[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]
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