[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 174 (Tuesday, September 9, 1997)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 47414-47416]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-23512]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 571

[Docket No. 97-45; Notice 1]
RIN 2127-AG84


Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Lamps, Reflective Devices 
and Associated Equipment

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

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: This document proposes to amend the Federal motor vehicle 
safety standard on lighting to permit asymmetrical headlamp beams on 
motorcycle headlighting systems. An amendment of this nature would 
allow upper and lower beams to be emitted by separate dedicated 
headlamps on either side of a motorcycle's vertical centerline or by 
separate off center light sources within a single headlamp that is 
located on the vertical centerline. This action implements the grant of 
a rulemaking petition from Kawasaki Motors Corp.U.S.A. and represents a 
further step towards harmonization of Standard No. 108 with the 
lighting standards of other nations.

DATES: Comments are due October 24, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Comments should refer to the docket number and notice 
number, and must be submitted to: Docket Section, Room 5109, 400 
Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590. (Docket hours are from 9:30 
a.m. to 4:00 p.m.).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jere Medlin, Office of Safety 
Performance Standards, NHTSA (Phone: 202-366-5276).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Table IV of Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 
No. 108 specifies where motorcycle headlighting systems are to be 
located. If a motorcycle has a single headlamp, the headlamp must be 
mounted on the vehicle's vertical centerline. If two headlamps are 
provided, they must be symmetrically disposed around the vertical 
centerline. Under Standard No. 108, a center-mounted headlamp must 
provide upper and lower beams with a single light source, and each 
headlamp in a two-headlamp motorcycle headlighting system must provide 
both an upper and a lower beam with a single light source. In 
interpretation letters in 1994 and 1995, NHTSA advised Kawasaki Motors 
Corp. U.S.A. (Kawasaki) that a single-lamp headlighting system in which 
an upper beam or lower beam is provided by a single light source that 
is not on the vertical centerline is not permitted by Standard No. 108.
    Kawasaki has developed a projector beam headlighting system which 
it wishes to offer on motorcycles that it sells in the United States. 
The system incorporates light sources that are not on the vertical 
centerline and that will typically be illuminated singly. The 
consequence is that the motorcycle will have a single-off center light 
source. Under the Kawasaki system, separate headlamps provide the upper 
and lower beam respectively, or separate light sources in a single 
headlamp, which lie on either side of the vertical centerline even if 
the headlamp itself is centered on it. Accordingly, Kawasaki has 
petitioned the agency for rulemaking to amend Standard No. 108 in a 
manner that would allow its asymmetrical headlighting system.
    The agency has granted this petition. At the time that Standard No. 
108 was issued, the predominant concern was that the headlighting 
system clearly identify a motorcycle as such when the vehicle was being 
operated at night. Thus, the location of a single headlamp on the 
vertical centerline was justifiable to distinguish the motorcycle from 
an approaching passenger car whose left headlamp was inoperative. To 
assist oncoming drivers in detecting the nature of an approaching 
vehicle, Standard No. 108 also requires passenger cars and light trucks 
to have parking lamps, and requires the parking lamps to be illuminated 
when the headlamps are on. Motorcycles are not required to have parking 
lamps, and their appearance at night will differ in this respect from 
that of a four-wheeled motor vehicle. Kawasaki has assured the agency 
that, in markets where projector beam headlamps are common, there has 
been no increase in crashes because of misjudgment of a motorcycle's 
presence.
    This assurance allows the agency to contemplate the advisability of 
allowing a single beam to be projected somewhere other than on the 
vertical centerline. Kawasaki has brought the agency's attention to the 
Official Journal of the European Communities, Council Directive 93/92/
EEC dated 29 October 1993. This Directive allows separate upper and 
lower beam headlamps, but specifies that their ``reference centers must 
be symmetrical in relation to the median longitudinal plane of the 
vehicle'', and that the distance between the edges of the illuminating 
surfaces of the two headlamps must not exceed 200 mm., i.e., 
approximately 8 inches. Adoption of this maximum separation distance 
should ensure that asymmetrical beams remain relatively close to the 
vertical centerline of the vehicle and do not mislead oncoming drivers. 
It will also ensure that NHTSA's amendment of Standard No. 108 would be 
consistent with regulations of other nations concerning the same 
lighting specification.
    The agency is therefore proposing that Standard No. 108 be amended 
in a manner that would allow Kawasaki to use the projector beam 
headlighting system. Although traditionally motorcycle headlighting 
requirements have been contained in Tables III and IV, paragraph S7.9 
Motorcycles has been added to Standard No. 108 to contain and set apart 
all motorcycle lighting performance requirements for ease of reference. 
This purpose will be enhanced by specifying headlighting location 
requirements as well. Accordingly NHTSA proposes that a new paragraph 
S7.9.6 be added which will contain the previous location requirements 
specified in Table IV as modified by the proposed changes to 
accommodate Kawasaki's request, and as discussed above. A two-headlamp 
system in which each headlamp

[[Page 47415]]

provides an upper and lower beam would continue to be mounted 
symmetrically disposed about the vertical centerline. The new paragraph 
would permit a two-headlamp system in which one headlamp provides an 
upper beam and the other a lower beam and which would have to be 
horizontally disposed and mounted at the same height, which is to say, 
with their center point at 90 degrees to either side of vertical, or 
vertically disposed, which is to say, placed one above the other on the 
vertical centerline. Similarly, the light sources in a single lamp 
providing different beams would have to be horizontally disposed and 
mounted at the same height, or vertically disposed. Table IV would be 
amended to delete the material which would be covered by S7.9.6.2 
relating to mounting of headlamps, and a reference to S7.9 substituted.

