[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 56 (Wednesday, March 24, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 14207-14209]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-7172]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 571

[Docket No. NHTSA 99-5098]


Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Side Impact Protection

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

ACTION: Notice of a public meeting.

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SUMMARY: This document announces that NHTSA will be holding a public 
meeting to explore technical issues (including test procedures) 
relating to the assessment of potential benefits and risks of 
inflatable restraint systems for side crash protection. This meeting is 
intended to provide an opportunity for

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the automotive community and interested parties to discuss their 
evaluation of the safety performance of these inflatable restraint 
systems. The meeting is open to both participants (presenters and 
discussants) and observers.

DATES: Public Meeting: A public meeting will be held on April 19, 1999, 
from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. If you wish to participate in the meeting, 
contact Randa Radwan Samaha, at the address, telephone, or e-mail 
listed below, by April 7, 1999. If you wish to present a prepared oral 
statement during the meeting, please provide a copy of your statement 
to Ms. Samaha by April 12, 1999.
    Written Comments: If you wish to submit written comments to the 
agency, you must do so in time for the agency to receive your comments 
by April 30, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Public Meeting: The public meeting will be held in Room 2230 
of the Nassif Building, 400 Seventh St., S.W., Washington, DC 20590.
    Written Comments: If you wish to submit written comments on the 
issues related to or discussed at this meeting, mention Docket No. 
NHTSA 99-5098 in your comments, and submit them to: Docket Management, 
Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20590 (Docket 
hours are from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For non-legal issues: Randa Radwan 
Samaha, Office of Vehicle Safety Research, NRD-11, 400 Seventh Street, 
S.W., Washington, DC 20590 (telephone 202-366-4707; fax 202-366-5670, 
[email protected]).
    For legal issues: Edward Glancy, Office of Chief Counsel, NCC-20, 
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 400 Seventh Street, 
S.W., Washington, DC 20590 (telephone 202-366-2992; fax 202-366-3820).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Background

    Several types of inflatable restraint systems (IRS) for side crash 
protection are rapidly emerging in the U.S. and world markets. The 
number of vehicles equipped with these systems is projected to increase 
substantially over the next two to three years. About three-quarters of 
automakers already offer side-mounted air bags in at least some of 
their model year 1999 vehicles. The side IRS vary widely in designs, 
sizes, mounting locations and methods, inflation systems, body regions 
protected, and areas of coverage. In particular, there are seat and 
door mounted air bag systems for thorax protection, seat-mounted air 
bag systems for combination thorax/head protection, and various 
versions of window curtains, an inflatable tubular structure system, 
and headrest-mounted air bags for head protection.
    Although these systems have been demonstrated to have potential for 
superior protection in side crashes, there may be a potential of added 
injury risk by the side IRS to out-of-position children and adults. 
This potential risk has been examined in exploratory static deployment 
testing by vehicle manufacturers, NHTSA, Transport Canada, and other 
institutions; discussed in recent communications between the agency and 
the automakers; and called attention to in some automakers' news 
releases and owner's manuals.
    In view of the potential risk, it is necessary to understand the 
performance and overall effectiveness of these recently introduced 
systems. It is especially necessary to conduct a critical evaluation of 
any possible harmful effects and unintended consequences of their 
deployment for children and out-of-position occupants. In December 
1998, NHTSA sent a letter to twenty-one vehicle manufacturer executives 
urging them to personally ensure that their side-mounted air bag 
systems are designed to ``do no harm'' to occupants. In a February 1999 
public statement, the agency said that, ``Manufacturers have an 
obligation to thoroughly and adequately test the safety of any new 
technology under real world conditions prior to introduction into the 
market place.'' In addition, the agency noted in that statement that it 
``has held meetings with industry to better understand system 
designs.''
    To date, NHTSA has not received any reports of serious or fatal 
injuries directly attributable to a side IRS. Both NHTSA and Transport 
Canada are currently monitoring the field experience of these systems 
in North America. Further, NHTSA is aware of vehicle manufacturers' 
efforts to find ways to minimize injury risk to out-of-position 
occupants either through the design or location of the side IRS, or by 
means of automatic deactivation under certain circumstances (e.g., when 
the presence of a child is detected by sensors in the vehicle seat).
    Although the side IRS are designed primarily to provide protection 
to adult occupants, vehicle manufacturers conduct tests with smaller-
sized dummies to attempt to determine the injury potential to out-of-
position adults and children. Based on recent communications with 
vehicle manufacturers, the agency is aware of substantial differences 
among vehicle manufacturers in the test procedures and type of testing 
performed with child sized and adult dummies, and the levels of the 
biomechanical injury criteria considered as acceptable performance. 
(The agency notes that much of the information submitted to it by the 
manufacturers was provided along with requests that the information be 
treated as confidential business information under 5 U.S.C. 552. The 
agency has granted those requests.)

