[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 167 (Tuesday, August 27, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 44031-44032]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-21819]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 571

[Docket No. 96-093; Notice 1]


Public Meeting--Heavy Vehicle Safety

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Transportation.

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 design and performance of heavy trucks 
and intercity and transit buses, as related to their safe operation. 
NHTSA also will consider suggestions for rulemakings and other actions 
that the agency should take to enhance the safety performance of heavy 
vehicles. This document also invites written comments on the same 
subject. School bus issues are excluded from this notice, since they 
are being addressed under separate agency actions.

DATES: Public meeting: The meeting will be held on October 17, 1996, 
from 10:00 am until 4:00 pm. Those wishing to make an oral presentation 
at the meeting should contact Darlene Curtin at the address, telephone 
number, or fax number listed below by September 30, 1996.
    Written comments: Written comments are due by October 28, 1996.

ADDRESS: Public meeting: The public meeting will be held at the Westin 
Hotel, Renaissance Center, Detroit, Michigan 48243, Phone (313) 568-
8200.
    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: Darlene Curtin, Office of Crash 
Avoidance Standards, NHTSA, 400 7th Street, SW, Room 5320, 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 of heavy vehicles as affected by their 
design and performance characteristics.

Issues to be Addressed

    This public outreach meeting represents a continuation of the 
agency's longstanding policy of working collaboratively with all 
parties who are concerned about this vital aspect of motor vehicle and 
highway safety. Truck crash involvement rates have improved markedly 
over the past 10 years, a time period during which truck travel grew 43 
percent. Between 1982 and 1992, the fatal crash involvement rate for 
medium and heavy trucks fell 38 percent. The comparable rate for 
passenger cars dropped 39 percent during that same time period. Between 
1989 and 1993, the involvement rate of medium and heavy trucks in all 
crashes (both fatal and non-fatal) decreased 11 percent. 
Notwithstanding these positive trends, there were 445,000 crashes in 
1994 involving a medium/heavy truck. A total of 5,112 people were 
killed in those crashes, 13 percent of all those killed in highway 
related crashes that year. The majority of those killed were occupants 
of other vehicles involved in collisions with medium/heavy trucks.
    To address this issue, the agency has worked extensively with 
industry and other interested parties to develop programs that will 
lead to effective and practical solutions for improving heavy vehicle 
safety. Most recently, in June 1995, the agency published a 5-year 
Heavy Vehicle Safety Research Program Plan which contains a listing of 
topics that were identified as being appropriate targets for further 
improvements in heavy vehicle safety design and performance. 
Prospective commenters and participants are referred to that

[[Page 44032]]

document as background material for this meeting. Copies are available 
upon request to Mr. James Britell at (202) 366-5678 or fax at (202) 
366-7237.
    NHTSA is interested in obtaining information from the public about 
how the agency, and the private sector, can best move forward over the 
next two to five years to foster, or possibly require, the 
implementation of additional technological improvements in heavy trucks 
and intercity and transit buses. The agency's strategic research plan 
identified a number of broad subject areas where technological 
opportunities exist for safety enhancement, including:
    * Advanced technology electronics-based collision avoidance systems
    * Driver/vehicle interaction, ergonomics/human factors
    * Braking performance
    * Vehicle dynamic stablity/control/handling
    * Truck occupant protection and inter-vehicle collision 
aggressivity reduction.
Commenters and participants are encouraged to focus on these topics, or 
others if they deem it appropriate, when preparing their suggestions 
and comments.
    Among other things, NHTSA is holding this meeting to help assess 
how best to proceed with resource allocation and prioritization (both 
public and private sector), agenda setting (both research and 
regulatory), and other activities for improving the safety performance 
of heavy trucks and intercity and transit buses. The agency hopes to 
obtain information from the public, including private and commercial 
drivers, product suppliers, motor vehicle and trailer manufacturers, 
vehicle and traffic safety organizations, consumer groups, and others. 
This information will help NHTSA focus its rulemakings and other 
actions.
    NHTSA will entertain suggestions for rulemakings, research, and 
other activities that the agency should undertake. Suggestions for 
agency action should be accompanied by a rationale for the action and 
the expected benefits and other consequences.

Procedural Matters

    The public meeting will begin at 10:00 am on October 17, 1996, and 
is scheduled to conclude at 4:00 pm. It will take place on the day 
following the close of the SAE's Annual Truck and Bus Meeting and 
Exposition. The location will be the Westin Hotel, Renaissance Center, 
Detroit, Michigan. Persons wishing to speak at the public meeting 
should contact Darlene Curtin 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. 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: August 22, 1996.
Barry Felrice,
Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.
[FR Doc. 96-21819 Filed 8-26-96; 8:45 am]
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