[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 133 (Wednesday, July 12, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 35888-35891]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-17088]
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[[Page 35889]]
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
49 CFR Part 571
[Docket No. 94-70, Notice 2]
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 206; Door Locks and Door
Retention Components
AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, DOT.
ACTION: Notice of public meeting and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: This document announces a public meeting to seek comments on
potential upgrading of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 206,
Door Locks and Door Retention Components, to further reduce the
likelihood of occupants being ejected through side door openings as a
result of vehicle crashes.
The purpose of this public meeting is to inform all interested
parties about the current status of NHTSA's research on side door
ejections and potential countermeasures for ejection reduction, and to
solicit comments on the agency's findings. In addition, the agency
wishes to obtain information related to reduction of side door
ejections through development of improved latches and other
countermeasures that are being undertaken by domestic and foreign
vehicle manufacturers, and other organizations. The information
gathered at this meeting will assist the agency in deciding its future
course of action to solve the side door ejection problem. In addition,
the agency is also seeking information from safety groups or other
interested parties who may have conducted their own investigation on
the magnitude of the safety problem in this area and potential
solutions.
DATES: The meeting will be held on August 7, 1995 at the address given
below, starting at 9:00 a.m. Persons or organizations desiring to make
presentations at the public meeting are asked to advise NHTSA of their
intent by July 24, 1995. Copies of presentations, or an outline
thereof, should be submitted to the contact person shown below not
later than July 31, 1995. All written comments and statements on the
subjects discussed at the meeting must be received by the agency no
later than August 21, 1995 so that such comments and statements could
be included in the final transcripts of the public meeting.
ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held at the following address:
Holiday Inn-Fair Oaks Mall, 11787 Lee Jackson Memorial Highway,
Fairfax, VA 22033. Tel: (703)-352-2525 and Fax: (703)-352-4471.
Requests to make a presentation and a copy of the presentation, or
an outline thereof, should be sent to: Dr. Joseph Kanianthra, Chief,
Side and Rollover Crash Protection Division, Office of Vehicle Safety
Standards, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 400 Seventh
Street SW., Washington, DC 20590.
Written comments should refer to the docket and notice number shown
above and ten copies should be submitted to Docket Section, National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Room 5109, 400 Seventh Street
SW., Washington, DC 20590. However, submissions containing information
for which confidential treatment is requested should be submitted with
three copies to Chief Counsel, National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration, Room 5219, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC
20590. Seven additional copies from which the purportedly confidential
information has been deleted should be submitted to the Docket Section.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Dr. Joseph Kanianthra, Chief, Side and Rollover Crash Protection
Division, Office of Vehicle Safety Standards, National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration, 400 Seventh street SW., Washington, DC 20590.
Tel: (202)-366-4924, and Fax: (202)-366-4329.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
(FMVSS) No. 206, Door Locks and Door Retention Components (49 CFR
571.206), specifies performance requirements for side door locks,
latches, hinges and other support means used in vehicles to minimize
the likelihood of occupants being ejected through the side door
openings. The standard requires, among other items, each latch and
striker system and each hinge system not to disengage when a
longitudinal force of 2,500 lbs or a transverse force of 2,000 lbs is
applied. In addition, the standard requires each latch and striker
system not to disengage when a 30-g inertial loading is applied in the
longitudinal or transverse direction. To assess the effectiveness of
the standard, the agency conducted a rulemaking evaluation study ``An
Evaluation of Door Locks and Roof Crush Resistance of Passenger Cars--
Federal Motor Vehicles Safety Standards Number 206 and 216'' (DOT HS
807-489, November 1989). In the study, the fatal ejection risk in
rollovers was calculated for passenger cars manufactured during the
1963-1982 period. The study concluded that latch improvements
implemented in 1963-1968 reduced the fatal ejection risk by 15 percent
in rollover accidents.