B. Public Meeting

    In light of the foregoing, the agency is holding a public meeting 
to share the real world and test data that are available and explore 
technical issues relating to the assessment of potential benefits and 
risks of side IRS.

1. Purpose and Issues

    The purpose of this meeting is to:
     Share real world field and test data on the performance of 
side IRS involving both children and adult occupants.
     Obtain specific technical comments, discussion, and/or 
constructive input related to the test conditions, anthropomorphic 
devices, and injury criteria for evaluating the potential benefits and 
injury risks of side IRS.
     Obtain pertinent technical comments, discussion, and/or 
constructive input related to new technologies applicable to side IRS 
design and performance.
     Provide an opportunity for interested persons to present 
other pertinent data relevant to and appropriate for the assessment of 
side IRS, e.g., specifications for desirable performance.
    Specific issues to be considered and discussed during the meeting 
include:
     What are the appropriate criteria and their biomechanical 
bases for assessing injury risk to out-of-position children and adults? 
Specific body regions to be considered include as a minimum the skull/
brain, the neck, the thorax, the upper and lower extremities, and 
auditory system.
     What and how many appropriate tests should be performed to 
determine if the side IRS are safe and providing a safety benefit?

2. Procedural Matters.

    A written transcript of the meeting will be made.
    To make efficient use of the limited time available for the 
meeting, the issues will be addressed in the following order:

1. Available real world field data.

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2. Available test data.
    a. IRS Injury Risk
    b. IRS Effectiveness
3. Child and adult injury criteria for the skull/brain, neck, torso, 
upper and lower extremities, and auditory system.
4. New technologies applicable to side IRS design and performance 
(e.g., sensing and suppression).
5. Proposals for test conditions and procedures.

    The discussion of each issue will be structured as follows: (1) A 
short presentation by NHTSA, (2) Presentations by persons and 
organizations who have indicated the desire to present data or share 
other information, (3) Presentations of any new or unconsidered data by 
interested persons, (4) An open discussion by meeting participants of 
the technical merits of the presentations and of potential test 
procedures, and (5) A summary statement.

3. Meeting Participation

    This is a public meeting and attendance is open to all members of 
the public. You may attend as a participant (a presenter or a 
discussant) or an observer.

C. Written Comments

    To ensure that the agency is fully cognizant of the issues and 
positions taken at this meeting, you are encouraged to submit written 
comments on the issues related to or discussed at this meeting. Two 
copies should be submitted to DOT's Docket Management Office at the 
address given at the beginning of this document.
    In addition, if your comments are four or more pages in length, we 
request, but do not require, that you send 10 additional copies, as 
well as one copy on computer disc, to: Randa Radwan Samaha, Office of 
Vehicle Safety Research, NRD-11, National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration, 400 Seventh Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20590. 
Providing these additional copies would aid the agency in expediting 
its review of your comments. The copy on computer disc may be in any 
format, although the agency would prefer that it be in WordPerfect 8.
    Your comments must not exceed 15 pages in length (49 CFR 553.21). 
You may append necessary supplemental material to your comments without 
regard to the 15-page limit. This limitation is intended to encourage 
you to detail your primary arguments in a concise fashion. This will 
aid the agency in understanding your comments.
    If you wish to submit certain information under a claim of 
confidentiality, you should submit three copies of the complete 
submission, including purportedly confidential business information, to 
the Chief Counsel, NHTSA, at the street address given above. In 
addition, you should submit two copies from which the purportedly 
confidential information has been deleted to Docket Management. Your 
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.

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

    Issued on: March 17, 1999.
L. Robert Shelton,
Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.
Raymond P. Owings,
Associate Administrator for Research and Development.
[FR Doc. 99-7172 Filed 3-23-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P