[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 235 (Wednesday, December 8, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68717-68718]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-31754]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. NHTSA-99-6545]
RIN 2127-AF54


Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Side Impact Protection; 
Review: Side Impact Protection, Passenger Cars; Evaluation Report

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

ACTION: Request for comments on technical report.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces NHTSA's publication of a Technical 
Report reviewing and evaluating its existing Safety Standard 214, Side 
Impact Protection. The report's title is Evaluation of FMVSS 214--Side 
Impact Protection: Dynamic Performance Requirement; Phase 1: 
Correlation of TTI(d) with Fatality Risk in Actual Side Impact 
Collisions of Model Year 1981-1993 Passenger Cars; Plan for Phase 2: 
Effect of FMVSS 214 and Correlation of TTI(d) with Actual Fatality Risk 
in Model Year 1992-2000 Passenger Cars.

DATES: Comments must be received no later than April 6, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Report: You may obtain a copy of the report 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. The 
executive summary of the report is available on the Internet for 
viewing on line at www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/regrev/evaluate/
809004.html. The full report is available on the Internet in PDF format 
at www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/regrev/evaluate/pdf/809004.pdf.
    Comments: All comments should refer to the Docket number of this 
notice. You may submit your comments in writing to: U. S. Department of 
Transportation Docket Management, Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street, SW, 
Washington, DC 20590. You may also submit your comments electronically 
by logging onto the Dockets Management System website at http://
dms.dot.gov. Click on ``Help & Information'' or ``Help/Info'' to obtain 
instructions for filing the document electronically.
    You may call Docket Management at 202-366-9324 and visit the Docket 
from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Charles J. Kahane, Chief, Evaluation 
Division, NPP-22, Plans and Policy, National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration, Room 5208, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 
20590. Telephone: 202-366-2560. FAX: 202-366-2559. E-mail: 
[email protected] .
    For information about NHTSA's evaluations of the effectiveness of 
existing regulations and programs: Visit the NHTSA web site at http://
www.nhtsa.dot.gov and click ``Regulations & Standards'' underneath 
``Car Safety'' on the home page; then click ``Regulatory Evaluation'' 
on the ``Regulations & Standards'' page.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Safety Standard 214 (49 CFR 571.214) was amended in 1990 to assure 
occupant protection in a dynamic test that simulates a severe right-
angle collision (55 FR 45752). It was phased into passenger cars by 
requiring percentages of cars manufactured during September 1, 1993-
August 30, 1996 and all cars manufactured on or after September 1, 1996 
for sale in the United States to meet the test. The purpose of Safety 
Standard 214 is to reduce fatalities and injuries by limiting the force 
levels on the occupant's thorax and pelvis. The test involves a Moving 
Deformable Barrier hitting the side of a vehicle. Side Impact Dummies 
are seated adjacent to the impact point. A Thoracic Trauma Index, 
TTI(d) and pelvic g's are measured on the dummies.
    As required by the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 
and Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735), NHTSA reviews existing 
regulations to determine if they are achieving policy goals. The agency 
is evaluating the effectiveness, benefits and costs of side impact 
protection for new passenger cars in two phases, as crash data become 
available. Phase 1, completed in this report, is a statistical analysis 
of relationships between front-seat TTI(d) and fatality risk in actual 
side impacts on the highway, in baseline, pre-standard vehicles of 
model years 1981-93, based on Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) 
data from late 1980 through early 1998. These baseline-tested make-
models have been on the road long enough to accumulate a sufficient 
crash data base for meaningful statistical analyses.
    The principal finding of Phase 1 is a statistically significant 
association of TTI(d) with side-impact fatality risk in passenger cars 
of model years 1981-93: the lower the TTI(d), the lower the fatality 
risk. The observed relationship is stronger, however, in 2-door cars 
than in 4-door cars. Each reduction of TTI(d)

[[Page 68718]]

by one unit is associated with an estimated 0.927 percent reduction of 
fatality risk in side impacts of 2-door cars. The association between 
TTI(d) and fatality risk in the corresponding analysis of baseline 4-
door cars was not statistically significant. In 2-door cars, TTI(d) has 
improved from an average of 110 in baseline, model year 1981-90 cars to 
an average of 74 in model year 1997. In 4-door cars, average TTI(d) has 
improved from 80 in 1981-90 to 65 in 1997.
    The report also presents a plan for Phase 2, a proposed statistical 
comparison of side-impact fatality and injury rates in cars produced 
immediately after vs. immediately before the implementation of FMVSS 
214. Adequate crash data on those make-models are likely to accumulate 
by 2001.