It is well known that promoting seat belt usage is the most cost/
effective means to reduce the risk of ejection. The agency and vehicle
manufacturers have been promoting seat belt usage for many years and,
consequently, the average seat belt usage rate has increased
dramatically in recent years. However, the NASS accident data show that
the total fatal ejections per year remain relatively constant since
1978 in spite of significant increases in seat belt usage in recent
years. The agency believes that there are two counter balancing effects
which contribute to maintaining the number of ejection fatalities and
injuries relatively constant. The reduced ejection rates due to an
increase in seat belt usage is probably off-set by the exceptional high
ejection rates in small cars, light trucks and multipurpose passenger
vehicles. The increasing number of small cars on the highway since the
late 1970's and the current consumer preference of using pickups, mini-
vans and utility vehicles for personal transportation are likely to
increase the total number of fatal ejections in those vehicles. Thus,
any benefits derived from increased seat belt usage appear to have been
off-set by the increase in ejections experienced in small cars, light
trucks, and multipurpose passenger vehicles. It is estimated that in
1995 and beyond side door ejections will result in approximately 1,475
fatalities and 1,925 AIS 3+ injured survivors. Therefore, side door
ejections are and will remain a significant safety problem.
Since the issuance of FMVSS No. 206 in 1967, the agency has
investigated many crashes associated with side door openings and
ejections. In 1986, the agency initiated a pilot study ``Side Door
Latch/Hinge Assembly Evaluation'' (DOT HS 807-234, October 1986) to
investigate side door latch strength and occupant ejection problems.
Since then, the agency has continued its research efforts in this area.
To date, the agency has identified many real world latch failure
mechanisms and has developed a set of test procedures that may be
suitable for evaluating the performance of the latch and striker
systems used in most production vehicles. These test procedures
potentially address only a small portion of possible failure modes that
are occurring in real world crashes. The agency has concluded that the
side door ejection problem involves a variety of different latch
failure mechanisms, and that there is not a single representative latch
failure mode that
[[Page 35890]]
causes the door to open in real world crashes. Each latch failure mode
must be dealt with individually as a unique event. Therefore, the
agency's options are:
(1) To Upgrade FMVSS No. 206's Test Procedures: FMVSS No. 206 could
be upgraded by including additional tests under FMVSS NO. 206. Those
additional tests may include by-pass tests, full door longitudinal and
transverse load tests, GM rotation tests, inertial loading tests and
other tests. The performance levels have to be determined from the test
results of latches of those vehicles selected from the accident data
files with low and high door opening rates and latch failure rates.
However, this option has the disadvantage of multiple tests for
manufacturers' certification and the agency's enforcement efforts.
(2) To Require a Secondary Latch for All Doors: In 1994, NHTSA
contracted EASi Engineering to develop and manufacture a secondary door
latch system which is able to:
1. resist forces in different directions.
2. meet FMVSS No. 206's fully latched test requirements.
3. mitigate by-pass and linkage activation failures.
EASi Engineering, based on the above criteria, developed a
secondary latch system for a 1991 Ford Taurus. Therefore, an
alternative option is to amend FMVSS No. 206 requiring a secondary
latch mechanism for all doors. This option has the definite advantage
of limited test requirements for the latch itself. However, the
effectiveness of a secondary latch system in real world crashes is not
known at this time.
(3) To Use a modified FMVSS No. 214 test: FMVSS No. 214 specifies a
static door crush test and requires side doors of a vehicle to remain
attached in a dynamic side impact test. The static door crush test of
FMVSS No. 214 includes longitudinal, transverse, and rotational forces
experienced by the latch and striker system in a real world crash.
FMVSS No. 214 requires that the peak crush resistance of a side door
shall not be less than two times the curb weight of its vehicle or
7,000 pounds, whichever is less. In general, this peak transverse load
would induce a longitudinal load in excess of 2,500 pounds to the latch
and striker system of the door. It appears that the static door crush
test requirements possibly surpass those of FMVSS No. 206's
longitudinal tests. Therefore, the longitudinal load test of FMVSS No.
