In a final rule to be published July 7, 2008, NHTSA will amend FMVSS 118 – Power-Operated Window, Partition, and Roof Panel Systems and respond to two petitions for reconsideration of the April 2006 final rule that established a new requirement that power window switches have a “pull-to-close” design.
With the forthcoming amendment, NHTSA is amending paragraph S2, Application, of FMVSS 118 to specify that vehicles subject to the requirements of the standard do not need to comply with the pull-to-close switch operability requirement until October 1, 2010. This amendment provides manufacturers with an additional two years of lead time. Vehicle manufacturers must, however, comply with all other requirements of the September 2004 and April 2006 final rules, including the inadvertent actuation performance test (“the ball test”), by the original compliance date of October 1, 2008.
NHTSA is separately denying two requests submitted by the Alliance and DaimlerChrysler. One request had sought to exclude power window switches from the “pull-to-close” design requirement if the power window systems were equipped with an automatic reversal feature. A second request had sought an exclusion from the pull-to-close requirement for switches mounted in overhead locations and switches that operate vent-type power windows.
