[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 212 (Monday, November 3, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62346-62347]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-27506]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-03-15687; Notice 2]


Ford Motor Company; Grant of Application for Temporary Exemption 
From Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 103

    We are granting the application by Ford Motor Company (``Ford'') of 
Dearborn, Michigan, for a temporary exemption from Motor Vehicle Safety 
Standard (FMVSS) No. 103, Defrosting and Defogging Systems. Ford 
asserted that compliance would prevent it from selling a motor vehicle 
whose overall level of safety is at least equal to that of a non-
exempted vehicle.
    Notice of receipt of the application was published on July 22, 
2003, and an opportunity afforded for comment (68 FR 43419).

The Motor Vehicle for Which a Temporary Exemption Is Sought

    Ford is the manufacturer of the Lincoln Town Car. It plans to make 
this model available in a ``Ballistic Protection Series (BPS).'' The 
Town Car BPS will be equipped with a windshield that is 40.68 mm thick, 
as contrasted with the standard Town Car's windshield of 4.9 mm 
thickness. The company related that ``this thickness and the associated 
heat transfer properties are engineered to provide protection from 
impacts by certain rifle rounds * * *.'' Ford does not envision 
producing more than 300 Town Car BPS Series in any calendar year.

How the Town Car BPS Fails To Comply With FMVSS No. 103

    Paragraph S4.2 of FMVSS No. 103 establishes defrosting requirements 
for passenger car windshields. Ford related that ``At this time 
clearance of the windshield in the time required under FMVSS 103 S4.2 
can only be met with the usage of the washer fluid.'' It is also 
necessary to use the windshield wipers in conjunction with washer fluid 
in order to clear the windshield.\1\
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    \1\ This is permissible under S4.3(d) of FMVSS No. 103.
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Arguments Presented by Ford Demonstrating That the Town Car BPS 
Provides an Overall Level of Safety at Least Equal to a Non-Exempted 
Motor Vehicle

    To maximize the defroster performance, the special windshield of 
the BPS is equipped with an embedded electrical grid. Ford's laboratory 
tests show that the windshield can, in fact, be cleared within the time 
required by S4.2 ``by using both the defroster (including the hot air 
system and the embedded electrical grid in the windshield) and the 
windshield washer system.'' Ford conducted a test on March 19, 2003, 
and reported use of the solvent and the defroster cleared 100% of Zones 
A and C in 20 minutes. It advised that ``The information provided with 
the vehicle will advise the vehicle operator to use the combined 
approach in defrosting the windshield.'' However, Ford anticipates that 
these special purpose vehicles are more likely to be garaged than 
parked in the open, and that the need to operate the defroster system 
will be minimal.

[[Page 62347]]

Arguments Presented by Ford as to Why a Temporary Exemption Would Be in 
the Public Interest and Consistent With Objectives of Motor Vehicle 
Safety

    The windshield of the Lincoln Town Car BPS differs from those of 
armored vehicles produced by other manufacturers in that it will 
provide ``a bullet resistant environment against rifle level threats,'' 
as contrasted with ``handgun level'' threats. According to Ford, 
``Customers, including certain agencies of the U.S. Government, have 
expressed a need for vehicles with this level of protection for vehicle 
occupants.'' Ford argued that its product will enhance the safety ``for 
those individuals that are either government officials or certain other 
high profile individuals that are at a higher level of risk for 
terrorist attacks or assassination attempts.'' Orders have already been 
placed by the General Services Administration (GSA) on behalf of two 
government entities. To emphasize the minimal nature of the 
noncompliance, Ford enclosed a copy of its test report indicating 
passage of S4.2 using washer fluid, which has been placed in the 
docket.

Public Comment Received

    We received one anonymous comment which recommended that the 
petition be denied. In the commenter's view, if the petition is 
granted, the commenter should also be allowed to drive a nonconforming 
(imported) vehicle whose overall level of safety is at least equal to 
that of a nonexempted vehicle. The comment did not address the merits 
of the petition and we have not considered it relevant in our decision 
to grant Ford's request.