206 may be redundant. The transverse load tests of FMVSS No. 206 could
be replaced by a modified FMVSS No. 214 test. In a static door crush
test, both the latch and the hinges of a door are tested simultaneously
and the latch and striker system of the door is subjected to pulling,
shearing and twisting forces which simulate some of the real world
loading conditions. In a dynamic side impact test, some of the dynamic
effects on the side structure in crashes are also simulated. In
addition, potential structural effects of the door and pillar component
responses upon the latch strength could be duplicated in a test
procedure developed for the purpose. It appears that FMVSS No. 214
types of tests are a potential option for rulemaking actions associated
with side door ejection reduction.
A disadvantage of this option is that the door latch and striker
system is not subjected to a significant longitudinal compression which
was found in the agency's research to be a critical load component
associated with by-pass failures.
PUBLIC MEETING: All interested persons and organizations are invited to
attend the meeting. To assist interested parties to prepare for the
meeting, the agency has developed a preliminary outline, shown below,
or major topics to be discussed at the meeting. Any additional agenda
items of interest could be included by making a request to the agency
at the address given in the notice.
Preliminary Outline of Topics for Public Meeting
1. Accident Data
(A) Estimated Target Population
(B) Door Opening Rate Analysis
(C) Hard Copy Accident Data Analysis
2. Status of Door Latch research: Test Procedures Evaluated
(A) Bench Component Tests
(B) In Vehicle Component Tests
(C) Other Test Methods
3. Future Research: Potential Countermeasures
(A) Upgrade of FMVSS No. 206
(B) Secondary Latch System Development
(C) FMVSS No. 214 Types of Tests Development
(D) Other Methods
The agency intends to conduct the meeting informally, along the
lines of the public meeting on head impact protection held on November
15, 1993. The agency will summarize its activities in the three major
topic areas at the beginning of the discussion for each topic, followed
by presentations by other interested parties. Before moving to the next
major topic area, there will be an informal discussion period.
Interested persons may ask questions or provide comments during this
period. The public may submit written questions to the presiding
official to consider asking of particular participants or presenters.
The agency will provide an overhead projector, a slide projector
and a TV-VCR system. The agency requests that persons planning to use
other visual aids in their presentations must indicate to the agency
their requirements. A copy of the charts and other materials used in
the presentation must be provided to the agency for the docket at the
end of the meeting.
COMMENTS: The agency invites all interests parties to submit written
comments concerning the agenda items planned to be discussed in the
meeting. The agency notes that participation in the public meeting is
not a prerequisite for submission of written comments. Anyone desiring
submission of comments should send them to the same address as above
and must follow the same requirements outlined in section ADDRESSES.
No comment may exceed 15 pages in length (49 CFR 553.21). This
limitation is intended to encourage commenters to detail their primary
arguments in a concise fashion. Necessary attachments may be appended
to a comment without regard to the 15-page limit. All comments that are
submitted within two weeks after the date of the public meeting will be
available for public review in the docket. Those persons who desire to
be notified upon receipt of their written comments in the Docket
Section should enclose, in the envelope with their comments, a self-
addressed stamped postcard. Upon receipt, the docket supervisor will
return the postcard by mail.
Persons making oral presentations at the meeting are requested, but
not required, to submit 25 written copies of the full text of their
representation to Dr. Joseph Kanianthra no later than the day before
the meeting. Presentations are limited to 15 to 20 minutes. If time
permits, persons who have not requested presentation time, but want to
make a statement will be afforded an opportunity to do so at the end of
the meeting. Copies of all written statements, if provided by the
commenters within two weeks after the meeting, will be placed in the
docket. However, a verbatim transcript of the meeting will be prepared
by NHTSA and placed in the basket as soon as possible after the
meeting.
Authority: 49 U.S. Secs. 322, 30111; delegation of authority at
49 CFR 1.50.
[[Page 35891]]
Issued on: July 7, 1995.
Patricia Breslin,
Acting Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.
[FR Doc. 95-17088 Filed 7-11-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-58-M
