[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 43 (Monday, March 6, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 12192-12194]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-5416]



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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 571

[Docket No. 95-009, Notice 01]


Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Child Restraint Systems

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces that NHTSA will be holding a public 
meeting regarding the misuse of child restraint systems (safety seats). 
NHTSA seeks comments on actions that the agency, industry and public 
can do to improve the proper installation and use of child safety 
seats.

DATES: Public meeting: A public meeting to hear views and comments will 
be held in Indianapolis, Indiana on April 2, 1995, from 1 p.m. to 4 
p.m.
    Those wishing to make oral presentations at the meeting should 
contact Dr. George Mouchahoir, at the address or telephone number 
listed below by March 24, 1995.
    Written comments: Written comments may be submitted to the agency 
and must be received by April 2, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Public meeting: The public meeting will be held at the 
following location: The Hyatt Regency Indianapolis, One South Capitol 
Avenue, Indianapolis, Indiana 46204, Telephone: (317) 632-1234/(800) 
233-1234 Toll Free Reservations.
    Written comments: All written comments must refer to the docket and 
notice number of this notice and be submitted (preferable 10 copies) to 
the Docket Section, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 
(NHTSA), Room 5109, 400 Seventh St., S.W., Washington, DC 20590. Docket 
hours are from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.

 [[Page 12193]] FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. George Mouchahoir, 
Office of Vehicle Safety Standards, National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration, 400 Seventh St., SW, Washington, DC, 20590 (telephone 
202-366-4919).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A child safety seat that is installed 
properly and used correctly provides very effective crash protection 
for a child. However, the safety benefits of a child seat can be 
reduced or negated by misuse of the seat. The agency believes in most 
cases, the misuse is unknown to the person installing or using the 
restraint.
    In September 1994, three-year-old Dana Hutchinson was killed in a 
misused child seat. The DANA Foundation, established by the child's 
family after the crash to encourage correct safety seat use, describes 
the crash:

    Dana's father had installed her child safety seat in their car 
for a short trip to Grandma's house. As always, he checked it to 
make sure it was tightly held. When her mother picked her up from 
school, Dana was securely fastened in the seat, and the installation 
was double-checked. As always, she and her two brothers were safely 
buckled in before the trip began.
    It was raining very hard, and the roads were slippery. Their car 
was in a serious collision with a pick-up truck, and Dana, her 
mother, and her two brothers were injured. A few days later, Dana 
died from severe head and neck injuries. The police report from the 
accident stated an opinion that her child safety restraint was 
improperly secured.

