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Administrative Law Keyed to Lawson
Air Brake Systems, Inc. v. Mineta
Citation:
357 F.3d 632 (2004)Facts
Air Brake Systems, Inc. manufactures a product called the Air Brake Alert, which is designed to warn drivers of air pressure loss in commercial vehicle braking systems. Air Brake sought approval from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for its product under Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 121, which establishes performance requirements for air brake systems. NHTSA determined that Air Brake’s product did not comply with the standard because it did not provide a continuous warning to the driver when air pressure in the service reservoir system dropped below 60 psi, as required by the regulation. Instead, Air Brake’s system provided an intermittent warning. Air Brake argued that its system satisfied the regulation’s purpose of alerting drivers to dangerous air pressure levels, but NHTSA maintained that the regulation specifically required a continuous warning.
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