[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 206 (Monday, October 26, 1998)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 57091-57092]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-28522]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
49 CFR Parts 571, 585, 587, and 595
[Docket No. NHTSA 98-4405, Notice 2]
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Occupant Crash Protection
AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice of public meeting.
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SUMMARY: We are issuing this document to announce that we will be
holding a public meeting on technical issues relating to our proposal
to require advanced air bags. The purposes of our public meeting are to
review and discuss our technical paper on proposed injury criteria; and
our technical paper on crash tests and other tests.
DATES: We will hold the public meeting on November 23 and 24, 1998,
from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. If you wish to participate in the meeting,
please contact Clarke Harper, at the address or telephone number listed
below, by November 12, 1998. If you plan to present a statement during
the meeting, please provide a copy of your statement to Mr. Harper by
November 16, 1998.
ADDRESSES: We will hold the public meeting in room 2230 of the Nassif
Building, 400 Seventh St., S.W., Washington, D.C. 20590.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Clarke Harper, Office of
Crashworthiness Standards, National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration, 400 Seventh St., S.W., Washington, D.C., 20590
(telephone 202-366-2264; fax 202-493-2739).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
A. Summary of Proposal for Advanced Air Bags
On September 18, 1998, we published in the Federal Register (63 FR
49958) a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to upgrade Standard No.
208, Occupant Crash Protection, to require advanced air bags. The
advanced air bags would be required in some new passenger cars and
light trucks beginning September 1, 2002, and in all new cars and light
trucks beginning September 1, 2005.
The goal of our proposal is to preserve and enhance the benefits of
air bags while minimizing the risks. We are proposing to add a new set
of requirements to prevent air bags from causing serious injuries and
to expand the existing set of requirements intended to improve the
ability of air bags to cushion and protect occupants in frontal
crashes.
Our proposals include several new performance requirements to
ensure that the advanced air bags do not pose unreasonable risks to
out-of-position occupants. To ensure that the new air bags are designed
to avoid causing serious injury to a broad array of occupants, we would
test the air bags using test dummies representing 12-month-old, 3-year-
old, and 6-year-old children and 5th percentile adult females.
We are also proposing requirements that would improve the ability
of air bags to cushion and protect a broader array of belted and
unbelted occupants, including small women. The standard's current
dynamic crash test requirements specify the use of 50th percentile
adult male dummies only. Under our proposal, we would also use 5th
percentile adult female dummies in the future. The weight and size of
these dummies are representative of not only small women, but also many
teenagers.
We are proposing to phase out the current unbelted sled test option
as requirements for advanced air bags are phased in. This would mean
that vehicles with advanced air bags would
[[Page 57092]]
be required to be certified to the unbelted barrier test at speeds up
to and including 30 mph.
Finally, we are proposing new and/or upgraded injury criteria for
all of the standard's test requirements. For example, we have developed
injury criteria and seat positioning procedures that we believe are
appropriate for small females. Among other things, we are including
neck injury criteria, since persons close to the air bag at deployment
are at greater risk of neck injury. We are also proposing to upgrade
the current chest injury criteria.
B. Technical Papers
In support of our proposal to require advanced air bags, our Office
of Research and Development prepared two technical papers. One paper is
titled ``Development of Improved Injury Criteria for the Assessment of
Advanced Automotive Restraint Systems.'' This paper documents the
proposed injury criteria for specified body regions, including both the
rationale and performance limits associated with them for all the
various size dummies included in the proposal.
The second paper is titled ``Review of Potential Test Procedures
for FMVSS No. 208.'' This paper reviews potential test procedures for
evaluating frontal crashworthiness, including full frontal fixed
barrier tests, oblique frontal fixed barrier tests, sled tests with a
generic crash pulse, frontal fixed offset deformable barrier tests,
perpendicular moving deformable barrier tests, oblique moving
deformable barrier tests, and full frontal fixed deformable barrier
tests.
Public Meeting
A. Purposes
The purposes of the meeting are to review and discuss--
our technical paper on proposed injury criteria; and
our technical paper on crash tests and other tests.
B. Procedural Matters and Agenda
We will devote the first day, November 23, to our technical paper
on proposed injury criteria and related issues. The second day,
November 24, will be devoted to our technical paper on crash tests and
other tests and related issues. If you plan to present a statement on
the second technical paper, please address the following question in
your statement: Which tests best replicate what happens in motor
vehicles during those real world crashes that can cause serious or
fatal injury?
To the extent that participants recommend alternatives to our
proposal, we request that they be as specific as possible. We
particularly request that any participants recommending an alternative
to the unbelted barrier test address the issues raised by Question 22
in the NPRM for advanced air bags (63 FR at 49982), and by the
questions in the Appendix to that NPRM at the end of section C (63 FR
at 50020).
Each day will have two sessions. Each day's morning session will
begin with a brief presentation by the agency, followed by
presentations by public participants concerning technical issues. We
will determine the time available for individual presentations based on
the number of persons who submit requests to participate by the
November 12 deadline. We encourage parties with similar points of view
to coordinate their presentations to avoid duplication.
No opportunity will be afforded the public to directly question
participants in the meetings. However, the public may submit written
questions to the presiding panel of Federal officials for the panel to
consider asking of particular participants. The presiding officials
reserve the right to ask questions of all persons making oral
presentations.
The agenda for the public meeting is set forth below:
Agenda for Public Meeting on Advanced Air Bags
Day One
I. Introduction
Agency presentation--Brief overview of NPRM and supporting
technical papers
II. Technical paper on proposed injury criteria
A. Agency presentation summarizing its paper analyzing the criteria
B. Presentation by public of prepared statements
Day Two
III. Technical paper on crash tests and other tests--Which tests best
replicate what happens in real world crashes that can cause serious or
fatal injury?
A. Agency presentation summarizing its paper analyzing the tests
B. Presentation by public of prepared statements
To facilitate communication, we will provide auxiliary aids (e.g.,
sign-language interpreter, braille materials, large print materials
and/or a magnifying device) to participants as necessary, during the
meeting. Any person desiring assistance of auxiliary aids should
contact Mr. Harper no later than 10 days before the meeting. For any
presentation that will include slides, motion pictures, or other visual
aids, the presenters should bring at least one copy to the meeting so
that we can readily include the material in the public record.
We will place a copy of any written statement in the docket for
this rulemaking. In addition, we will make a verbatim record of the
public meeting and place a copy in the docket.
C. Availability of Relevant Documents
The September 18 proposal for advanced air bags and the two
technical papers have been placed in the docket. You may either visit
the docket in Washington, DC, or by the Web.
The docket is located at Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street, S.W.,
Washington, DC.. Docket hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through
Friday. The Docket Management website is at ``http://dms.dot.gov/''.
You should search for docket number 4405.
The September 18 proposal (typewritten version) and the two
technical papers are also available on NHTSA's website. The address for
this site is ``http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/''. You should select
``Advanced Air Bags'' under ``Popular Information.''
D. Written Comments
If you wish to submit written comments on the issues discussed at
the meeting, please combine them with your written comments on our
September 18 proposal for advanced air bags. The comment closing date
for written comments on the proposal is December 17, 1998. We set forth
procedures related to the submission of written comments in our
proposal.
List of Subjects in 49 CFR Part 57l
Imports, Motor vehicle safety, Motor vehicles.
Authority: 49 U.S.C. 322, 30111, 30115, 30117 and 30166;
delegation of authority at 49 CFR 1.50.
Issued on: October 20, 1998.
L. Robert Shelton,
Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.
[FR Doc. 98-28522 Filed 10-21-98; 10:30 am]
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