[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 107 (Wednesday, June 4, 1997)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 30464-30466]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-14607]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 571

[Docket No. 74-14; Notice 119]
RIN 2127-AG82


Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Occupant Crash 
Protection, Child Restraint Systems

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

ACTION: Interim final rule; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: This document amends Standard No. 213, ``Child Restraint 
Systems,'' to modify the air bag warning label that child seats which 
can be used in a rear-facing position (``rear-facing child seats'') are 
now required to bear. The required label warns that the rear-facing 
child restraint must never be placed in the front seat with an air bag. 
On April 17, 1997, NHTSA issued an interim final rule which allowed the 
phrase ``unless air bag is off'' to be added to the end of the warning, 
if the child seat automatically deactivates the air bag and activates a 
specified telltale light in the vehicle. On further examining the issue 
in response to a request from Porsche Cars North America Inc. 
(Porsche), NHTSA has tentatively determined that the phrase ``unless 
air bag is off'' may be added to child seats regardless of the means by 
which they deactivate the air bag so long as deactivation can be 
achieved, and that specified telltale requirements are unnecessary so 
long as an audible or visual signal is provided to the driver that the 
air bag has been disabled. This document makes final on an interim 
basis the amendment requested by Porsche, and supplements the 
amendments made by the April 17, 1997 interim rule. The agency also 
solicits comments on today's amendment.

DATES: This rule is effective June 4, 1997. Comments must be received 
by July 21, 1997. Because this amendment will clarify the required 
warning label and will relieve a restriction currently imposed by the 
standard, NHTSA has determined that it is in the public interest to 
make the changes effective immediately on an interim basis. Assuming 
that a final rule is issued, the final rule would respond to any 
comments and would be effective upon publication in the Federal 
Register.

ADDRESSES: Comments should refer to the docket and notice numbers above 
and be submitted to: Docket Section, National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590. Docket 
hours are 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

    For nonlegal issues: Mary Versailles, Office of Safety Performance 
Standards, NPS-31, telephone (202) 366-2057.
    For legal issues: Deirdre Fujita, Office of Chief Counsel, NCC-20, 
telephone (202) 366-2992.
    Both can be reached at the National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration, 400 Seventh St., SW., Washington, DC, 20590.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This document amends Standard No. 213, 
``Child Restraint Systems,'' on an interim basis to modify the air 
bag warning label which rear-facing child seats must bear effective 
May 27, 1997. This document also solicits comments on this 
amendment. It is the second interim final rule modifying the 
warning label.

Original Final Rule

    The requirement for the label was adopted by a November 27, 1996 
final rule (61 FR 60206) 1, which also adopted new warning 
label requirements for vehicles with air bags. The requirement for the 
enhanced child seat label is set forth in S5.5.2(k) of Standard 213. 
The requirement specifies, among other things, the exact content of the 
message that must be provided by the label. The message of the label 
must be preceded by a heading ( ``WARNING''), with an alert symbol, and 
state the following:

    \1\ Corrected December 4, 1996 (61 FR 64297), December 11, 1996 
(61 FR 65187), and January 2, 1997 (62 FR 31).

DO NOT place rear-facing child seat on front seat with air bag.
DEATH OR SERIOUS INJURY can occur.

    The back seat is the safest place for children 12 and under. Also 
required for the label is a pictogram showing a rear-facing child seat 
being impacted by an air bag, surrounded by a red circle with a slash 
across it. Flexibility as to the content of the label is not provided; 
thus, wording other than that specified in the standard is not 
permitted.

First Interim Final Rule

    On April 17, 1997 (62 FR 18723), NHTSA amended S5.5.2(k) to permit, 
for some child restraints, the addition of the phrase ``unless air bag 
is off'' after the sentence stating ``DO NOT place rear-facing child 
seat on front seat with air bag.'' The amendment responded to

[[Page 30465]]

a request from Mercedes-Benz concerning rear-facing child seats that 
have features enabling the seat to deactivate the passenger-side air 
bag.
    Mercedes developed a rear-facing child seat with a device that 
automatically cuts off the passenger-side air bag in vehicles designed 
to respond to such a device. The cutoff feature makes it possible to 
use a child restraint system on the front seat of these vehicles 
without subjecting the child to risk of injury from an air bag 
deployment. Mercedes believed that the first statement (``DO NOT place 
rear-facing child seat on front seat with air bag'') was inappropriate 
for child restraints with a feature that turns off the air bag, and 
could be potentially confusing to owners of child restraints that are 
marketed as compatible with a complementary air bag system. Mercedes 
suggested that the amended label should be permitted on a child 
restraint that is equipped with a cutoff device, if the cutoff device 
automatically deactivates the passenger-side air bag and activates a 
telltale light in the vehicle that complies with S4.5.4.3 of Standard 
No. 208, ``Occupant Crash Protection'' (49 CFR Sec. 571.208).
    In the April 17, 1997 interim final rule, NHTSA agreed with 
Mercedes that adding the phrase ``unless air bag is off'' would clarify 
the message of the label and reduce the likelihood of confusing owners 
of child seats that are intended for use on and marketed as appropriate 
for front seat positions on vehicles equipped with complementary air 
bag cutoff devices. The agency tentatively agreed that the conditions 
for (a) automatic deactivation and (b) a telltale meeting S4.5.4.3 of 
Standard 208, ``reduce[d] the likelihood that a child restraint would 
be used with an active air bag.'' Because NHTSA saw no diminution of 
safety resulting from the change, the agency amended the standard to 
accommodate Mercedes' request.

