[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 53 (Monday, March 18, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 10979-10980]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-6425]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
49 CFR Part 571
[Docket No. 96-020; Notice 1]
Public Meeting--Vehicle Lamps and Reflective Devices
AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, DOT.
ACTION: Notice of public meeting.
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SUMMARY: This document announces a public meeting at which the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) will seek information
from interested persons on the safety performance of vehicle lamps and
reflective devices. NHTSA also will consider suggestions for actions,
both regulatory and non-regulatory, that the agency should take to
enhance the safety of vehicle lighting systems. This document also
invites written comments on the same subject.
DATES: Public meeting: The meeting will be held on April 17, 1996, from
8:00 am until 12:00 pm. Those wishing to make an oral presentation at
the meeting should contact Michael Pyne at the address, telephone
number, or fax number listed below by close of business on April 4,
1996.
Written comments: Written comments are due by close of business on
April 26, 1996.
ADDRESSES: Public meeting: The public meeting will be held at the
Embassy Suites Hotel, 4550 La Jolla Village Drive, San Diego, CA 92122.
Written comments: All written comments should be mailed to the
Docket Section, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Room
5109, 400 7th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590. Please refer to the
docket and notice number at the top of this notice when submitting
written comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Pyne, Office of Crash
Avoidance Standards, NHTSA, 400 7th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590.
Telephone 202-366-4931; Fax 202-366-4329.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Regulatory Reform
Calling for a new approach to the way Government interacts with the
private sector, President Clinton asked the Executive Branch agencies
to improve the regulatory process and seek non-regulatory means of
working with the public and regulated industries. Specifically, the
President requested that agencies: (1) Cut obsolete regulations; (2)
reward results; (3) meet with persons affected by and interested in its
regulations; and (4) use consensual rulemaking more frequently. This
notice responds to the third item by scheduling a meeting with the
public with regard to the safety performance of lamps and reflective
devices for cars, light trucks, vans, sport utility vehicles,
motorcycles, heavy trucks, buses, and trailers.
Issues to be Addressed
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 108, Lamps, Reflective
Devices, and Associated Equipment, sets minimum requirements for the
performance and location of original motor vehicle equipment and
replacement lamps and reflective devices including headlamps, tail
lamps, stop lamps, turn signals, and marker lamps on U.S. motor
vehicles and trailers. The purpose of the standard is to assure that
vehicle lighting and reflective systems provide adequate roadway
illumination and enhance the conspicuity of motor vehicles. NHTSA is
holding this meeting to help assess the need for improvements to the
standard and to keep abreast of new lighting developments before
proceeding with research, regulatory, or other activities for improving
the safety performance of lighting and reflective systems. NHTSA hopes
to obtain information from the public, including drivers, inventors,
lighting manufacturers, motor vehicle and trailer manufacturers,
vehicle and traffic safety organizations, consumer groups, and others.
This information, coming from the grassroots level, will help NHTSA
focus its regulatory and non-regulatory actions. The particular motor
vehicle lighting issues on which NHTSA seeks comment include the
following:
1. Lighting Harmonization
Domestic vehicle manufacturers and other parties support the
concept of harmonized vehicle lighting where a single lighting
configuration can be built which meets the safety requirements of the
U.S., Europe, Japan, and other locations. NHTSA supports this by
seeking windows of harmony when it writes regulations as well as by
participating in national and international efforts to identify and
implement such windows. Currently, the U.S. lighting standard, FMVSS
108, and standards of other nations have differences in requirements
that cause multiple versions of lamps to be manufactured for vehicles
produced for the world market. Economies of scale can result from
achieving windows of harmony where one version of lamp can comply.
2. Geometric Visibility of Lamps
NHTSA published an NPRM on October 26, 1995 (60 FR 54833),
proposing to harmonize the geometric visibility of lamps in response to
a petition. NHTSA took that opportunity to propose other harmonizing
aspects that could be implemented. Since lamp location and visibility
are important for safety, the agency would like comments on this
subject. It is a major topic of discussion in the area of lighting
harmonization.
3. Headlamp Beam Patterns
NHTSA may consider whether to amend the performance requirements of
headlamp beam patterns. There are a
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number of factors at issue including the potential for better
illumination, the need to reduce headlamp glare or the effect of
headlamp glare on other drivers, and the desire for harmonization of
U.S. headlamp requirements with those of other countries
4. Headlamp and Auxiliary Driving Lamp Glare
NHTSA receives many telephone calls and letters inquiring why
headlamps are so glaring and why they have to be so high off the
ground. Many of these complaints are about headlamps mounted on heavy
and light duty trucks. Light duty trucks are about fifty percent of the
new vehicle market share. Drivers in passenger cars, thus, are being
affected by more and more glare from higher mounted lamps. Some of the
complaints turn out to be about auxiliary lamps, and why it is
necessary for drivers to have four ``headlamps'' on all the time.