    The vehicle in which Dana Hutchinson was restrained required a 
supplemental buckle that was specially designed for use with child 
seats. The need for this buckle was discussed in the vehicle owner's 
manual. While Dana's parents did not read the manual, they thought they 
had done everything they were supposed to do to secure their child in 
the car seat.
    Improving the proper installation and use of child seats is a NHTSA 
priority. In recent months, NHTSA Administrator Ricardo Martinez 
appeared on national television to make the public more aware of misuse 
problems. The agency has also worked with newspapers, magazines and 
other journals across the country to alert the public that misuse is 
``foiling child safety seat's effectiveness'' (quoting headline in 
December 12, 1994 article of the Washington Post). Further, last month 
Administrator Martinez announced the formation of a ``blue ribbon 
panel'' of experts to recommend ways that safety seats can be made 
easier to install and use. Panel members include senior representatives 
of the motor vehicle, child safety seat and seat belt industries, a 
pediatric physician and several child safety seat practitioners. Mr. 
Joseph Colella, the executive director of the DANA Foundation, is also 
a member. The panel moderator is Philip Haseltine, president of the 
American Coalition for Traffic Safety. By June 1, the panel will make 
recommendations to the industries affected and the general public.
    NHTSA is having the public meeting to afford interested persons the 
opportunity to comment on child seat misuse problems. The transcript of 
the meeting will be made available to the blue ribbon panel for its 
consideration. While blue ribbon panel members may be attending the 
public meeting as observers, they will not be participating formally in 
the proceeding.
    The agency would like information about misuse problems from 
parents or other caretakers who personally had difficulty using a 
safety seat with a child. What feature of the child seat promoted the 
misuse problem? NHTSA is also interested in the observations of 
educators or safety specialists who have encountered misuse problems 
when training members of the public to use child seats correctly. How 
are safety seats being misused? What has been or could be done to 
reduce that misuse? How can parents and other caretakers be encouraged 
to read owner's manuals to learn how to use a child safety seat 
correctly? The agency seeks information from child seat and vehicle 
manufacturers on what aspects of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 
213, ``Child Restraint Systems,'' encourage or discourage proper child 
seat use. For example, child seat labeling requirements have often been 
criticized as overwhelming the consumer with long and complex warnings 
and instructions. How can these labeling requirements be improved? 
Which aspects of the labeling requirements should be retained, and 
which should be abolished, and why? How do manufacturers assess whether 
a child seat will be misused (i.e., the potential for misuse)? What 
actions have been taken by vehicle and child seat manufacturers to 
reduce consumers' misuse of child seats?
    NHTSA requests comments from all interested persons on the 
compatibility between vehicle seat and belt assemblies and child safety 
seats that promote system misuse. NHTSA is concerned that child safety 
seats and the vehicles they are used in are not always readily 
compatible, making it difficult for parents to install and use the 
safety seat to ensure that their child receives the best level of 
protection. The incompatibility arises from differences in vehicle seat 
cushion width, depth and angles; forward-mounted anchorage points, and 
vehicle belt systems with emergency locking retractors, at times create 
an improper fit or difficult installation of the safety seat. As noted 
above, the blue ribbon panel will recommend ways to make child safety 
seats and vehicles more compatible to promote convenient and correct 
usage.
    The agency has chosen the date and place of the public meeting to 
coincide with NHTSA's Lifesavers 1995 National Conference on Highway 
Safety Priorities, which will be held on April 2-5, 1995 in 
Indianapolis, Indiana. It hopes that scheduling the public meeting for 
April 2 will encourage persons participating in the Lifesavers 
conference to attend the public meeting to share their views. 
Typically, Lifesavers participants work in state highway safety 
agencies, community traffic safety programs, state or local EMS or 
injury prevention offices, and state or local law enforcement agencies. 
(For information about the Lifesavers conference, contact Ms. Shirley 
Barton, NHTSA Office of Traffic Safety Programs, at (202) 366-2687.)

Procedural Matters

    As noted at the beginning of this notice, persons wishing to speak 
at the public meeting should contact Dr. Mouchahoir by the indicated 
date. If the number of requests for oral presentations exceeds the 
available time, NHTSA will ask prospective speakers with similar views 
to combine presentations. To facilitate communication, NHTSA 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. Thus, any person 
desiring assistance of auxiliary aids should contact Ms. Barbara 
Carnes, NHTSA Office of Rulemaking, telephone (202) 366-1810, no later 
than 10 days before the meeting.
    Those speaking at the public meeting should limit their 
presentation to 10 minutes. If the presentation will include slides, 
motion pictures, or other visual aids, the presenters should bring at 
least one copy to the meeting so that NHTSA can readily include the 
material in the public record.
    The presiding officials at the meeting may ask questions of any 
speaker, and any participant may submit written questions for the 
official, at its discretion, to address to other meeting participants. 
There will be no opportunity for participants directly to question each 
other. If time permits, [[Page 12194]] persons who have not requested 
time, but would like to make a statement, will be afforded an 
opportunity to do so.
    A schedule of participants making oral presentations will be 
available at the designated meeting room. NHTSA will place a copy of 
any written statement in the docket for this notice. A verbatim 
transcript of the meeting will be prepared and also placed in the NHTSA 
docket as soon as possible after the meeting.
    Participation in the meeting is not a prerequisite for the 
submission of written comments. NHTSA invites written comments from all 
interested parties. It is requested but not required that 10 copies be 
submitted.
    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 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 indicated above will be considered. To the extent 
possible, comments filed after the closing date will also be 
considered. Comments will be available for inspection in the docket.
    NHTSA will continue to file relevant information as it becomes 
available in the docket after the closing date. It is therefore 
recommended that interested persons continue to examine the docket for 
new material.
    Those desiring to be notified upon receipt of their comments in the 
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.

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: March 1, 1995.
Barry Felrice,
Associate Administrator for Rulemaking.
[FR Doc. 95-5416 Filed 3-3-95; 8:45 am]
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