[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 110 (Wednesday, June 7, 2000)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 36106-36107]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-14277]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 571

[Docket No. 00-7145]
[RIN No. 2127-AH61]


Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Head Impact Protection

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

ACTION: Extension of comment period.

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SUMMARY: This document grants a request to extend the comment period on 
an agency proposal to amend the upper interior impact requirements of 
its standard on occupant protection in interior impact by modifying the 
minimum distance between certain target points on vertical surfaces 
inside a vehicle and by adding target points for pillar-like structures 
that do not meet the definition of ``pillar,'' i.e., certain door 
frames and vertical seat belt mounting structures.

DATES: Extended comment closing date: Comments on the April 5, 2000 
proposal, 65 FR 17842, Docket No. 00-7145, must be received by the 
agency on or before close of business on July 5, 2000.

ADDRESSES: You should mention the docket number of this document in 
your comments and submit your comments in writing to: Docket 
Management, Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590. 
Alternatively, you may submit your comments electronically by e-mail at 
http://dms.dot.gov.
    You may call the Docket at 202-366-9324, and visit it from 10:00 
a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For non-legal issues, you may call Dr. 
William Fan, Office of Crashworthiness Standards, at (202) 366-4922, 
facsimile (202) 366-4329, electronic mail ``[email protected]''. For 
legal issues, you may call Otto Matheke, Office of the Chief Counsel, 
at 202-366-5263.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On April 5, 2000, NHTSA published a notice 
of proposed rulemaking proposing to amend the upper interior impact 
requirements of Standard No. 201, Occupant Protection in Interior 
Impact, in several respects. One proposal addressed the minimum 
distance between certain target points on vertical surfaces inside a 
vehicle. Compliance with the upper interior impact requirements is 
determined, in part, by measuring the forces experienced by a test 
device known as the Free Motion Headform (FMH) when it impacts certain 
target points in the vehicle interior. To ensure that the damage caused 
by the testing of one target point does not overlap the testing of 
nearby target points, the standard specifies that tested targets be at 
least a certain distance apart; currently 150 mm (6 inches). We 
proposed expanding this minimum distance to 200 mm (8 inches) for tests 
performed on certain vertical surfaces in order to alleviate concerns 
that the current distance is not large enough to prevent the FMH impact 
area for one target point from overlapping the FMH impact areas for 
nearby target points in the same vehicle. We also proposed adding 
target points for pillar-like structures that do not meet the 
definition of ``pillar,'' i.e., certain door frames and vertical seat 
belt mounting structures and are therefore not currently subject to 
Standard No. 201. We tentatively concluded that these structures are 
the equivalent of ``pillars'' now covered by the Standard.
    The NPRM specified a comment closing date of June 5, 2000 (60 days 
after date of publication). However, on May 16, 2000, we received a 
request for an extension of the comment closing date from Advocates for 
Highway and Auto Safety (Advocates). Advocates stated that it wished to 
provide comments on our proposal, but was unable to do so in a timely 
fashion due

[[Page 36107]]

to the organization's limited resources and a competing need to comment 
on a number of other pending regulatory proposals affecting highway and 
highway safety. Therefore, Advocates requested an additional 60 days 
for submission of its comments.
    Particularly because Advocates is a prominent public interest 
organization dedicated to the consideration of issues related to 
highway and vehicle safety, the agency is interested in its comments. 
Thus, in order to provide the Advocates and other interested parties 
ample time and opportunity to express their views on the proposed 
amendments to Standard No. 201, NHTSA believes that there is good cause 
for the extension of the comment period. However, the agency does not 
believe that an extension of 60 days is warranted or would be in the 
public interest. NHTSA has determined that it is appropriate to extend 
the comment period for 30 days and that such extension is consistent 
with the public interest. Accordingly, the Advocates request to extend 
the comment period for an additional 60 days is denied, but the comment 
period is extended for a period of 30 days to July 5, 2000.

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

    Issued on June 2, 2000.
Stephen R. Kratzke,
Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.
[FR Doc. 00-14277 Filed 6-2-00; 12:34 pm]
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