Reports.''
    Notice of receipt of the application was published on November 14, 
2001, with a 30-day comment period (66 FR 57151). NHTSA received no 
comments on this application.
    ABI is the original equipment manufacturer of the MSV. ABI 
manufactures the MSV as a complete bus, which is then purchased by city 
transit organizations, or as a shell, which is purchased by up-fitters 
that customize and sell it to a first purchaser.
    The four-wheel independent suspension of the MSV is augmented by a 
tag axle with small wheels. The tag axle is manufactured by Dexter, has 
a maximum support capacity of 3,500 pounds, and is installed behind the 
MSV's two rear wheels. A supporting force of 1,500 pounds is provided 
by the tag axle via the air pressure inside the two air-filled rubber 
springs mounted between the tag axle and the MSV chassis.
    Vehicle braking is provided by the hydraulic, caliper-disc service 
brakes on the four main wheels. The two small wheels of the tag axle 
are not fitted with brakes. The lack of brakes on the two small wheels 
of the tag axle does not satisfy paragraph S5.1 of FMVSS 105, which 
states that a vehicle must have service brakes at all wheels.
    ABI argued that the noncompliance is inconsequential to motor 
vehicle safety because these vehicles exceed the current FMVSS No.105 
braking performance requirements. To support this claim ABI submitted, 
along with its petition for inconsequential non-compliance, a test 
report compiled in August 1999. The test facility that produced the 
report, Radlinski & Associates, tested a MSV to the procedures 
specified in FMVSS No. 105 and a complete Certification Test Report was 
generated. The FMVSS No. 105 Certification Test Report indicates that 
the MSV exceeded all FMVSS No.105 performance requirements.
    The agency believes that the true measure of inconsequentiality in 
this case is the effect of the noncompliance on the vehicle's ability 
to meet the stopping distance and vehicle stability performance 
requirements of FMVSS No. 105. The report of the testing conducted by 
Radlinski & Associates in August 1999 indicates that the brake system 
of the MSV complies with the fully functional and partially failed 
brake system requirements of FMVSS No. 105.
    On February 8, 2000, the National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration (NHTSA) granted ABI a temporary exemption from the 
requirement in FMVSS No. 105, paragraph S5.1, for service brakes at all 
wheels. The temporary exemption expired on January 1, 2002. Based on 
information supplied to the agency by ABI, including the report of 
brake testing according to FMVSS No. 105 procedures

[[Page 11161]]

by Radlinski & Associates, NHTSA Temporary Exemption No. 2000-1 was 
granted in order to allow the sale of mass transit vehicles that serve 
the public interest. It is our understanding that ABI no longer 
produces the MSV with the tag axles.
    In consideration of the foregoing, NHTSA has decided that the 
burden of persuasion has been met and that the noncompliance is 
inconsequential to motor vehicle safety. Accordingly, the application 
from ABI is granted and the applicant is exempted from providing the 
notification of the noncompliance that would be required by 49 U.S.C. 
30118, and from remedying the noncompliance, as would be required by 49 
U.S.C. 30120.

(Authority: 49 U.S.C. 301118, 301120; delegations of authority at 49 
CFR 1.50 and 501.8)

    Issued on: March 5, 2002.
Stephen R. Kratzke,
Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.
[FR Doc. 02-5799 Filed 3-11-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P