[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 198 (Thursday, October 10, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53260-53261]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-26023]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. 74-14; Notice 102]
RIN 2127-AD82


Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Occupant Crash 
Protection; Review: Fatality Reduction by Air Bags; Evaluation Report

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 
Department of Transportation.

ACTION: Request for comments on technical report.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the publication by NHTSA of a Technical 
Report concerning Safety Standard 208, Occupant Crash Protection. The 
report's title is Fatality Reduction by Air Bags--Analyses of Accident 
Data through Early 1996. It evaluates the front-seat occupant fatality 
rates of current passenger cars and light trucks equipped with air 
bags, and compares them to the fatality rates of similar vehicles 
without air bags.

DATES: Comments must be received no later than January 8, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Report: Interested people may obtain a copy of the report 
free of charge by sending a self-addressed mailing label to 
Publications Ordering and Distribution Services (NAD-51), National 
Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 400 Seventh Street, SW, 
Washington, DC 20590.
    Comments: All comments should refer to the docket and notice number 
of this notice and be submitted to: Docket Section, Room 5109, Nassif 
Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington DC 20590. [Docket hours, 
9:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.]

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Charles J. Kahane, Chief, Evaluation 
Division, Plans and Policy, National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration, Room 5208, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590 
(202-366-2560).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Safety Standard 208 (49 CFR 571.208) 
requires automatic occupant protection, such as air bags or automatic 
belts, to be phased into passenger cars (1987-90) and light trucks 
(1995-98). As mandated by the Intermodal Surface Transportation 
Efficiency Act of 1991, driver and passenger air bags plus manual 3-
point

[[Page 53261]]

belts will be required in all cars manufactured on or after September 
1, 1997 and light trucks on or after September 1, 1998.
    Pursuant to Executive Order 12286, NHTSA is evaluating the occupant 
protection program to determine the effectiveness, benefits, costs, 
performance characteristics and public acceptance of automatic occupant 
protection and the nationwide effort to increase belt use. Under the 
Executive Order, agencies review existing regulations to determine if 
they are achieving the Order's policy goals. An evaluation plan was 
issued in 1990 (56 FR 1586). A June 1992 interim report (57 FR 30293) 
showed that increased use of manual belts, air bags, and automatic 
belts were all contributing to a reduction of fatalities and injuries.
    The current report focuses on fatality reduction by air bags. It is 
based on statistical analyses of accident data from the Fatal Accident 
Reporting System (FARS) from 1986 through early 1996. The principal 
conclusion is that driver air bags save lives. The fatality reduction 
benefit of air bags for all drivers is an estimated 11 percent; this 
percentage is essentially unchanged from previous analyses by NHTSA 
staff. New, positive findings are that driver air bags save lives in 
light trucks and in small cars, that passenger air bags save lives of 
right-front passengers age 13 or older, and that driver air bags 
provide a significant supplemental life-saving benefit for the driver 
who buckles up (as well as saving lives of unbelted drivers). On the 
other hand, preliminary analyses of limited accident data show a higher 
fatality risk for child passengers age 0-12 in cars with current dual 
air bags than in cars without a passenger air bag. Also, current air 
bags may have diminished, or even negligible benefits for drivers age 
70 or older, and they do not have a statistically significant effect 
for drivers of any age group in oblique-frontal crashes.
    NHTSA welcomes public review of the technical report and invites 
the reviewers to submit comments about the data and the statistical 
methods used in the report. The agency is interested in learning of any 
additional data that could be used to expand or improve the analyses, 
including information on individual accident cases involving vehicles 
equipped with air bags.
    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 7 
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 will be considered, and will be available for examination 
in the docket at the above address both before and after that date. To 
the extent possible, comments filed after the closing date will also be 
considered. The NHTSA will continue to file relevant information as it 
becomes available in the docket after the closing date, and it is 
recommended that interested people continue to examine the docket for 
new material.
    People desiring to be notified upon receipt of their comments in 
the rules 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.

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30111, 30168; delegation of authority at 49 
CFR 1.50 and 501.8.
William H. Walsh,
Associate Administrator for Plans and Policy.
[FR Doc. 96-26023 Filed 10-9-96; 8:45 am]
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