Request for Comments

    Interested persons are invited to submit comments on the proposal. 
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 proposal 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 proposal 
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.

Effective Date

    Since the final rule would not impose any additional burden and is 
intended to afford an alternative to existing requirements, it is 
hereby tentatively found that an effective date earlier than 180 days 
after issuance of the final rule is in the public interest. The final 
rule would be effective 45 days after its publication in the Federal 
Register.

Rulemaking Analyses

Executive Order 12866 and DOT Regulatory Policies and Procedures

    This rulemaking action has not been reviewed under Executive Order 
12866. It has been determined that the rulemaking action is not 
significant under Department of Transportation regulatory policies and 
procedures. The effect of the rulemaking action would be to allow a 
motorcycle manufacturer a wider choice of headlighting systems with 
which to equip its vehicles. The final rule would not impose any 
additional burden upon any person. Impacts of the rule are so minimal 
as not to warrant preparation of a full regulatory evaluation.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The agency has also considered the effects of this rulemaking 
action in relation to the Regulatory Flexibility Act. I certify that 
this rulemaking action would not have a significant economic effect 
upon a substantial number of small entities. Motor vehicle 
manufacturers are generally not small businesses within the meaning of 
the Regulatory Flexibility Act. Further, small organizations and 
governmental jurisdictions would not be significantly affected since 
the price of new motor vehicles should not be impacted. As noted above, 
the final rule would afford an option to existing requirements, so that 
there are no mandatory cost impacts to this proposal. Accordingly, no 
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis has been prepared.

Executive Order 12612 (Federalism)

    This action has been analyzed in accordance with the principles and 
criteria contained in Executive Order 12612 on ``Federalism.'' It has 
been determined that the rulemaking action does not have sufficient 
federalism implications to warrant the preparation of a Federalism 
Assessment.

National Environmental Policy Act

    NHTSA has analyzed this rulemaking action for purposes of the 
National Environmental Policy Act. The rulemaking action would not have 
a significant effect upon the environment as it does not affect the 
present method of manufacturing motorcycle headlamps.

Civil Justice Reform

    This rulemaking action would not have any 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. Under 49 U.S.C. 30163, a procedure is set forth 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.

    In consideration of the foregoing, it is proposed that 49 CFR Part 
571 be amended as follows:

PART 571--FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARDS

    1. The authority section would continue to read as follows:

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


Sec. 571.108  [Amended]

    2. Section 571.108 would be amended by adding new paragraph S7.9.6 
and by amending Table IV by revising the entry for headlamps, to read 
as set forth below:


Sec. 571.108  Standard No. 108; Lamps, reflective devices, and 
associated equipment.

* * * * *
    S7.9.6 A headlamp system shall be installed on a motorcycle in 
accordance with the requirements of this paragraph.
    S7.9.6.1 The headlamp system shall be located on the front of the 
motorcycle, with each headlamp not less than 22 inches (55.9 cm), nor 
more than 54 inches (137.2 cm) above the

[[Page 47416]]

road surface measured from the center of the headlamp on the motorcycle 
at curb weight.
    S7.9.6.2 (a) If the system consists of a single headlamp, it shall 
be mounted on the vertical centerline of the motorcycle. If the 
headlamp contains more than one light source, each light source shall 
be mounted on the vertical centerline or horizontally disposed about 
the vertical centerline and mounted at the same height. If the light 
sources are horizontally disposed about the vertical centerline, the 
distance between the closest edges of the effective projected luminous 
lens area in front of the light sources shall not be greater than 200 
mm (8 in.).
    (b) If the system consists of two headlamps, each of which provides 
both an upper and lower beam, the headlamps shall be mounted at the 
same height and symmetrically disposed about the vertical centerline.
    (c) If the system consists of two headlamps, one of which provides 
an upper beam and one of which provides the lower beam, the headlamps 
shall be located on the vertical centerline, or horizontally disposed 
about the vertical centerline and mounted at the same height. If the 
headlamps are horizontally disposed about the vertical centerline, the 
distance between the closest edges of the effective projected luminous 
lens area of the headlamps shall not be greater than 200 mm (8 in.).
* * * * *

                                    Table IV--Location of Required Equipment                                    
  [All Passenger Cars and Motorcycles, and Multipurpose Passenger Vehicles, Trucks, Trailers, and Buses of Less 
                                    than 80 (2032) Inches (MM) Overall Width]                                   
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                                                  Location on--                                                 
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                                          Passenger cars,                              Height above road surface
                                      multipurpose passenger                            measured from center of 
               Item                 vehicles, truck, trailers,       Motorcycles        item on vehicle at curb 
                                            and busses                                           weight         
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Head-lamps........................  On the front, each          See S7.9.............  Not less than 22 inches  
                                     headlamp providing the                             (55.9 cm) nor more than 
                                     upper beam, at the same                            54 inches (137.2 cm).   
                                     height, 1 on each side of                                                  
                                     the vertical centerline,                                                   
                                     each headlamp providing                                                    
                                     the lowe beam, at the                                                      
                                     same height, 1 on each                                                     
                                     side of the vertical                                                       
                                     centerline, as far apart                                                   
                                     as practicable. See also                                                   
                                     S7..                                                                       
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* * * * *
    Issued on: August 28, 1997.
L. Robert Shelton,
Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.
[FR Doc. 97-23512 Filed 9-8-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-U