Today's Interim Rule

    After the April 17, 1997 interim final rule was issued, Porsche 
contacted the agency asking whether the conditions for automatic 
deactivation and a telltale meeting S4.5.4.3 were necessary requisites 
to allowing the phrase ``unless air bag is off'' to be added to the 
child seat warning label.
    Porsche has also developed a rear-facing child seat with a device 
that cuts off the passenger-side air bag in vehicles designed to 
respond to such a device. However, unlike Mercedes, the device is not 
automatic. To cut off the passenger-side air bag, a specialized buckle 
tongue on the child seat must be inserted into a buckle receiver 
installed under the front passenger seat. The Porsche system does not 
include a telltale light complying with S4.5.4.3 of Standard No. 208. 
Instead, the air bag readiness indicator flashes for 10 seconds to 
inform the driver that the child seat has properly cut off the 
passenger-side air bag. If the vehicle is on when the special buckle is 
inserted in the receiver, the warning light flashes upon insertion of 
the buckle. If the vehicle is off when the special buckle is inserted, 
the warning light flashes each time the ignition is turned on. Porsche 
believes that its design, while different from the Mercedes design, 
also warrants the addition of the phrase ``unless air bag is off'' to 
the child seat warning label on Porsche's rear-facing child seats.
    On reexamining the interim rule, NHTSA has tentatively determined 
that the phrase ``unless air bag is off'' may be added to a child seat 
that can deactivate an air bag, whether or not the deactivation is 
automatic. In addition, the agency has tentatively determined that 
specified telltale requirements are unnecessary so long as a signal is 
provided to the driver that the air bag has been disabled.
    If an air bag is deactivated by a device incorporated into a child 
safety seat, the danger that the label on the seat warns against will 
not be present. This result can be achieved as effectively by non-
automatic means as by automatic means. The question raised by a non-
automatic device such as Porsche's is whether a person installing the 
seat in a vehicle will install it correctly. If the likelihood of 
correct installation is very high, allowing the addition of the phrase 
``unless air bag is off'' to the label would help resolve any confusion 
on the part of the person installing the seat.
    In the case of the device employed by Porsche, the child safety 
seat is equipped with a single buckle that fits into a buckle receiver 
under the vehicle's seat. The buckle fits no other part of the vehicle. 
The correctness of its installation is evident, both by the click of 
the buckle upon its insertion into the receiver and by the activation 
of a visual signal on the vehicle's dash. These features offer 
sufficient assurance of correct installation, in the agency's view, to 
warrant the modification of the label.
    The nature of the visual signal is the second issue raised by the 
Porsche request. The agency considers it essential to have a means of 
notifying the driver that the air bag has been disabled. In the first 
interim rule, NHTSA said that the phrase may be added if the child seat 
has a device that activates a telltale complying with S4.5.4.3 of 
Standard 208. S4.5.4.3 states:

A telltale light on the dashboard shall be clearly visible from all 
front seating positions and shall be illuminated whenever the 
passenger air bag is deactivated. The telltale:
    (a) Shall be yellow;
    (b) Shall have the identifying words ``AIR BAG OFF'' on the 
telltale or within 25 millimeters of the telltale;
    (c) Shall remain illuminated for the entire time that the 
passenger air bag is deactivated;
    (d) Shall not be illuminated at any time when the passenger air 
bag is not deactived; and,
    (e) Shall not be combined with the readiness indicator required 
by S4.5.2 of [Standard 208].

    Upon reexamining the need for notifying the driver, the agency has 
tentatively determined that the telltale requirements of Standard 208 
are not necessary, as stated in the first interim final rule, to 
``reduce the likelihood that a child restraint would be used with an 
active air bag.'' 62 FR at 18724. The telltale requirements were 
originally specified for a cutoff device that operates in a way that 
could allow an adult to use the front passenger seating position with 
the air bag deactivated. The requirements ensure that there is a 
reminder that the cutoff device should be reset whenever the vehicle's 
front seat is no longer carrying an infant, so that the air bag would 
be ready when needed. The telltale requirements are intended to inform 
an adult passenger, to enable him or her to see the warning light and 
understand that the air bag is not activated.
    In contrast, air bag deactivation systems of the types developed by 
Mercedes and Porsche deactivate the air bag when and only when a child 
restraint is present and reactivate the air bag when the child 
restraint is removed. Such systems render it highly unlikely that an 
unknowing adult could be seated in the front seating position with the 
air bag deactivated. Because of this difference, a telltale meeting 
S4.5.4.3 of Standard 208 does not appear needed.
    NHTSA has tentatively decided, however, that the driver should be 
signaled as to whether the child seat has deactivated the air bag. The 
agency has tentatively concluded that the signal must continue for at 
least 10 seconds after deactivation of the air bag. A visual signal 
could include a dashboard light.
    Because this rule does not require that a dashboard light must 
remain illuminated for the entire time that the passenger air bag is 
deactivated, the agency tentatively concludes that the light may be 
combined with the readiness indicator required by S4.5.2 of

