National Highway Traffic Safety Administration August 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC (MBUSA) on behalf of itself and its parent company Daimler AG (DAG), has determined that certain model year (MY) 2013 Mercedes-Benz GLK-Class (X204 platform) multipurpose passenger vehicles (MPVs), do not fully comply with paragraph S5.1.1.6 \1\ of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) No. 108, Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment. MBUSA filed an appropriate report dated October 9, 2012 pursuant to 49 CFR Part 573 Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility and Reports. MBUSA then filed a petition for exemption from the notification and remedy requirements of 49 U.S.C. 30118 on the basis that the defect is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety. We are denying this petition because we believe that the noncompliant parking lamp is not inconsequential to motor vehicles safety.

Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. (MMNA) has determined that certain model year (MY) 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport multipurpose passenger vehicles (MPV) do not fully comply with paragraph S6 of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. FMVSS 205, Glazing Materials. MMNA has filed an appropriate report dated April 3, 2014, pursuant to 49 CFR part 573, Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility and Reports.

This document initiates rulemaking that would propose to create a new Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS), FMVSS No. 150, to require vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication capability for light vehicles (passenger cars and light truck vehicles (LTVs)) and to create minimum performance requirements for V2V devices and messages. The agency believes that requiring V2V communication capability in new light vehicles would facilitate the development and introduction of a number of advanced vehicle safety applications. Some crash warning V2V applications, like Intersection Movement Assist (IMA) and Left Turn Assist (LTA), rely on V2V-based messages to obtain information to detect and then warn drivers of possible safety risks in situations where other technologies have less capability. Both of those applications address intersection crashes, which are among the most deadly crashes that U.S. drivers currently face. NHTSA believes that V2V capability will not develop absent regulation, because there would not be any immediate safety benefits for consumers who are early adopters of V2V. V2V begins to provide safety benefits only if a significant number of vehicles in the fleet are equipped with it and if there is a means to ensure secure and reliable communication between vehicles. NHTSA believes that no single manufacturer would have the incentive to build vehicles able to ``talk'' to other vehicles, if there are no other vehicles to talk toleading to likely market failure without the creation of a mandate to induce collective action. Through this ANPRM, and through the accompanying technical report, ``Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communications: Readiness of V2V Technology for Application,'' NHTSA presents the results of its initial research efforts. In this report, NHTSA has done a very preliminary estimate of the costs of V2V and the benefits for two V2V-based safety applications, IMA and LTA, for addressing intersection crashes and left-turning crashes, respectively. The report also explores technical, legal, security, and privacy issues related to the implementation of V2V. NHTSA seeks comment on the research report, and solicits additional information, data, and analysis that will aid the agency in developing an effective proposal to require new light vehicles to be V2V-capable. By mandating V2V technology in all new vehicles, but not requiring specific safety applications, it is NHTSA's belief that such capability will in turn facilitate market-driven development and introduction of a variety of safety applications, as well as mobility and environment-related applications that can potentially save drivers both time and fuel.

General Motors, LLC (GM) has determined that certain model year (MY) 2011, 2012 and 2013 Chevrolet Volt passenger cars sold with windshield sunshades as a ``Limited Personalization Option,'' do not fully comply with paragraph S4.3 of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. FMVSS 302, Flammability of Interior Materials. GM has filed an appropriate report dated August 27, 2013, pursuant to 49 CFR part 573, Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility and Reports.

General Motors, LLC (GM) has determined that certain model year 2013 Cadillac XTS passenger cars do not fully comply with paragraph S9.1.1 of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 108, Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment. GM has filed an appropriate report dated May 16, 2013, pursuant to 49 CFR part 573, Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility and Reports.

KBC America, Inc. ``KBCA'' has determined that certain motorcycle helmets manufactured by KBC Corporation for Harley-Davidson as Harley-Davidson brand helmets do not fully comply with paragraph S5.6 of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 218, Motorcycle Helmets. KBCA has filed an appropriate report dated December 12, 2013, pursuant to 49 CFR part 573, Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility and Reports.

On August 20, 2013, NHTSA published a final rule amending its Early Warning Rule (EWR) with an effective date of August 20, 2014. On July 28, 2014, NHTSA published a rule which, in part, attempted to delay the effective date of the provisions until January 1, 2015. However, the information in the DATES section of the July 28 rule did not adequately project that action. This document corrects that error.

This final rule announces NHTSA's determination that there are no new model year (MY) 2015 light duty truck lines subject to the parts-marking requirements of the Federal motor vehicle theft prevention standard because they have been determined by the agency to be high-theft or because they have a majority of interchangeable parts with those of a passenger motor vehicle line. This final rule also identifies those vehicle lines that have been granted an exemption from the parts-marking requirements because the vehicles are equipped with antitheft devices determined to meet certain statutory criteria.

This document requests comments on data about passenger motor vehicle thefts that occurred in calendar year (CY) 2012, including theft rates for existing passenger motor vehicle lines manufactured in model year (MY) 2012. The preliminary theft data indicate that the vehicle theft rate for CY/MY 2012 vehicles (1.1294 thefts per thousand vehicles) increased by 14.21 percent from the theft rate for CY/MY 2011 vehicles (0.9889) thefts per thousand vehicles). Publication of these data fulfills NHTSA's statutory obligation to periodically obtain accurate and timely theft data, and publish the information for review and comment.

This document grants in full the petition of Tesla Motors Inc's., (Tesla) petition for an exemption of the Model X vehicle line in accordance with 49 CFR Part 543, Exemption from Vehicle Theft Prevention Standard. This petition is granted because the agency has determined that the antitheft device to be placed on the line as standard equipment is likely to be as effective in reducing and deterring motor vehicle theft as compliance with the parts-marking requirements of 49 CFR Part 541, Federal Motor Vehicle Theft Prevention Standard (Theft Prevention Standard). Tesla requested confidential treatment for specific information in its petition. The agency will address Tesla's request for confidential treatment by separate letter.

This document amends the regulations on registered importers (`'RIs'') of motor vehicles not originally manufactured to comply with all applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards. The amendment requires RIs to certify to NHTSA that an imported vehicle either is not required to comply with the parts marking requirements of the Theft Prevention Standard or that the vehicle complies with those requirements as manufactured, or as modified prior to importation. The amendment restores text that was inadvertently omitted when the regulations were last revised.