Transportation Department, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
This notice sets forth the reasons for the denial of a petition, DP25-002, submitted by Mr. Kevin Clouse to the Administrator of NHTSA (the "Agency") by a letter dated November 7, 2025, under 49 U.S.C. 30162 and 49 CFR part 552. The Petition requests that the Agency initiate a safety defect investigation into allegations that "the emergency egress controls for the mechanical door release are not readily accessible and clearly identifiable" and "as a result fail to comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Standard (FMVSS) 206 in the Model Year (MY) 2022 Tesla Model 3 (the "subject vehicles"). After conducting a technical review of (1) consumer complaints submitted by the petitioner; (2) consumer complaint information in NHTSA's databases; and (3) other relevant information in possession of the agency, NHTSA's Office of Defect Investigations (ODI) concluded that it is unlikely that additional investigation would result in finding that a defect related to motor vehicle safety exists, and the issue is best addressed through the rulemaking process. As a result, no further investigation of the issue raised by the Petition is warranted, and the agency has accordingly denied the Petition.
Document Headings Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following: the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to the agency docket number / agency internal file number the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details. Department of Transportation National Highway Traffic Safety Administration [Docket No. NHTSA-2026-1553] AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Department of Transportation. ACTION: Denial of a petition to open a defect investigation. SUMMARY: This notice sets forth the reasons for the denial of a petition, DP25-002, submitted by Mr. Kevin Clouse to the Administrator of NHTSA (the “Agency”) by a letter dated November 7, 2025, under 49 U.S.C. 30162 and 49 CFR part 552 . The Petition requests that the Agency initiate a safety defect investigation into allegations that “the emergency egress controls for the mechanical door release are not readily accessible and clearly identifiable” and “as a result fail to comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Standard (FMVSS) 206 in the Model Year (MY) 2022 Tesla Model 3 (the “subject vehicles”). After conducting a technical review of (1) consumer complaints submitted by the petitioner; (2) consumer complaint information in NHTSA's databases; and (3) other relevant information in possession of the agency, NHTSA's Office of Defect Investigations (ODI) concluded that it is unlikely that additional investigation would result in finding that a defect related to motor vehicle safety exists, and the issue is best addressed through the rulemaking process. As a result, no further investigation of the issue raised by the Petition is warranted, and the agency has accordingly denied the Petit…
Citation: 91 FR 46827