Our Findings in Granting Ford's Application

    Ford has requested a temporary exemption from a Federal motor 
vehicle safety standard that is intended to assist a vehicle operator 
in avoiding a crash. Therefore, it is especially important that we 
consider the possible effect on safety of such an exemption.
    Standard No. 103 is, in effect, a de-icing standard rather than a 
defrosting standard. To provide more uniform and repeatable test 
results, the SAE specifies that a coating of ice be applied to the 
windshield before the test begins. The SAE notes (Paragraph 1, SAE 
Recommended Practice J902a ``Passenger Car Windshield Defrosting 
Systems,'' March 1967) that ``The time element for ice removal, 
therefore, is longer than that required to remove frost, which is the 
prime purpose of the defroster system.'' Frost generally forms 
overnight. Considering Ford's argument that the special-purpose BPS is 
likely to be garaged rather than parked in the open, the likelihood of 
frost formation on the BPS windshield is less than that on the 
windshield of a car that is not parked overnight in a garage.
    Section 4.2 of FMVSS No. 103 requires that certain windshield areas 
be defrosted in a compliance test, as set forth in SAE Recommended 
Practice J902, ``Passenger Car Windshield Defrosting Systems,'' August 
1964, incorporated by reference. They are called the ``critical area'' 
and ``entire windshield.'' Paragraph S4.2 of Standard No. 103 defines 
``critical area'' as Area C and ``entire windshield'' as Area A. After 
20 minutes of the test, conducted with the defroster system ``on full'' 
and the blower ``on high,'' Area C must be at least 80 percent 
defrosted and, after 40 minutes, the ``entire windshield'' shall be at 
least 95 percent defrosted. Ford has not quantified the extent of its 
noncompliance using the defroster system alone. However, both Area C 
and Area A on the BPS windshield are 100% defrosted in 20 minutes with 
the assistance of the windshield washer system. The petition indicates 
that solvent was not applied for the full 20 minutes, which would raise 
the question of capacity of the washer system, but only for a limited 
period. Ford's Engineering Test Report noted that a ``Breakthrough 
occurred at 12 minutes and 15 seconds, 15 seconds after washer solvent 
was squirted.'' Although Ford did not present these test results 
specifically as a safety equivalent argument, we note that use of the 
washer system simultaneously with the defroster system not only 
resulted in compliance with the minimum performance requirements of 
Standard No. 103 but also resulted in a quicker clearance of the 
windshield than the standard requires. In short, an overall level of 
safety that may be considered at least equal to that of a nonexempted 
motor vehicle.
    Ford's public interest argument is that the level of protection 
provided by the Town Car BPS is one that is needed for the protection 
of government or high profile individuals who are potential targets for 
terrorist attacks or assassination attempts. We concur and note that 
the vehicle will afford the same protection to the driver as it does to 
the passenger. It is critical to safety that the operator of a vehicle 
under attack, which may be speeding to avoid danger, be uninjured and 
in control of the vehicle. The fact that the GSA has ordered BPS 
vehicles on behalf of two U.S. government agencies enhances the 
argument that an exemption would be in the public interest.
    In consideration of the foregoing, we hereby find that to require 
compliance with S4.2 of Standard No. 103 would prevent the applicant 
from selling a motor vehicle whose overall level of safety is at least 
equal to that of a non-exempted vehicle, and that a temporary exemption 
is in the public interest and consistent with objectives of motor 
vehicle safety. Accordingly, Ford Motor Company is hereby granted NHTSA 
Temporary Exemption No. EX 03-3 from Paragraph S4.2 of 49 CFR 571.103, 
Standard No. 103, ``Windshield Defrosting and Defogging Systems.'' The 
exemption covers only the Lincoln Town Car Ballistic Protection Series 
(BPS) and expires on September 1, 2005.

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30113; delegation of authority at 49 CFR 
1.50.

    Issued on: October 28, 2003.
Jeffrey W. Runge,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 03-27506 Filed 10-31-03; 8:45 am]
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