Opinion ID: 2529268
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 13

Heading: Compliance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards

Text: ¶ 57 The NHTSA is the federal agency responsible for implementing federal highway safety laws. The NHTSA specifically promulgates the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards required for fuel system integrity. Ford presented evidence that at the time of manufacture, the 1993 Lincoln Town Car satisfied the applicable version of Safety Standard 301, which required 1993 model-year vehicles to withstand, with minimal fuel leakage, a rear impact at 30 miles per hour from a nondeformable, 4,000-pound barrier. Ford also introduced evidence of its own internal higher fuel integrity standards which involved car-to-car crash testing at 50 miles per hour from three different angles. ¶ 58 According to Ford's experts, these standards were more stringent than Safety Standard 301, and more rigorous than most standards used by any other vehicle manufacturers at the time. In 2000, the NHTSA rejected a proposal from some advocacy groups that the NHTSA regulate the location of fuel tanks, requiring them to be forward of the axle. The NHTSA explained that such a requirement is unnecessary and would be design restrictive, noting that the structural and component design is a more critical factor than fuel tank location in maintaining fuel system integrity. ¶ 59 Ford additionally sought to introduce evidence that in 2004, the NHTSA adopted a more stringent version of Safety Standard 301, requiring it to withstand a 50-mile-per-hour crash test, and that the 1993 Lincoln Town Car satisfied the new standard promulgated more than a decade after the car was manufactured. The circuit court excluded this evidence.