[[Page 30466]]

Standard 208. However, such combination must not affect the compliance 
of the readiness indicator with S4.5.2.
    This amendment clarifies a requirement and avoids possible 
confusion resulting from the required labeling. Accordingly, NHTSA 
finds for good cause that an immediate amendment of the requirement is 
in the public interest.

Submission of Comments

    Interested persons are invited to submit comments on this rule. It 
is requested but not required that 10 copies be submitted.
    All comments must not exceed 15 pages in length. (49 CFR 553.21). 
Necessary attachments may be appended to these submissions without 
regard to the 15-page limit. This limitation is intended to encourage 
commenters to detail their primary arguments in a concise fashion.
    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 seven 
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 for the interim rule 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. Comments 
received too late for consideration in regard to the final rule will be 
considered as suggestions for further rulemaking action. Comments on 
the interim rule will be available for inspection in the docket. 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 persons continue to examine the docket for new 
material.
    Those persons 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.

Regulatory Analyses and Notices

A. Executive Order 12866 and DOT Regulatory Policies and Procedures

    NHTSA has considered the impact of this rulemaking action under 
E.O. 12866 and the Department of Transportation's regulatory policies 
and procedures. This rulemaking document was not reviewed under E.O. 
12866, ``Regulatory Planning and Review.'' This action has been 
determined to be ``nonsignificant'' under the Department of 
Transportation's regulatory policies and procedures. The amendments 
pertain to optional label changes that are minor in nature. The agency 
concludes that the impacts of the amendments are so minimal that a full 
regulatory evaluation is not required.

B. Regulatory Flexibility Act

    NHTSA has also considered the impacts of this document under the 
Regulatory Flexibility Act. I hereby certify that this rule does not 
have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities. The rule will not impose any new requirements or costs on 
manufacturers, but instead will permit a manufacturer to use an 
optional label on its child restraint if conditions on the use of the 
label are met. Further, since no price increases are associated with 
the rule, small organizations and small governmental units are not be 
affected in their capacity as purchasers of child restraints.

C. Paperwork Reduction Act

    In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (Pub. L. 96-
511), there are no requirements for information collection associated 
with this rule.

D. National Environmental Policy Act

    NHTSA has also analyzed this rule under the National Environmental 
Policy Act and determined that it will not have a significant impact on 
the human environment.

E. Executive Order 12612 (Federalism)

    NHTSA has analyzed this rule in accordance with the principles and 
criteria contained in E.O. 12612, and has determined that this rule 
will not have significant federalism implications to warrant the 
preparation of a Federalism Assessment.

F. Civil Justice Reform

    This rule has no retroactive effect. Under 49 U.S.C. 30103, 
whenever a Federal motor vehicle safety standard is in effect, a State 
may not adopt or maintain a safety standard applicable to the same 
aspect of performance which is not identical to the Federal standard, 
except to the extent that the state requirement imposes a higher level 
of performance and applies only to vehicles procured for the State's 
use. 49 U.S.C. 30161 sets forth a procedure for judicial review of 
final rules establishing, amending or revoking Federal motor vehicle 
safety standards. That section does not require submission of a 
petition for reconsideration or other administrative proceedings before 
parties may file suit in court.

List of Subjects in 49 CFR Part 571

    Imports, Motor vehicle safety, Motor vehicles.

PART 571--FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARDS

    In consideration of the foregoing, NHTSA amends 49 CFR Part 571 as 
set forth below.
    1. The authority citation for Part 571 continues to read as 
follows:

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

    2. Section 571.213 is amended by revising S5.5.2(k)(5), to read as 
follows:


Sec. 571.213  Standard No. 213, Child Restraint Systems.

* * * * *
    S5.5.2 * * *
    (k) * * *
    (5) If a child restraint system is equipped with a device that 
deactivates the passenger-side air bag in a vehicle when and only when 
the child restraint is installed in the vehicle and provides a signal, 
for at least 10 seconds after deactivation, that the air bag is 
deactivated, the label specified in Figure 10 may include the phrase 
``unless air bag is off'' after ``on front seat with air bag.''
* * * * *
    Issued on May 30, 1997.
Philip Recht,
Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. 97-14607 Filed 5-30-97; 3:22 pm]
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