Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Power-Operated Window, Partition, and Roof Panel Systems

This document responds to two petitions for reconsideration of a final rule amending the Federal motor vehicle safety standard for power-operated window, partition, and roof panel systems. The subject final rule, statutorily mandated and published in April 2006, established a new safety requirement for vehicle power window switches, specifically that such switches have a "pull-to-close" design. That final rule set a compliance date of October 1, 2008, which was the same as the compliance date for a rule published in September 2004 that amended the standard to include a performance test to prevent inadvertent actuation of power window switches, particularly by children. Petitions for reconsideration were submitted by the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (Alliance) and DaimlerChrysler Corporation. The petitioners requested an extension of the compliance date by two years, as well as additional amendments to the standard. This document grants the requests common to both petitions for an additional two years to comply with the pull-to-close operability requirements of the April 2006 rule. It denies petitioners' other requests. Specifically, we are denying the request that power window switches be excluded from the "pull-to-close" design requirement if the power window systems are equipped with an automatic reversal feature. We are also denying a request for exclusion from the pull-to- close requirement for switches mounted in overhead locations and switches that operate vent-type power windows.