[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 245 (Monday, December 22, 2003)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 71057-71058]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-31490]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 57l

[Docket No. NHTSA-2003-16487 Notice 1]


Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Denial of Petition For 
Rulemaking

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

ACTION: Denial of petition for rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: Based on the agency's evaluation, NHTSA denies a petition for 
rulemaking from the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (AAM) to amend 
S4(d) and S4(f)(4) of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 
214, ``Side impact protection,'' which specifies the travel distance of 
the loading device in the quasi-static door crush test. NHTSA believes 
that the rulemaking is unnecessary because granting the proposed 
amendments would not result in a substantive change in the performance 
requirements of the standard nor change the way that both the 
manufacturers and the agency may test the vehicle.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The following persons at the National 
Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 400 Seventh Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20590:
    For non-Legal Issues: Mr. Philip Oh, Office of Crashworthiness 
Standards, NVS-112, telephone (202) 493-0195, facsimile (202) 493-2290, 
electronic mail: [email protected].
    For Legal Issues: Ms. Deirdre Fujita, Office of the Chief Counsel, 
NCC-112, telephone (202) 366-2992, facsimile (202) 366-3820.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Sections S3 and S4 of Federal Motor Vehicle Standard (FMVSS) No. 
214, ``Side impact protection,'' establish quasi-static door crush 
resistance requirements and the associated test procedures. The current 
specifications require the door crush test device to displace over a 
full 457 millimeters (mm) (18 inches), the average force to be 
calculated at 152 mm (6 inches) and 305

[[Page 71058]]

mm (12 inches), and the peak crush resistance to be determined over the 
entire 457 mm (18 inches) of crush. Currently, the minimum requirement 
for the peak crush resistance is 3.5 times the curb weight of the 
vehicle or 53,397 Newtons (N) (12,000 lb.), whichever is less (2 times 
or 31,148 N (7,000 lb.) if the seats are removed).

AAM Petition

    On August 27, 2002, AAM submitted a petition for rulemaking 
concerning the travel distance of the loading device in the quasi-
static door crush test. The test procedure described in S4(d) of FMVSS 
No. 214 requires the loading device in the quasi-static door crush test 
to be displaced over a full 457 mm (18 inches) of travel. AAM asserts 
that for vehicles with stiffer side door structures designed for 
dynamic side impact protection, the requirement for the peak crush 
resistance is often attained well before 457 mm (18 inches) of travel. 
Therefore, if the requirement for the peak crush resistance is attained 
before the full 457 mm (18 inches) of travel, AAM contends that any 
further door crush test is unnecessary. In addition, AAM points out 
that NHTSA's Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance's (OVSC) test 
procedure already allows for the flexibility in its testing. The test 
procedure states that ``if after 12 inches of loading device travel, 
the peak crush resistance has been obtained, the test may be stopped if 
prior approval has been obtained from the OVSC Contracting Officer 
Technical Representative (COTR).''
    AAM petitioned the agency to amend S4(d) by rewording the second 
sentence as: If the peak crush resistance of either S3.1.3 or S3.2.3 is 
not attained within 12 inches of loading device travel, continue the 
loading device application until the peak crush resistance is attained 
or until 18 inches of travel is reached, whichever comes first.'' Also, 
to be consistent with the proposed change to S4(d), AAM petitioned that 
S4(f)(4) also be amended as: ``The peak crush resistance is the largest 
force recorded over the entire distance traveled to comply with 
S4(d).'' AAM believes that these amendments would improve the 
objectivity and practicability of the standard and are consistent with 
motor vehicle safety.

Analysis

    NHTSA agrees that vehicles with stiff side door structures often 
attain the peak resistance requirement before 457 mm (18 inches) of 
travel. However, the suggested amendments would not lead to a 
substantive change to the standard's performance requirements and do 
not warrant the agency resources that would be needed to undertake 
rulemaking on this matter. As stated in the standard, the door is to be 
crushed a full 457 mm (18 inches) to allow for the required peak crush 
resistance to be attained. To comply with the safety standard, 
manufacturers are required to ensure this performance requirement is 
met using the test procedure written in the regulatory text. However, 
the agency does not regulate the procedure used by manufacturers to 
ensure compliance of the vehicle. Manufacturers may choose to stop the 
test procedure at any point if they believe it is sufficient to ensure 
compliance to the requirements of the standard using the regulatory 
text test procedure.
    As AAM noted, OVSC may stop the test if, after 305 mm (12 inches) 
of crush, the peak resistance requirement is met and prior approval 
from the COTR is obtained. OVSC may stop the test if they believe 
enough data has been gathered to determine compliance or non-compliance 
under the regulatory test procedure. For example, OVSC may elect to do 
this to preserve the remaining structure of the vehicle for other 
compliance test purposes. However, under the same test procedure, OVSC 
may instead elect to conduct the test over the full 457 mm (18 inches) 
for agency research or other purposes.
    AAM argued that the peak force is often attained within 305 mm (12 
inches) of loading device travel, and that continuation of side 
structure loading after the peak force is reached results in 
unrepresentative deformation and loading of the door components. AAM 
did not provide any data to substantiate this claim, nor does NHTSA 
have any. In any event, the agency does not see why the deformation of 
the vehicle subsequent to cessation of the test is relevant to the 
petitioner's requested amendment.
    In accordance with 49 CFR part 552, this completes the agency's 
review of the petition for rulemaking. NHTSA believes that the 
suggested amendments would not change the performance requirements, nor 
change the way that both the manufacturers and the agency may test the 
vehicle. Thus, after considering the allocation of agency resources and 
agency priorities, NHTSA has decided that the rulemaking requested by 
the petitioner is not warranted. Accordingly, rulemaking on the 
petition is denied.

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30162; delegation of authority at 49 CFR 
1.50 and 501.8.

    Issued on: December 17, 2003.
Stephen R. Kratzke,
Associate Administrator for Rulemaking.
[FR Doc. 03-31490 Filed 12-19-03; 8:45 am]
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