How Can I Influence NHTSA's Thinking on This Evaluation?

    NHTSA welcomes public review of the technical report and invites 
the reviewers to submit comments about the data and the statistical 
methods used in the Phase 1 analyses or proposed for Phase 2. NHTSA 
will submit to the Docket a response to the comments and, if 
appropriate, additional analyses that supplement or revise the 
technical report.
    The agency is especially interested in learning of any additional 
data or information on the following topics:
     Why do the Phase 1 analyses show a stronger correlation of 
TTI(d) and fatality risk in 2-door cars than in 4-door cars? Is it an 
artifact of the data or the statistical method, or is there a physical 
explanation?
     Have baseline crash tests conforming to the FMVSS 214 
configuration been run for any other unmodified pre-FMVSS 214 cars?
     The Phase 2 plan (Chapter 8 and Appendix B of the report) 
gives chronologies of the side-impact test results and side-component 
modifications of 52 make-model groups of passenger cars. Please correct 
any omissions or inaccuracies in the chronologies. Specifically, are 
TTI(d) scores available for any of the make-model-year-body style 
combinations described as ``TTI(d) unknown'' in Appendix B?
     Should any of the 52 make-model groups be excluded from 
the Phase 2 analysis because, for example, the side-structure upgrade 
coincided with some other redesign that greatly changed crash rates?

How Do I Prepare and Submit Comments?

    Your comments must be written and in English. To ensure that your 
comments are correctly filed in the Docket, please include the Docket 
number of this document (NHTSA-99-6545) in your comments.
    Your primary comments must not be more than 15 pages long (49 CFR 
553.21). However, you may attach additional documents to your primary 
comments. There is no limit on the length of the attachments.
    Please send two paper copies of your comments to Docket Management 
or submit them electronically. The mailing address is U. S. Department 
of Transportation Docket Management, Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street, 
SW, Washington, DC 20590. If you submit your comments electronically, 
log onto the Dockets Management System website at http://dms.dot.gov 
and click on ``Help & Information'' or ``Help/Info'' to obtain 
instructions.
    We also request, but do not require you to send a copy to Charles 
J. Kahane, Chief, Evaluation Division, NPP-22, National Highway Traffic 
Safety Administration, Room 5208, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, 
DC 20590 (alternatively, FAX to 202-366-2559 or e-mail to 
[email protected]) . He can check if your comments have been 
received at the Docket and he can expedite their review by NHTSA.

How Can I be Sure That My Comments Were Received?

    If you wish Docket Management to notify you upon its receipt of 
your comments, enclose a self-addressed, stamped postcard in the 
envelope containing your comments. Upon receiving your comments, Docket 
Management will return the postcard by mail.

How Do I Submit Confidential Business Information?

    If you wish to submit any information under a claim of 
confidentiality, send three copies of your complete submission, 
including the information you claim to be confidential business 
information, to the Chief Counsel, NCC-01, National Highway Traffic 
Safety Administration, Room 5219, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, 
DC 20590. Include a cover letter supplying the information specified in 
our confidential business information regulation (49 CFR Part 512).
    In addition, send two copies from which you have deleted the 
claimed confidential business information to Docket Management, Room 
PL-401, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590.

Will the Agency Consider Late Comments?

    In our response, we will consider all comments that Docket 
Management receives before the close of business on the comment closing 
date indicated above under DATES. To the extent possible, we will also 
consider comments that Docket Management receives after that date.
    Please note that even after the comment closing date, we will 
continue to file relevant information in the Docket as it becomes 
available. Further, some people may submit late comments. Accordingly, 
we recommend that you periodically check the Docket for new material.

How Can I Read the Comments Submitted by Other People?

    You may read the comments by visiting Docket Management in person 
at Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC from 10:00 a.m. 
to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
    You may also see the comments on the Internet by taking the 
following steps:
    (1) Go to the Docket Management System (DMS) Web page of the 
Department of Transportation (http://dms.dot.gov).
    (2) On that page, click on ``search.''
    (3) On the next page ((http://dms.dot.gov/search/) type in the 
four-digit Docket number shown at the beginning of this Notice (6545). 
Click on ``search.''
    (4) On the next page, which contains Docket summary information for 
the Docket you selected, click on the desired comments. You may also 
download the comments.

    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. 99-31754 Filed 12-7-99; 8:45 am]
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