[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 68 (Thursday, April 8, 2004)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 18496-18497]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-7962]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
49 CFR Part 571
[Docket No. NHTSA 2004-17471]
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Rearview Mirrors
Correction
AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, DOT.
ACTION: Correcting amendment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: On March 27, 1995, the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA) published a final rule amending the field of
view requirements for System A mirrors on school buses, such that those
mirrors will no longer be required to provide a view of the ground
forward of the rear wheels (60 FR 15690). Previously, System A mirrors
were required to provide a view of the area beneath those mirrors, a
view that overlapped with the vehicle's System B mirrors, which are
also required. The effective date of the amendment was April 26, 1995.
[[Page 18497]]
However, this new language was later inadvertently modified in two
later, substantively unrelated amendments.
This document corrects NHTSA's inadvertent modification of the
relevant regulatory language.
DATES: These amendments are effective May 10, 2004.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The following persons at the NHTSA,
400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590.
For non-legal issues, you may call Mr. Charles Hott, Office of
Crash Avoidance Standards (Telephone: 202-366-0247) (Fax: 202-366-
4329).
For legal issues, you may call Mr. Eric Stas, Office of Chief
Counsel (Telephone: 202-366-2992) (Fax: 202-366-3820).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
(FMVSS) No. 111, Rearview Mirrors, specifies requirements for the
performance and location of rearview mirrors on passenger cars,
multipurpose passenger vehicles, trucks, buses, school buses, and
motorcycles. The purpose of the standard is to reduce the number of
deaths and injuries that occur when the driver of a motor vehicle does
not have a clear and reasonably unobstructed view to the rear.
On March 27, 1995, the agency amended paragraphs S9.2(b)(1) and (2)
of FMVSS No. 111 to change the field of view requirements of System A
mirrors on school buses, which provide a view of the area beneath those
mirrors, along both sides of the bus, and to the rear of the bus (60 FR
15690). Under the final rule, System A mirrors were no longer required
to provide a view of the ground forward of the rear wheels, because
this field of view overlaps with that provided by the bus's required
System B mirrors, which provide a view of the area around the front of
the school bus and near the rear wheels. The intention was to modify
the standard's existing requirements such that school bus manufacturers
would no longer have to install either an additional convex mirror,
which creates a larger blind spot for the driver, or replace the
existing convex mirror with a highly curved convex mirror that produces
more distorted images.
In 1998, NHTSA published two final rules related to metric
conversion that, in part, amended FMVSS No. 111, but which
inadvertently resulted in unintended modification of the standard's
field of view requirements for school buses. In the final rule for
metric conversion, published in the Federal Register on May 27, 1998,
language was mistakenly inserted under paragraphs S9.2(b)(1) and (2) of
the standard that would require measurement from the mirror surface,
rather than maintaining proper focus on measurement from the
appropriate test cylinder (63 FR 28922). Subsequently, NHTSA published
a final rule; response to petitions for reconsideration in the Federal
Register on September 24, 1998 (63 FR 50995). In attempting to correct
an unrelated error brought to the agency's attention, a modification
intended for paragraph S9.3(b)(2) was inadvertently inserted at
S9.2(b)(2).
In light of the above, NHTSA is publishing this correcting
amendment to reinstate the appropriate regulatory language for field of
view measurement for System A mirrors on school buses, consistent with
both the March 27, 1995 final rule modifying FMVSS No. 111 and the 1998
final rules for metric conversion. We also are making the necessary
correction to S9.3(b)(2).
This amendment to the final rule is effective 30 days after the
date of publication in the Federal Register. Remedying this error on
the part of the agency will not impose any additional substantive
requirements or burdens on manufacturers. Therefore, NHTSA finds for
good cause that any notice of proposed rulemaking and opportunity for
comment on these amendments are not necessary.
List of Subjects in 49 CFR Part 571
Imports, Motor vehicle safety, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Tires.
PART 571--FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARDS
0
Accordingly, 49 CFR Part 571 is corrected by making the following
correcting amendment:
0
1. The authority citation for Part 571 of Title 49 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 49 U.S.C. 322, 30111, 30115, 30117, and 30166;
delegation of authority at 49 CFR 1.50.
0
2. Section 571.111 is amended by revising S9.2 and S9.3 to read as
follows:
Sec. 571.111 Standard No. 111; Rearview mirrors.
* * * * *
S9.2. System A shall be located with stable supports so that the
portion of the system on the bus's left side, and the portion on its
right side, each:
(a) Includes at least one mirror of unit magnification with not
less than 323 cm\2\ of reflective surface; and
(b) Includes one or more mirrors which together provide, at the
driver's eye location, a view of:
(1) For the mirror system on the right side of the bus, the entire
top surface of cylinder N in Figure 2, and that area of the ground
which extends rearward from cylinder N to a point not less than 61
meters from the mirror surface.
(2) For the mirror system on the left side of the bus, the entire
top surface of cylinder M in Figure 2, and that area of the ground
which extends rearward from cylinder M to a point not less than 61
meters from the mirror surface.
S9.3(a) For each of the cylinders A through P whose entire top
surface is not directly visible from the driver's eye location, System
B shall provide, at that location:
(1) A view of the entire top surface of that cylinder.
(2) A view of the ground that overlaps with the view of the ground
provided by System A.
(b) Each mirror installed in compliance with S9.3(a) shall meet the
following requirements:
(1) Each mirror shall have a projected area of at least 258
cm2, as measured on a plane at a right angle to the mirror's
axis.
(2) Each mirror shall be located such that the distance from the
center point of the eye location of a 25th percentile adult female
seated in the driver's seat to the center of the mirror shall be at
least 95 cm.
(3) Each mirror shall have no discontinuities in the slope of the
surface of the mirror.
(4) Each mirror shall be installed with a stable support.
(c) Each school bus which has a mirror installed in compliance with
S9.3(a) that has an average radius of curvature of less than 889 mm, as
determined under S12, shall have a label visible to the seated driver.
The label shall be printed in a type face and color that are clear and
conspicuous. The label shall state the following:
``USE CROSS VIEW MIRRORS TO VIEW PEDESTRIANS WHILE BUS IS STOPPED.
DO NOT USE THESE MIRRORS TO VIEW TRAFFIC WHILE BUS IS MOVING. IMAGES IN
SUCH MIRRORS DO NOT ACCURATELY SHOW ANOTHER VEHICLE'S LOCATION.''
* * * * *
Issued: April 2, 2004.
Stephen R. Kratzke,
Associate Administrator for Rulemaking.
[FR Doc. 04-7962 Filed 4-7-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P