[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 129 (Friday, July 5, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40546-40548]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-16136]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2012-0142; Notice 1]


Nissan North America, Incorporated, Receipt of Petition for 
Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Receipt of Petition.

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SUMMARY: Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) \1\ has determined that 
certain model year (MY) 2009 through 2012 Nissan Titan trucks 
manufactured from January 31, 2008 to July 17, 2012 and MY 2012 Nissan 
NV trucks, buses or multipurpose passenger vehicles (MPVs) manufactured 
from December 20, 2010 to July 17, 2012, do not fully comply with 
paragraph S3.1.4.1 of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 
102, Transmission Shift Position Sequence, Starter Interlock, and 
Transmission Braking Effect. Nissan has filed an appropriate report 
dated July 23, 2012, pursuant to 49 CFR Part 573, Defect and 
Noncompliance Responsibility and Reports.
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    \1\ Nissan North America, Inc. is a manufacturer of motor 
vehicles and is registered under the laws of the state of Delaware.
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    Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 30120(h) (see implementing rule 
at 49 CFR Part 556), Nissan submitted a petition 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 Nissan'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.
    Vehicles Involved: Affected are approximately 45,167 MY 2009 
through 2012 Nissan Titan trucks manufactured from January 31, 2008 to 
July 17, 2012 and MY 2012 Nissan NV trucks, buses or MPVs manufactured 
from December 20, 2010 to July 17, 2012 equipped with steering column-
mounted transmission shift levers with a manual mode.
    NHTSA notes that the statutory provisions (49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 
30120(h)) that permit manufacturers to

[[Page 40547]]

file petitions for a determination of inconsequentiality allow NHTSA to 
exempt manufacturers only from the duties found in sections 30118 and 
30120, respectively, to notify owners, purchasers, and dealers of a 
defect or noncompliance and to remedy the defect or noncompliance. 
Therefore, these provisions only apply to the subject 45,167 \2\ 
vehicles that Nissan no longer controlled at the time it determined 
that the noncompliance existed.
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    \2\ Nissan's petition, which was filed under 49 CFR Part 556, 
requests an agency decision to exempt Nissan as a motor vehicle 
manufacturer from the notification and recall responsibilities of 49 
CFR Part 573 for the affected motor vehicles. However, a decision on 
this petition cannot relieve vehicle distributors and dealers of the 
prohibitions on the sale, offer for sale, introduction or delivery 
for introduction into interstate commerce of the noncompliant motor 
vehicles under their control after Nissan notified them that the 
subject noncompliance existed.
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    Rule Text: Paragraph S3.1.4.1 of FMVSS No. 102 requires in 
pertinent part:

    S3.1.4.1 Except as specified in S3.1.4.3, if the transmission 
shift position sequence includes a park position, identification of 
shift positions, including the positions in relation to each other 
and the position selected, shall be displayed in view of the driver 
whenever any of the following conditions exist:
    (a) The ignition is in a position where the transmission can be 
shifted; or
    (b) The transmission is not in park.

