[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 14 (Monday, January 22, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6759-6760]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-1702]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2001-8681]


Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Occupant Crash 
Protection; Review: Fatality Reduction by Safety Belts; 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 208, 
Occupant Crash Protection. The report's title is Fatality Reduction by 
Safety Belts for Front-Seat Occupants of Cars and Light Trucks: Updated 
and Expanded Estimates Based on 1986-99 FARS Data.

DATES: Comments must be received no later than May 22, 2001.

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. A summary 
of the report is available on the Internet for viewing on line at 
www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/regrev/evaluate/809199.html. The full 
report is available on the Internet in PDF format at www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/regrev/evaluate/pdf/809199.pdf.
    Comments: All comments should refer to the Docket number of this 
notice (NHTSA-2001-8681). 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: NHTSA estimated in 1984 that manual 3-point 
safety belts reduce the fatality risk of front-seat occupants of 
passenger cars by 45 percent relative to the unrestrained occupant. 
This critically important safety technology should be re-evaluated 
periodically to see if effectiveness estimates are still current and 
accurate. However, after 1985, the prime analysis technique for 
Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) data, double-pair comparison, 
began producing inflated, unreliable results. The technical report 
develops an empirical tool to adjust double-pair comparison analyses of 
1986-99 FARS data. It validates the adjustments by comparing the belt 
use of fatally injured people in certain types of crashes to belt use 
observed on the road in State and national surveys. These methods 
reconfirm the agency's earlier estimates of fatality reduction by 
manual 3-point belts: 45 percent in passenger cars and 60 percent in 
light trucks. Furthermore, they open the abundant 1986-99 FARS data to 
additional analyses, permitting point-estimation of belt effectiveness 
by crash type, occupant age and gender, belt type, vehicle type, etc.

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

    NHTSA welcomes public review of the technical report and invites 
reviewers to submit comments about the data and the statistical methods 
used in the analyses. NHTSA will submit to the Docket a response to the 
comments and, if appropriate, additional analyses that supplement or 
revise the technical report.

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-2001-8681) 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.

[[Page 6760]]

    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, or submit them 
electronically.

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:
    a. Go to the Docket Management System (DMS) Web page of the 
Department of Transportation (http://dms.dot.gov).
    b. On that page, click on ``search.''
    c. 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.''
    d. 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. 01-1702 Filed 1-19-01; 8:45 am]
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