[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 123 (Thursday, June 26, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34491-34492]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-16721]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. 97-033; Notice 1]
Vehicle Size and Safety; Relationship of Vehicle Weight to
Fatality and Injury Risk in Model Year 1985-93 Passenger Cars and Light
Trucks; Summary Report and Six Technical Reports
AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),
Department of Transportation.
ACTION: Request for comments on summary report and six technical
reports.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces the publication by NHTSA of a summary
report and six technical reports describing how a vehicle's size
affects the safety of its occupants and the safety of those sharing the
road. The summary report's title is Relationship of Vehicle Weight to
Fatality and Injury Risk in Model Year 1985-93 Passenger Cars and Light
Trucks.
DATES: Comments must be received no later than October 24, 1997.
ADDRESSES:
Report: Interested people may obtain copies of the reports free of
charge by sending a self-addressed mailing label to Publications
Ordering and Distribution Services (NAD-51), National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590.
[[Page 34492]]
Comments: All comments should refer to the docket and notice number
of this notice and be submitted to: Docket Section, Room 5109, Nassif
Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590. [Docket hours,
9:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.]
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Charles J. Kahane, Chief, Evaluation
Division, Plans and Policy, National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration, Room 5208, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590
(202-366-2560).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NHTSA performs statistical evaluations of
the safety impacts of regulations and other factors that substantially
influence vehicle design. In July 1991, NHTSA issued a study of the
safety effects of passenger car downsizing during 1970-82 (Effect of
Car Size on Fatality and Injury Risk). Since the mid-1980's, a major
trend in the vehicle fleet has been the increase in the number as well
as the weight of light trucks (pickup trucks, vans and sport utility
vehicles). As of model year 1993, light trucks, on the average, weigh
900 pounds more than passenger cars. NHTSA records show that, each year
since 1992, there have been more fatalities in car-light truck
collisions than there have been in car-to-car collisions. In car-light
truck collisions, 80 percent of the fatalities are occupants of the
cars. The agency's Evaluation Program Plan, 1994-98 (59 FR 30090)
called for an updated evaluation of vehicle size and safety focusing,
among other things, on the size-safety effects in light trucks and
their interaction with passenger cars. In 1996, drafts of the summary
report and the six technical reports constituting this evaluation were
peer-reviewed by a panel of experts under the auspices of the
Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. The
reports were then revised in response to the panel's recommendations.
The studies analyze the crash experience of model year 1985 through
1993 passenger cars and light trucks, and compare the rates at which
lighter and heavier vehicles were involved in crashes involving
fatalities (``fatal crash rate'') and those resulting in moderate-to-
critical injuries (``serious injury crash rate'') or in police-reported
``A'' or ``K'' injuries (``less-serious injury crash rate''). After
controlling for factors such as driver age, the studies found that the
fatal crash rate for passenger cars increased by 1.1 percent for each
100 pound decrease in passenger car weight. The serious injury crash
rate for these vehicles increased by 1.6 percent for each such
reduction, and the less-serious injury crash rate by 3.2 percent. These
findings suggest that a future 100-pound reduction in passenger car
weight, unless offset by safety improvements, could result in an
estimated 302 additional fatalities, 1,823 moderate-to-critical
injuries and 8,804 less-serious injuries per year.
The studies showed the relationship to be largely reversed in the
case of light trucks. Reductions in the weight of light trucks reduce
risks for car occupants, pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcyclists
involved in collisions with the trucks. As a result, the fatal crash
rate involving light trucks decreased by 0.3 percent for each 100-pound
decrease in light truck weight and the serious injury crash rate
decreased by 1.3 percent; however, the less-serious injury crash rate
increased by 1.5 percent. As such, a future 100-pound reduction in the
weight of light trucks would be expected to prevent 40 fatalities and
601 moderate-to-critical injuries per year, due to the decreased risk
to occupants of other vehicles or pedestrians involved in crashes with
light trucks. This more than compensates for the added risk of
fatalities or serious injuries to the occupants of the trucks. Less-
serious injuries would be expected to increase by 1,794. A future
increase in the weight of light trucks would have the opposite effect.
The summary report, titled Relationship of Vehicle Weight to
Fatality and Injury Risk in Model Year 1985-93 Passenger Cars and Light
Trucks, is publication No. DOT HS 808 569.
The titles and publication numbers of the six technical reports are
as follows:
Relationships between Vehicle Size and Fatality Risk in Model Year
1985-93 Passenger Cars and Light Trucks, Report No. DOT HS 808 570.
Effect of Vehicle Weight on Crash-Level Driver Injury Rates, Report
No. DOT HS 808 571.
Passenger Vehicle Weight and Driver Injury Severity, Report No. DOT
HS 808 572.
Patterns of Driver Age, Sex and Belt Use by Car Weight, Report No.
DOT HS 808 573.
Impacts with Yielding Fixed Objects by Vehicle Weight, Report No.
DOT HS 808 574.
The Effect of Decreases in Vehicle Weight on Injury Crash Rates,
Report No. DOT HS 808 575.
NHTSA welcomes public review of the reports and invites the
reviewers to submit comments about the data and the statistical methods
used in the reports. The agency is interested in learning of any
additional data that could be used to expand or improve the analyses,
including information on the curb weights, track widths or other
parameters for specific passenger cars or light trucks.
If a commenter wishes to submit certain information under a claim
of confidentiality, three copies of the complete submission, including
purportedly confidential business information, should be submitted to
the Chief Counsel, NHTSA, at the street address given above, and 7
copies from which the purportedly confidential information has been
deleted should be submitted to the Docket Section. A request for
confidentiality should be accompanied by a cover letter setting forth
the information specified in the agency's confidential business
information regulation (49 CFR Part 512).
All comments received before the close of business on the comment
closing date will be considered, and will be available for examination
in the docket at the above address both before and after that date. To
the extent possible, comments filed after the closing date will also be
considered. The NHTSA will continue to file relevant information as it
becomes available in the docket after the closing date, and it is
recommended that interested people continue to examine the docket for
new material.
People desiring to be notified upon receipt of their comments in
the rules docket should enclose a self-addressed, stamped postcard in
the envelope with their comments. Upon receiving the comments, the
docket supervisor will return the postcard by mail.
Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30111, 30168; delegation of authority at 49
CFR 1.50 and 501.8.
William H. Walsh,
Associate Administrator for Plans and Policy.
[FR Doc. 97-16721 Filed 6-25-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P
