[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 152 (Tuesday, August 8, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Page 45106]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-12878]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2006-25525; Notice 1]


Fulmer Helmets, Inc., Receipt of Petition for Decision of 
Inconsequential Noncompliance

    Fulmer Helmets, Inc. (Fulmer) has determined that certain helmets 
it produced in 2001 through 2006 do not comply with S5.2 of 49 CFR 
571.218, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 218, 
``Motorcycle Helmets.'' Fulmer has filed an appropriate report pursuant 
to 49 CFR part 573, ``Defect and Noncompliance Reports.''
    Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 30120(h), Fulmer has petitioned 
for an exemption from the notification and remedy requirements of 49 
U.S.C. Chapter 301 on the basis that this noncompliance is 
inconsequential to motor vehicle safety.
    This notice of receipt of Fulmer's petition is published under 49 
U.S.C. 30118 and 30120 and does not represent any agency decision or 
other exercise of judgment concerning the merits of the petition.
    Affected are a total of approximately 32,052 helmets which Fulmer 
certified as complying with FMVSS No. 218. These consist of 
approximately 26,762 Modular Motorcycle Helmets AF-M produced between 
January 2002 and April 2006, and approximately 5,290 Modular Snowmobile 
Helmets SN-M produced between November 2001 and November 2005. S5.2 of 
FMVSS No. 218, penetration, requires that ``when a penetration test is 
conducted in accordance with S7.2, the striker shall not contact the 
surface of the test headform.'' When this test was conducted on the 
subject helmets, the striker contacted the surface of the test 
headform. Fulmer has corrected the problem that caused these errors so 
that they will not be repeated in future production.
    Fulmer believes that the noncompliance is inconsequential to motor 
vehicle safety and that no corrective action is warranted. Fulmer 
states that it asked Harry Hurt, ``a leading expert in helmet testing 
and motorcycle accident research * * * [whose] experience is more than 
50 years,'' to review the test results. Fulmer further states,

[Harry Hurt's] opinion is that the noncompliance on the penetration 
test is inconsequential because the helmets performed exceptionally 
well on all impact attenuation tests. In his experience, there has 
never been any correlation between the penetration test and accident 
performance, and damage like the penetration test is never seen in 
crash involved motorcycle helmets.

Mr. Hurt's full statement is available in the docket.

    Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and 
arguments on this petition. Comments must refer to the docket and 
notice number cited at the beginning of this notice and be submitted by 
any of the following methods. Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. 
Department of Transportation, Nassif Building, Room PL-401, 400 Seventh 
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001. Hand Delivery: Room PL-401 on 
the plaza level of the Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., 
Washington, DC. It is requested, but not required, that two copies of 
the comments be provided. The Docket Section is open on weekdays from 
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. except Federal Holidays. Comments may be submitted 
electronically by logging onto the Docket Management System Web site at 
http://dms.dot.gov. Click on ``Help'' to obtain instructions for filing 
the document electronically. Comments may be faxed to 1-202-493-2251, 
or may be submitted to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
    The petition, supporting materials, and all comments received 
before the close of business on the closing date indicated below will 
be filed and will be considered. All comments and supporting materials 
received after the closing date will also be filed and will be 
considered to the extent possible. When the petition is granted or 
denied, notice of the decision will be published in the Federal 
Register pursuant to the authority indicated below.
    Comment closing date: September 7, 2006.

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

    Issued on: August 3, 2006.
Claude H. Harris,
Director, Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance.
 [FR Doc. E6-12878 Filed 8-7-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P