[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 123 (Thursday, June 26, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34491-34492]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-16721]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. 97-033; Notice 1]


Vehicle Size and Safety; Relationship of Vehicle Weight to 
Fatality and Injury Risk in Model Year 1985-93 Passenger Cars and Light 
Trucks; Summary Report and Six Technical Reports

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

ACTION: Request for comments on summary report and six technical 
reports.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the publication by NHTSA of a summary 
report and six technical reports describing how a vehicle's size 
affects the safety of its occupants and the safety of those sharing the 
road. The summary report's title is Relationship of Vehicle Weight to 
Fatality and Injury Risk in Model Year 1985-93 Passenger Cars and Light 
Trucks.

DATES: Comments must be received no later than October 24, 1997.

ADDRESSES:
    Report: Interested people may obtain copies of the reports 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.

[[Page 34492]]

    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: NHTSA performs statistical evaluations of 
the safety impacts of regulations and other factors that substantially 
influence vehicle design. In July 1991, NHTSA issued a study of the 
safety effects of passenger car downsizing during 1970-82 (Effect of 
Car Size on Fatality and Injury Risk). Since the mid-1980's, a major 
trend in the vehicle fleet has been the increase in the number as well 
as the weight of light trucks (pickup trucks, vans and sport utility 
vehicles). As of model year 1993, light trucks, on the average, weigh 
900 pounds more than passenger cars. NHTSA records show that, each year 
since 1992, there have been more fatalities in car-light truck 
collisions than there have been in car-to-car collisions. In car-light 
truck collisions, 80 percent of the fatalities are occupants of the 
cars. The agency's Evaluation Program Plan, 1994-98 (59 FR 30090) 
called for an updated evaluation of vehicle size and safety focusing, 
among other things, on the size-safety effects in light trucks and 
their interaction with passenger cars. In 1996, drafts of the summary 
report and the six technical reports constituting this evaluation were 
peer-reviewed by a panel of experts under the auspices of the 
Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. The 
reports were then revised in response to the panel's recommendations.
    The studies analyze the crash experience of model year 1985 through 
1993 passenger cars and light trucks, and compare the rates at which 
lighter and heavier vehicles were involved in crashes involving 
fatalities (``fatal crash rate'') and those resulting in moderate-to-
critical injuries (``serious injury crash rate'') or in police-reported 
``A'' or ``K'' injuries (``less-serious injury crash rate''). After 
controlling for factors such as driver age, the studies found that the 
fatal crash rate for passenger cars increased by 1.1 percent for each 
100 pound decrease in passenger car weight. The serious injury crash 
rate for these vehicles increased by 1.6 percent for each such 
reduction, and the less-serious injury crash rate by 3.2 percent. These 
findings suggest that a future 100-pound reduction in passenger car 
weight, unless offset by safety improvements, could result in an 
estimated 302 additional fatalities, 1,823 moderate-to-critical 
injuries and 8,804 less-serious injuries per year.
    The studies showed the relationship to be largely reversed in the 
case of light trucks. Reductions in the weight of light trucks reduce 
risks for car occupants, pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcyclists 
involved in collisions with the trucks. As a result, the fatal crash 
rate involving light trucks decreased by 0.3 percent for each 100-pound 
decrease in light truck weight and the serious injury crash rate 
decreased by 1.3 percent; however, the less-serious injury crash rate 
increased by 1.5 percent. As such, a future 100-pound reduction in the 
weight of light trucks would be expected to prevent 40 fatalities and 
601 moderate-to-critical injuries per year, due to the decreased risk 
to occupants of other vehicles or pedestrians involved in crashes with 
light trucks. This more than compensates for the added risk of 
fatalities or serious injuries to the occupants of the trucks. Less-
serious injuries would be expected to increase by 1,794. A future 
increase in the weight of light trucks would have the opposite effect.
    The summary report, titled Relationship of Vehicle Weight to 
Fatality and Injury Risk in Model Year 1985-93 Passenger Cars and Light 
Trucks, is publication No. DOT HS 808 569.
    The titles and publication numbers of the six technical reports are 
as follows:
    Relationships between Vehicle Size and Fatality Risk in Model Year 
1985-93 Passenger Cars and Light Trucks, Report No. DOT HS 808 570.
    Effect of Vehicle Weight on Crash-Level Driver Injury Rates, Report 
No. DOT HS 808 571.
    Passenger Vehicle Weight and Driver Injury Severity, Report No. DOT 
HS 808 572.
    Patterns of Driver Age, Sex and Belt Use by Car Weight, Report No. 
DOT HS 808 573.
    Impacts with Yielding Fixed Objects by Vehicle Weight, Report No. 
DOT HS 808 574.
    The Effect of Decreases in Vehicle Weight on Injury Crash Rates, 
Report No. DOT HS 808 575.
    NHTSA welcomes public review of the reports and invites the 
reviewers to submit comments about the data and the statistical methods 
used in the reports. The agency is interested in learning of any 
additional data that could be used to expand or improve the analyses, 
including information on the curb weights, track widths or other 
parameters for specific passenger cars or light trucks.
    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. 97-16721 Filed 6-25-97; 8:45 am]
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