[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 136 (Monday, July 18, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41255-41256]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-14034]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2005-21270; Notice 2]


Mercedes-Benz USA LLC, Grant of Petition for Decision of 
Inconsequential Noncompliance

    Mercedes-Benz USA LLC (Mercedes) has determined that the designated 
seating capacity placards for certain vehicles that it produced in 2004 
do not comply with S4.3(b) of 49 CFR 571.110, Federal Motor Vehicle 
Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 110, ``Tire selection and rims.'' Pursuant 
to 49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 30120(h), Mercedes has petitioned for a 
determination that this noncompliance is inconsequential to motor 
vehicle safety and has filed an appropriate report pursuant to 49 CFR 
part 573, ``Defect and Noncompliance Reports.'' Notice of receipt of a 
petition was published, with a 30-day comment period, on June 2, 2005 
in the Federal Register (70 FR 32398). NHTSA received no comments.
    Affected are a total of approximately 1,576 SLK class vehicles 
produced between March 24, 2004 and December 15, 2004. S4.3(b) of FMVSS 
No. 110 requires that a ``placard, permanently affixed to the glove 
compartment door or an equally accessible location, shall display the * 
* * [d]esignated seating capacity * * *.'' The noncompliant vehicles 
have placards stating that the seating capacity is four, when in fact 
the seating capacity is two.
    Mercedes believes that the noncompliance is inconsequential to 
motor vehicle safety and that no corrective action is warranted. 
Mercedes states:

* * * most, if not all, consumers will look at the number of seats 
in the vehicle and the number of safety belts to determine its 
capacity, rather than looking at the tire information placard. 
Because the SLK Roadster is a two-seater vehicle with no rear seat, 
it is immediately obvious that the seating capacity is two and not 
four, and that it is not possible to seat four occupants in the 
vehicle.

    Mercedes further states:

Because it is impossible for the SLK to hold four occupants, the 
seating capacity labeling error has no impact on the vehicle 
capacity weight, recommended cold tire inflation

[[Page 41256]]

pressure and recommended size designation information. All of this 
information is correct on the tire information placard. Moreover, 
the purpose of providing seating capacity information is to prevent 
vehicle overloading. Because the SLK holds only two occupants, it is 
not possible to overload the vehicle due to reliance on the tire 
information placard.

    NHTSA agrees with Mercedes that the noncompliance is 
inconsequential to motor vehicle safety. As Mercedes states, because 
the vehicles are two-seaters with no rear seat, it is obvious that the 
seating capacity is two and not four. Therefore it is impossible to 
overload the vehicles by relying on the incorrect designated seating 
capacity information. As Mercedes further points out, the other 
information on the tire information placard is correct. Mercedes has 
corrected the problem.
    In consideration of the foregoing, NHTSA has decided that the 
petitioner has met its burden of persuasion that the noncompliance 
described is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety. Accordingly, 
Mercedes' petition is granted and the petitioner is exempted from the 
obligation of providing notification of, and a remedy for, the 
noncompliance.

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

    Issued on: June 8, 2005.
Ronald L. Medford,
Senior Associate Administrator for Vehicle Safety.
[FR Doc. 05-14034 Filed 7-15-05; 8:45 am]
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