[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 24 (Tuesday, February 6, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5494-5495]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-1843]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA 2006-26656; Notice 2]


Continental Tire North America, Grant of Petition for Decision of 
Inconsequential Noncompliance

    Continental Tire North America (Continental) has determined that 
certain tires it produced in 2006 do not comply with S5.5(f) of 49 CFR 
571.139, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 139, ``New 
pneumatic radial tires for light vehicles.'' Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 
30118(d) and 30120(h), Continental 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 December 26, 2006, in the 
Federal Register (71 FR 77436). NHTSA received no comments.
    Affected are a total of approximately 1,369 model 225/70R16 103S 
Continental and General replacement tires manufactured during October 
2006. S5.5(f) of FMVSS No. 139 requires the actual number of plies in 
the tread area to be molded on both sidewalls of each tire. The 
noncompliant tires are marked on the sidewall ``TREAD 5 PLIES 2 STEEL + 
2 POLYESTER + 1 NYLON'' whereas the correct marking should be ``TREAD 4 
PLIES 2 STEEL + 2 POLYESTER.'' Continental has corrected the problem 
that caused these errors so that they will not be repeated in future 
production.
    Continental Tire believes that the noncompliance is inconsequential 
to motor vehicle safety and that no corrective action is warranted. 
Continental Tire states,

    All other sidewall identification markings and safety 
information are correct. This noncompliant sidewall marking does not 
affect the safety, performance and durability of the tire; the tires 
were built as designed.

    The agency agrees with Continental that the noncompliance is 
inconsequential to motor vehicle safety. The agency believes that the 
true measure of inconsequentiality to motor vehicle safety in this case 
is that there is no effect of the noncompliance on the operational 
safety of vehicles on which these tires are mounted. The safety of 
people working in the tire retread, repair, and recycling industries 
must also be considered.
    Although tire construction affects the strength and durability, 
neither the

[[Page 5495]]

agency nor the tire industry provides information relating tire 
strength and durability to the number of plies and types of ply cord 
material in the tread and sidewall. Therefore, tire dealers and 
customers should consider the tire construction information along with 
other information such as the load capacity, maximum inflation 
pressure, and tread wear, temperature, and traction ratings, to assess 
performance capabilities of various tires. In the agency's judgment, 
the incorrect labeling of the tire construction information will have 
an inconsequential effect on motor vehicle safety because most 
consumers do not base tire purchases or vehicle operation parameters on 
the number of plies in a tire.
    The agency believes the noncompliance will have no measurable 
effect on the safety of the tire retread, repair, and recycling 
industries. The use of steel cord construction in the sidewall and 
tread is the primary safety concern of these industries. In this case, 
since the tire sidewalls are marked correctly for the number of steel 
plies, this potential safety concern does not exist.
    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, 
Continental's 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: January 30, 2007.
Daniel C. Smith,
Associate Administrator for Enforcement.
[FR Doc. E7-1843 Filed 2-5-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P