[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 34 (Friday, February 20, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8734-8735]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-4353]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration


Research and Development Programs Meeting

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces a public meeting at which NHTSA will 
describe and discuss specific research and development projects. 
Further, the notice requests suggestions for topics to be presented by 
the agency.

DATES AND TIMES: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 
will hold a public meeting devoted primarily to presentations of 
specific research and development projects on March 17, 1998, beginning 
at 1:30 p.m. and ending at approximately 5:00 p.m. The deadline for 
interested parties to suggest agenda topics is 4:15 p.m. on February 
27, 1998. Questions may be submitted in advance regarding the agency's 
research and development projects. They must be submitted in writing by 
March 3, 1998, to the address given below. If sufficient time is 
available, questions received after the March 3 date will be answered 
at the meeting in the discussion period. The individual, group, or 
company asking a question does not have to be present for the question 
to be answered. A consolidated list of answers to questions submitted 
by March 3 will be available at the meeting and will be mailed to 
requesters after the meeting.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Clarion Inn, Detroit Metro 
Airport, 9191 Wickham Road, Romulus, MI 48174. Suggestions for specific 
R&D topics as described below and questions for the March 17, 1998, 
meeting relating to the agency's research and development programs 
should be submitted to the Office of the Associate Administrator for 
Research and Development, NRD-01, National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration, Room 6206, 400 Seventh St., S.W., Washington, DC 20590. 
The fax number is (202) 366-5930.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NHTSA intends to provide detailed 
presentations about its research and development programs in a series 
of public meetings. The series started in April 1993. The purpose is to 
make available more complete and timely information regarding the 
agency's research and development programs. This twentieth meeting in 
the series will be held on March 17, 1998.
    NHTSA requests suggestions from interested parties on the specific 
agenda topics to be presented. NHTSA will base its decisions about the 
agenda, in part, on the suggestions it receives by close of business at 
4:15 p.m. on February 27, 1998. Before the meeting, it will publish a 
notice with an agenda listing the research and development topics to be 
discussed. The agenda can also be obtained by calling or faxing the 
information numbers listed elsewhere in this notice or from NHTSA's Web 
site under Announcements/Public Meetings at URL http://
www.nhtsa.dot.gov/nhtsa/announce/meetings/. NHTSA asks that the 
suggestions be limited to six, in

[[Page 8735]]

priority order, so that the presentations at the March 17 R&D meeting 
can be most useful to the audience. Specific R&D topics are listed 
below. Many of these topics have been discussed at previous meetings. 
Suggestions for agenda topics are not restricted to this listing, and 
interested parties are invited to suggest other R&D topics of specific 
interest to their organizations. Additionally, if any interested 
parties would like to make a presentation regarding technical issues 
concerning any of NHTSA's research programs, information concerning the 
proposed topic and speaker should be submitted in writing by close of 
business February 27, 1998.

Specific R&D topics are:
    Fiscal Year 1998 R&D Research Efforts,
    International Harmonized Research Activities (IHRA),
    On-line tracking system for NHTSA's research projects, and
    Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network (CIREN).

Specific Crashworthiness R&D topics are:
    Automatic lifesaving system--improved triage, transport, and 
treatment decisionmaking for automatic collision notification 
technologies,
    Status of advanced air bag research,
    Demonstration of CD ROM for child restraint/vehicle compatibility,
    Preparation of new dummies for assessment of advanced air bag 
technology,
    Status of research on restraint systems for rollover protection,
    Improved frontal crash protection (program status, problem 
identification, offset testing),
    Advanced glazing research,
    Vehicle aggressivity and fleet compatibility,
    Upgrade side crash protection,
    Upgrade seat and occupant restraint systems,
    Child safety research (ISOFIX),
    Child restraint/air bag interaction (CRABI) dummy testing,
    Truck crashworthiness/occupant protection,
    National Transportation Biomechanics Research Center (NTBRC),
    Head and neck injury research,
    Lower extremity injury research,
    Thorax injury research,
    Human injury simulation and analysis,
    Refinements to the Hybrid III dummy, and
    Advanced frontal test dummy.

Specific Crash Avoidance R&D topics are:
    National Advanced Driving Simulator (NADS),
    Intelligent vehicle initiative,
    Cellular phone use in vehicles,
    Status and plans for anti-lock brake system (ABS) research and 
testing,
    Human factors guidelines for crash avoidance warning devices,
    Drowsy driver monitoring,
    Driver workload assessment,
    Rearend collision avoidance system guidelines,
    Road departure collision avoidance system guidelines,
    Intersection collision avoidance system guidelines,
    Lane change/merge collision avoidance system guidelines.

National Center for Statistics and Analysis (NCSA) topic is:
    Special crash investigation studies of air bag cases.

    Separately, questions regarding research projects that have been 
submitted in writing not later than close of business on March 31, 
1998, will be answered. A transcript of the meeting, copies of 
materials handed out at the meeting, and copies of the suggestions 
offered by commenters will be available for public inspection at 
NHTSA's Technical Information Services, Room 5108, 400 Seventh St., 
S.W., Washington, DC 20590. Copies of the transcript will then be 
available at 10 cents a page, upon request to NHTSA's Technical 
Information Services. The Technical Information Services section is 
open to the public from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The transcript will also 
be available on NHTSA's Web site under Announcements/Public Meetings at 
URL http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/nhtsa/announce/meetings/.
    NHTSA will provide technical aids to participants as necessary, 
during the Research and Development Programs Meeting. Thus, any person 
desiring the assistance of ``auxiliary aids'' (e.g., sign-language 
interpreter, telecommunication devices for deaf persons (TTDs), 
readers, taped texts, braille materials, or large print materials and/
or a magnifying device), please contact Rita Gibbons on (202) 366-4862 
or by telefax on (202) 366-5930 by close of business March 5, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rita Gibbons, Staff Assistant, Office 
of Research and Development, 400 Seventh Street, S.W., Washington, DC 
20590. Telephone: (202) 366-4862. Fax number: (202) 366-5930.

    Issued: February 13, 1998.
Raymond P. Owings,
Associate Administrator for Research and Development.
[FR Doc. 98-4353 Filed 2-19-98; 8:45 am]
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