40602 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 145 / Tuesday, July 29, 1997 / Notices

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration

Denial of Petition for a Defect

Investigation

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic

Safety Administration (NHTSA),

Department of Transportation.

ACTION: Denial of petition for a defect

investigation.

SUMMARY: This notice sets forth the

reasons for the denial of a petition

submitted to NHTSA under 49 U.S.C.

30162, requesting that the agency

commence a proceeding to determine

the existence of a defect related to motor

vehicle safety.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mr. John Hinch, Senior Engineering

Advisor, Office of Defects Investigation,

NHTSA, 400 Seventh Street, SW,

Washington, DC 20590. Telephone:

(202) 366-5195.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: By letter

dated December 23, 1996, David Pittle,

of Consumers Union of United States,

Inc. (CU), petitioned NHTSA to

investigate the alleged propensity of

model year (MY) 1995–1996 Isuzu

Trooper and 1996 Acura SLX sport

utility vehicles (subject vehicles) to roll

over during evasive maneuvering and to

issue an order concerning the

notification and remedy of an alleged

safety-related defect in those vehicles.

The petitioner alleges that the subject

vehicles have an ‘‘unreasonable risk of

rollover associated with emergency

maneuvers.’’ In support of this

allegation the petitioner argues that: (1)

Tests conducted at the petitioner’s test

facility indicate that the subject vehicles

will tip up when driven through the CU

‘‘short course,’’ which is a portion of the

testing used by CU to evaluate the

vehicle’s emergency handling rating; (2)

Tests of 3 peer vehicles, conducted at

the same time, showed that these

vehicles (Toyota 4–Runner, Nissan

Pathfinder, and Chevrolet Tahoe) had a

distinctively different performance—

they did not tip up when driven through

the ‘‘short course,’’ (3) Computer

simulation, conducted by independent

experts retained by CU, indicates that

the subject vehicles will tip up while

driving through a course like the CU

short course; and (4) Additional

computer simulation indicates that the

rollover propensity of the subject

vehicles could be reduced by increasing

the front roll stiffness, which could be

accomplished by increasing the size of

the front stabilizer bar.

CU supplemented its petition with

additional information on several

occasions. Other relevant information

was provided by Isuzu Motors America,

Inc., and American Suzuki Motor

Corporation.

NHTSA has reviewed all information

brought to its attention, conducted tests

of the subject vehicles and peer

vehicles, and reviewed crash data bases

and Office of Defects Investigation’s

consumer complaint data base. The

results of this review and analysis are

published in a petition analysis report:

‘‘Petition Analysis DP96–011: Petition

for Defect Investigation Concerning the

Rollover Propensity of MY 1995–96

Isuzu Trooper and 1996 Acura SLX

Vehicles,’’ June 1997. This report is

published in its entirety as an appendix

to this notice.

For the reasons presented in the

petition analysis report, there is no

reasonable possibility that an order

concerning the notification and remedy

of a safety-related defect in the subject

vehicles would be issued at the

conclusion of an investigation.

Therefore, in view of the need to

allocate and prioritize NHTSA’s limited

resources to best accomplish the

agency’s safety mission, the petition is

denied.

Issued on: July 24, 1997.

Kenneth N. Weinstein,

Associate Administrator for Safety

Assurance.

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30162(a); delegations

of authority at 49 CFR 1.50 and 501.8

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[FR Doc. 97–19899 Filed 7–24–97; 2:52 pm]

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