    Summary of Nissan's Analyses: Nissan explains that the 
noncompliance is that on the affected vehicles a unique sequence of 
actions can lead the shift position indicator to incorrectly display 
the shift position as required by paragraph S3.1.4.1 of FMVSS No. 102.
    Nissan further explains that the noncompliance occurs when the 
following sequences are accomplished:
    (1) The transmission is shifted into ``manual'' shift mode by 
pressing the ``manual'' shift mode button; and
    (2) The ignition is switched from the ``ON'' position directly into 
``ACC'' position, which shuts off the engine.
    During the time in which the ignition is in the ``ACC'' mode, the 
gear position indicator displays the last ``manual'' gear position of 
the transmission ([l]\M\ through [4]\M\) prior to the ``ACC'' mode. If 
the key is not rotated from the ``ACC'' position and the shift lever is 
moved, the last ``manual'' gear position will be displayed regardless 
of the shift lever position (the engine will not be running). Turning 
the ignition to either the ``ON'' or ``OFF'' positions will reset the 
indicator, at which point the correct position will be displayed.
    This issue only occurs when the ignition is switched from ``ON'' 
into ``ACC'' mode and the engine is off. Further, the vehicle cannot be 
restarted unless the ignition is switched out of ``ACC'' at which point 
the shift position indicator would reset and show the correct position. 
Likewise, if the ignition is turned to the ``OFF'' position to turn the 
vehicle completely off, the position indicator resets itself and will 
display the correct shift position the next time the vehicle is 
started.
    Nissan believes the noncompliance is inconsequential to motor 
vehicle safety for the following reasons:
    1. The vehicle cannot be operated in the noncompliant condition. 
The noncompliant condition only exists when the vehicle ignition is 
switched from the ``ON'' directly into the ``ACC'' mode and exists only 
for the time that the ignition remains in ``ACC'' mode. The engine is 
not running at this time. If the transmission is shifted into park 
while in ``ACC'' mode, it cannot be removed from park unless the 
ignition is switched to the ``ON'' position. If the ignition is 
switched to either the ``ON'' position (to start the vehicle), or the 
``OFF'' position (to remove the key and exit the vehicle) the shift 
indicator resets to the correct position and the vehicle is no longer 
in the noncompliant condition.
    2. The sequence of events that leads to the noncompliant condition 
is exceptionally rare. This sequence, stated in the description of the 
noncompliance, is not one that a driver should encounter in the typical 
operation of the vehicle. If a driver were to happen into this 
circumstance, the condition is so fleeting that the vehicle would 
likely be taken out of the noncompliant condition almost immediately. 
This is evidenced by the fact that some of the affected vehicles have 
been on the road for four years and Nissan has not received any 
customer complaints or warranty claims regarding the issue.
    3. The likelihood of an affected vehicle being inadvertently left 
out of park is nearly impossible in this case. When the noncompliant 
condition occurs, the shift indicator states, incorrectly, that the 
vehicle is in a ``manual'' forward gear regardless of the actual 
shifter position. Due to the geometry of the shifter, the park position 
should be apparent to the driver even without the assistance of the 
shift indicator.
    4. Furthermore, since the owner cannot remove the mechanical key 
from the ignition while the transmission is in any position except for 
park due to the transmission shift interlock, it is unlikely that a 
vehicle would be left unattended in the noncompliant condition. Given 
this, the driver will either exit the vehicle without the key or the 
driver will remain in the vehicle.
    If the driver attempts to leave the vehicle without the key, an 
audible warning (as required by FMVSS No. 114) will sound, alerting the 
driver that the key is in the ignition. This should reduce the 
possibility of the operator leaving the vehicle.
    If the driver remains in the vehicle, he or she will attempt to 
restart the vehicle. An attempt to restart will take the ignition from 
the ``ACC'' position to the ON position and the indicator will reset to 
the correct position.
    5. As NHTSA recognized in proposing FMVSS No. 102 (see 49 FR 32409-
32411, August 25, 1988,) the purpose of the display requirement for 
PRNDM information is to ``provide the driver with transmission position 
information for the vehicle conditions where such information can 
reduce the likelihood of shifting errors.'' Thus, the primary function 
of the transmission display is to inform the driver of gear selection 
and relative position of the gears while the engine is running. Except 
for the absence of the required transmission shift position during the 
one circumstance described above, which occurs when the engine is not 
running, all of the 45,167 affected vehicles otherwise comply with 
paragraph S3.1.4.1 of FMVSS No. 102.
    Nissan also stated its belief that in similar situations, NHTSA has 
granted the applications of other petitioners.
    Nissan has additionally informed NHTSA that it has corrected the 
noncompliance so that all future production vehicles will comply with 
FMVSS No. 102.
    In summation, Nissan believes that the described noncompliance of 
its vehicles is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety, and that its 
petition, to exempt from providing recall notification of noncompliance 
as required by 49 U.S.C. 30118 and remedying the recall noncompliance 
as required by 49 U.S.C. 30120 should be granted.
    Comments: 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:
    a. By mail addressed to: U.S. Department of Transportation, Docket 
Operations, M-30, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590.
    b. By hand delivery to U.S. Department of Transportation, Docket

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Operations, M-30, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590. The Docket Section is open on 
weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. except Federal holidays.
    c. Electronically: by logging onto the Federal Docket Management 
System (FDMS) Web site at http://www.regulations.gov/. Follow the 
online instructions for submitting comments. Comments may also be faxed 
to 1-202-493-2251.
    Comments must be written in the English language, and be no greater 
than 15 pages in length, although there is no limit to the length of 
necessary attachments to the comments. If comments are submitted in 
hard copy form, please ensure that two copies are provided. If you wish 
to receive confirmation that your comments were received, please 
enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard with the comments. Note that 
all comments received will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided.
    Documents submitted to a docket may be viewed by anyone at the 
address and times given above. The documents may also be viewed on the 
Internet at http://www.regulations.gov by following the online 
instructions for accessing the dockets. DOT's complete Privacy Act 
Statement is available for review in the Federal Register published on 
April 11, 2000, (65 FR 19477-78).
    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: August 5, 2013.

    Authority:  49 U.S.C. 30118, 30120: delegations of authority at 
49 CFR 1.95 and 501.8.

    Issued on: June 25, 2013.
Claude H. Harris,
Director, Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2013-16136 Filed 7-3-13; 8:45 am]
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