Another aspect of headlamp glare may be mis-aimed headlamps.
Consequently, NHTSA seeks comment on the problem of glare from those
vehicle lamps that are intended to illuminate the roadway, e.g.:
headlamps, fog lamps, driving lamps, and similar lamps.
5. Mandatory vs. Optional Signal Lighting
NHTSA seeks comment on whether certain types of signal lighting not
now regulated should be mandatory, e.g., stopped vehicle signals,
deceleration warning signals, front stop lamps, etc., whether they
should be accommodated by the standard (wherein their use by
manufacturers would be optional but regulated), whether they should be
ignored by the standard as at present, or whether they should be
prohibited.
6. Vehicle-Based Lighting Standard
NHTSA recently terminated action on developing a vehicle-based
roadway illumination performance standard (60 FR 58038 published
November 24, 1995). The goal of the development was to achieve a more
performance-oriented, less design-restrictive regulatory solution for
assuring safe roadway environment illumination. Because the outcome of
this action had the potential to be so different from any known means
of specifying head lighting performance, commenters to the proposal
were skeptical that any solution would be usable and that even if it
were, the perceived regulatory burdens of it would not be commensurate
with the uncertain potential benefits to public safety. Yet many
commenters saw that such a standard could offer significant freedom for
vehicle design. As a result, NHTSA attempted to further develop a tool
to address the commenters concerns, but was unable to do so.
Consequently, NHTSA terminated the project. NHTSA desires comment on
whether there is any public interest in such a vehicle-based system,
and/or whether there is the potential in the future that such a system
might be a desirable alternative to current hardware-based performance
requirements.
7. New Lighting Technology
Two years ago, NHTSA published a notice asking for comment on how
the lighting standard might adversely affect the introduction of new
technologies, e.g., neon and long arc light sources, high intensity
discharge and short arc light sources, light emitting diode light
sources, and centrally located, distributive light sources, into
vehicle lighting (59 FR 16788 published April 8, 1994). It was met with
interest, but comments generally were without substance as to how the
standard might need to be amended to accommodate the new technologies.
One rulemaking action was begun to make high intensity discharge light
sources acceptable as replaceable headlamp bulbs; this is about to be
completed. NHTSA is interested in any updated comments on this topic,
as well as any thoughts on the acceptance or desire of these and any
other new technologies by the public.
Other topics may include daytime running lights and the issue of
updating references to SAE standards in FMVSS 108. In addition, NHTSA
welcomes views and comments from groups that have special lighting-
related needs such as the elderly, and on issues including
international considerations, driver education, and other aspects of
vehicle lighting safety. NHTSA also will entertain suggestions for
activities, either regulatory or non-regulatory, and research that the
agency should undertake. Suggestions for agency action should be
accompanied by rationale for the action and the expected benefits and
other consequences. Recommendations should include, where available,
information on safety effects, consumer costs, regulated party costs,
overall cost-effectiveness, small business effects, availability of
voluntary industry standards, effects on international harmonization,
and whether the action reflects a ``common sense'' approach to solving
the problem.
Procedural Matters
The public meeting will begin at 8:00 am on April 17, 1996, and is
scheduled to conclude at 12:00 pm. It will take place in the morning at
the same location as the SAE Lighting Committee's semi-annual
conference, which is scheduled to resume in the afternoon. The location
will be the Embassy Suites Hotel, 4550 La Jolla Village Drive, San
Diego, California , 92122. Persons wishing to speak at the public
meeting should contact Michael Pyne by the indicated date, and must
include requests for audio-visual aids. Those speaking at the public
meeting should limit their presentations to 15 minutes. However,
because this meeting will be limited to a single morning session, the
speaking time may be revised to 10 minutes per speaker if all speakers
cannot be accommodated with a 15 minute speaking time. If a
presentation will include slides, motion pictures, or other visual
aids, the presenters should bring at least one copy to the meeting for
submission to NHTSA, so that NHTSA can readily include the material in
the public record.
At the meeting, NHTSA staff may ask questions of any speaker, and
any participant may submit written questions for the NHTSA staff. NHTSA
may, at its discretion, address the latter to other meeting
participants. There will be no opportunity for participants directly to
question each other. If time permits, 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. A copy of any written
statements provided to NHTSA at the meeting will be placed in the
docket relating to this notice. A verbatim transcript of the meeting
will be prepared and 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.
NHTSA will continue to file relevant information in the docket as
it becomes available after the closing date. It is therefore
recommended that interested persons continue to examine the docket for
new material.
Issued: March 12, 1996.
Barry Felrice,
Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.
[FR Doc. 96-6425 Filed 3-15-96; 8:45 am]
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