[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 97 (Tuesday, May 20, 1997)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 27578-27579]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-13184]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

49 CFR Chapter V


Consumer Information; Motor Vehicle Safety; Rollover Prevention

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

ACTION: Grant of petition for rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: The agency grants an August 20, 1996 petition for rulemaking 
from Consumers Union of United States, Inc., requesting NHTSA to 
commence a rulemaking proceeding to consider establishing ``an 
emergency handling test [for sport-utility vehicles] and to require 
that information derived from that test be included in the consumer 
warnings required by the agency.'' The agency seeks to evaluate the 
issues raised in the petition in view of the agency's continuing 
interest in rollover safety, as evidenced by its 1994 rulemaking 
proposal to amend its consumer information regulations to require 
passenger vehicles to be labeled with information about their 
resistance to rollover, and other related rulemaking activities.
    The agency will respond in a separate notice to a request from the 
petitioner that NHTSA should commence a proceeding to decide whether to 
issue an order concerning an alleged defect in model year (MY) 1995-96 
Isuzu Trooper and Acura SLX sport-utility vehicles.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For nonlegal issues: Michael Pyne or 
Gayle Dalrymple, Office of Crash Avoidance Standards, NPS-20, telephone 
(202) 366-4931, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 400 
Seventh St., S.W., Washington, D.C., 20590.
    For legal issues: Deirdre Fujita, Office of the Chief Counsel, NCC-
20, telephone (202) 366-2992, address same as above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This document announces that NHTSA is 
granting a petition for rulemaking from Consumers Union of United 
States, Inc. (CU), requesting NHTSA to establish a standard and/or a 
rating system ``that will help consumers to compare emergency handling 
performance of sport-utility vehicles.'' CU asks the agency to 
``augment its consumer information disclosure requirement by (1) 
establishing a testing system that rates comparatively the ability of 
sport-utility vehicles to perform emergency maneuvers acceptably, (2) 
[requiring] that each such vehicle include its rating in the required 
warning, and (3) [requiring] vehicles that exhibit a high rollover 
propensity during emergency handling testing to achieve a minimum 
acceptable rating through vehicle modifications.''
    The agency issued a rulemaking proposal (NPRM) in 1994 to amend its 
consumer information regulations (49 CFR Part 575) to require passenger 
vehicles to be labeled with information about their resistance to 
rollover. That proposal, which is still pending, would require vehicles 
to be labeled by make/model with a ``stability metric,'' which is a 
measured vehicle characteristic that relates to some degree to a 
vehicle's likelihood of rollover involvement. The agency issued the 
proposal in the belief that the information would enable prospective 
purchasers to make informed choices about new vehicles based on 
differences in rollover risk, and motivate manufacturers to give more 
priority to rollover stability in designing their vehicles.
    NHTSA has also undertaken a variety of other activities intended to 
mitigate the adverse effects of rollovers, including a final rule 
requiring upgraded padding on the upper interior of light vehicles, a 
final rule extending the side door latch requirements to rear doors, 
and research evaluating improved roof crush resistance, enhanced side 
window glazing, improved door latches, and advanced occupant restraint 
systems. These activities are explained in detail in the May 1996 
``Status Report for Rollover Prevention and Injury Mitigation,'' 
available in NHTSA Docket No. 91-68, Notice 5.
    CU's petition is related to the 1994 NPRM: both pertain to the 
rollover resistance of vehicles and envision a rating system by which 
prospective purchasers may compare vehicle performance. However, the 
petition differs from the NPRM in several key respects. The CU petition 
focuses on on-road, untripped rollover crashes, while the NPRM 
encompasses both on- and off-road single vehicle rollovers. Also, the 
CU petition envisions a dynamic test for evaluating vehicle 
performance, while the NPRM proposed a static test which isolates and 
measures a vehicle attribute.
    NHTSA will initially focus on exploring whether it can develop a 
practicable, repeatable and appropriate dynamic emergency handling test 
that assesses, among other issues, a vehicle's propensity for 
involvement in an on-road, untripped rollover crash. The agency will 
expand this exploration beyond CU's suggestion that any such emergency 
handling test be limited to sport utility vehicles. Assuming the agency 
can develop a technically sound test protocol, it should be equally 
useful for all light vehicles, including cars, trucks, and vans.
    The granting of CU's rulemaking petition should not be 
misinterpreted as an endorsement of the CU test procedure. In its 
petition, CU described a particular dynamic test procedure that it has 
been using since 1988 to rate the rollover propensity of vehicles. 
Based on preliminary testing conducted by the agency's Office of 
Defects Investigation, it does not currently appear that the CU ``short 
course'' test by itself is an appropriate assessment of rollover 
propensity or will be the primary focus of NHTSA's exploration of a 
dynamic handling test. Indeed, CU's rulemaking petition shows that CU 
did not anticipate that the agency would focus

[[Page 27579]]

on the CU test protocol--instead, CU urged that ``the agency should 
determine the exact parameters of the test course and test requirements 
based on its own investigation.'' NHTSA will explore a variety of 
vehicle maneuvers, including a double lane change, as part of its 
efforts to develop an appropriate dynamic emergency handling test.
    Similarly, the granting of the rulemaking petition does not 
necessarily mean that a rule will be issued. The determination of 
whether to issue a rule will be made in the course of a rulemaking 
proceeding, in accordance with statutory criteria.
    CU also petitioned NHTSA to commence a proceeding to decide whether 
to issue an order concerning an alleged defect in MY 1995-96 Isuzu 
Trooper and Acura SLX sport-utility vehicles. The agency will respond 
to this request for a defect proceeding in a separate document.

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 322, 30111, 30115, 30117 and 30166; 
delegation of authority at 49 CFR 1.50.

    Issued on May 14, 1997.
L. Robert Shelton,
Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.
[FR Doc. 97-13184 Filed 5-15-97; 3:08 pm]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P