[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 14 (Monday, January 23, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4469-4470]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-1610]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. 95-003; Notice 1]
Solicitation of Comments for the Content of a Strategic Plan for
Research for Heavy Truck Safety
AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), DOT.
ACTION: Request for comment.
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SUMMARY: Report 103-310 of the Senate Appropriations Committee, which
accompanied H.R. 4556, Department of Transportation and Related
Agencies Appropriations Bill 1995, directs the NHTSA to develop a 5-
year strategic plan outlining the future of its Heavy Truck Safety
Research Program. The report is to be delivered to the House and Senate
Appropriations Committee before the agency's FY 1996 Appropriations
Committee hearings. The Committee directed that the report outline the
scope, nature, and direction [[Page 4470]] of a revitalized Heavy Truck
Safety Research Program, which is to be developed in consultation with
the American Trucking Association, the FHWA Office of Motor Carriers
and the Motor Vehicle Safety Research Advisory Committee. In the recent
past, the NHTSA Heavy Vehicle Research Program has followed a research
plan which was developed in response to the requirements of Sections
216 and 217 of the Motor Carrier Safety Act of 1984. Significant
portions of that work have not been completed. This new plan will
define the research work the Agency will undertake on the subject of
heavy vehicle safety, in the near and longer term. Interested parties
are invited to propose either broad areas of research, or specific
topics which warrant study and which would ultimately enhance heavy
vehicle safety.
ADDRESSES: Timely completion of this strategic plan dictates that all
comments be submitted no later than March 3, 1995 in order to be
considered as part of the preparation of the plan. The docket on this
plan will remain open until May 1, 1995, however, comments received
after March 1, 1995 may not be reflected in the final version of the
plan. All comments to this Notice should refer to the docket and notice
number indicated above, and be submitted to the following: Docket
Section, Room 5109, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 400
Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590. Docket hours are 9:30 a.m.,
to 4 p.m.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Mr. Robert M. Clarke, Heavy Vehicle Research Division, National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC
20590 (202) 366-5662.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In response to its statutory responsibility
to improve motor vehicle safety, the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration has historically conducted a vigorous program of
research to identify ways to enhancing the safety design and
performance of heavy vehicles. This program parallels and complements
the Agency's and the Federal Highway Administration efforts to address
the in-use operational safety aspects of motor carrier operations and
commercial driver competency. In late 1986 and early 1987, the Agency
published two report (Truck Occupant Protection, DOT HS 807 081, and
Heavy Truck Safety Study, DOT HS 807 109, which are available for
review at the NHTSA Technical Reference Division, Room 5110, weekdays
between the hours of 9:30 AM and 4:00 PM) in response to a
Congressional directive similar to the one now being addressed. Those
reports were developed as part of consensus-building effort with
industry and other affected and interested parties to identify priority
topics of research. Four such topics were identified: brake system
performance, handling/stability/controllability, truck occupant
protection, and truck aggressivity in truck/car collisions. Work has
since been completed on many of the sub issues that were included under
these broad topic headings.
For example, the Agency completed an extensive program of both
vehicle performance testing and in-service evaluation of the
durability/reliability/maintainability of antilock braking systems for
heavy vehicles, which culminated in the development of proposed
revisions to the braking performance requirements for heavy vehicles
contained in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) 121 and
135. Likewise, the Agency is working cooperatively with industry, under
the auspices of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), to support
research whose ultimate goal is the development of a number of
consensus Recommended Test Procedures to assess the performance of
occupant restraints, the occupant impact attenuation properties of cab
interior surfaces/steering wheels, and the structural integrity of
truck cabs. That work is nearing completion. Also, the agency
culminated a substantial portion of the work it had sponsored on
handling/stability over a 10 year period, by developing analysis and
testing procedures for assessing the rollover propensity of tractors
and trailers, as well as the rearward lateral acceleration
amplification tendencies of multiple trailer combination-unit trucks
making abrupt lane change maneuvers.
While the agency continues to believe it will be necessary to focus
some of its heavy vehicle research resources on braking, handling/
stability, and truck occupant protection, it believes there are
additional new opportunities to further reduce the number of heavy
vehicle crashes, and their consequences, through the application and
use of advanced electronics and communications technologies in
collision avoidance warning/control system applications, by integrating
human factors research findings into heavy vehicle cab system and
information display designs, and by continuing to seek practical means
of reducing truck aggressivity in car/truck collisions.
Accordingly, the agency seeks comments about the appropriateness of
content of the broad areas of research outlined above, as well as
suggestions for the content of programs addressing these subjects.
Additional ideas for specific topics of research or broad subject areas
which warrant further attention are also sought.
Issued on: January 17, 1995.
George L. Parker,
Associate Administrator for Research and Development.
[FR Doc. 95-1610 Filed 1-20-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-M
