[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 220 (Tuesday, November 16, 2004)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 67068-67069]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-25425]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 571

[Docket No. NHTSA 2004-19216]
RIN 2127-AD08


Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Seating Systems

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

ACTION: Termination of rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: This notice terminates a rulemaking proceeding to amend 
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 207, ``Seating 
systems.'' NHTSA is seeking to improve motor vehicle seat performance 
in rear impacts. The agency has conducted extensive physical testing of 
seat backs, computer modeling of seated occupants in rear impacts and 
dynamic testing of instrumented test dummies in vehicle seats. However, 
additional research and data analyses are needed to allow an informed 
decision on a rulemaking action in this area. Since the Semi-Annual 
Regulatory Agenda (Unified Agenda) is intended to provide the public 
with information on rulemaking actions to be taken in the next year or 
so, and since we do not anticipate being able to take rulemaking action 
in this area in that time frame, we are terminating rulemaking 
proceedings on this issue. Research into this area will continue as 
time and resources allow, particularly as it relates to the goal of 
unifying FMVSS No. 202, ``Head restraints,'' and FMVSS No. 207 into a 
single comprehensive rear impact protection standard.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For non-legal issues: Louis Molino, 
Office of Crashworthiness Standards, NVS-112, National Highway Traffic 
Safety Administration, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590. 
Telephone (202) 366-1833. Fax: (202) 366-4329.
    For legal issues: Eric Stas, Office of Chief Counsel, NCC-112, 
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 400 Seventh Street, 
SW., Washington, DC 20590. Telephone: (202) 366-2992. Fax: (202) 366-
3820.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents

I. Background
II. Agency Activities
III. Agency Rationale for Terminating Rulemaking

[[Page 67069]]

I. Background

    The agency's rulemaking activity related to the upgrade of seat 
back strength dates back to 1974. On March 19, 1974, NHTSA published a 
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for FMVSS No. 207 in the Federal 
Register (39 FR 10268).\1\ The NPRM proposed to: (1) Extend 
applicability of FMVSS No. 202 to front seats in multipurpose passenger 
vehicles (MPVs) and light trucks, and bus driver seats manufactured 
after September 1, 1976; (2) establish barrier crash testing for cars, 
MPVs, and light trucks; and (3) consolidate FMVSS No. 202 with FMVSS 
No. 207 because of the relationship between head restraints and seats.
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    \1\ NHTSA Docket No. 74-13; Notice 1.
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    On March 16, 1978, NHTSA published a Federal Register notice \2\ 
(43 FR 11100) that invited public comments on a draft plan for motor 
vehicle safety and fuel economy rulemaking over a five year period 
(1980-1984). It noted that there were 13 active dockets for which 
actions had not been completed because limited resources were directed 
toward higher priority actions, the magnitude of the problem was not 
large, or NHTSA was unable to adequately document the nature and extent 
of the problem, and the notice stated that the agency contemplated 
terminating those actions. The NPRM to upgrade FMVSS No. 207 and 
combine it with FMVSS No. 202 was among those 13 actions. On April 26, 
1979, then-Administrator Claybrook signed and published the ``Five Year 
Plan for Motor Vehicle and Fuel Economy Rulemaking, Calendar Years 
1980-1984'' which confirmed the termination of the rulemaking for the 
FMVSS No. 207 upgrade and FMVSS No. 202 consolidation. Since 1989, 
NHTSA has granted four petitions related to seating system performance 
in rear impacts.
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    \2\ Docket No. 78-07; Notice 1.
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    Improving seating system performance is more complex than simply 
increasing the strength of the seat back. A proper balance in seat back 
strength and compatible interaction with head restraints and seat belts 
must be obtained to optimize injury mitigation. Comprehensive 
information needed to determine that proper balance is not available, 
although there has been work on pieces of the problem.

II. Agency Activities

    To remedy this, the agency has funded and/or performed research 
related to the issue of seat performance in rear impacts as priorities 
and resources have allowed. For example, NHTSA funded the University of 
Virginia to perform seat computer modeling to assess how changes in 
seat design might affect occupant kinematics in rear impacts.\3\ 
Similarly, EASi Engineering Inc., was awarded a multi-year contract to 
address design issues for an advanced seat.\4\ One of the parameters it 
assessed under that contract was rear seat performance. The agency 
itself performed static tests on 25 different vehicle seat designs to 
determine their force deflection characteristics.\5\ More recently, 
NHTSA has funded dynamic sled testing of seats and seat mock-ups in 
simulated rear impacts at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics 
Laboratory.\6\ \7\ In addition, over the past several years, the agency 
has added extra instrumentation to the test dummies and seats in 
vehicles tested under the FMVSS No. 301 rear impact compliance test 
program.
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    \3\ Docket Management System NHTSA 1998-4064-24.
    \4\ Docket Management System NHTSA 1998-4064-27.
    \5\ Docket Management System NHTSA-1998-4064-26.
    \6\ Kleinberger M, Voo LM, Merkle A, Bevan M, Chang S: The Role 
of Seatback and Head Restraint Design Parameters on Rear Impact 
Occupant Dynamics. Proceedings of 18th International Technical 
Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles, Paper 18ESV-
000229, Nagoya, Japan, May 19-22, 2003.
    \7\ Voo LM, Merkle A, Wright J, and Kleinberger, M: Effect of 
Head-Restraint Rigidity on Whiplash Injury Risk. Proceedings of 2004 
SAE World Congress, Paper 2004-01-0332, Detroit, MI, March 
8-11, 2004.
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    Through these programs, as well as through the work of other 
researchers outside the agency, we have improved our understanding of 
how seat performance affects rear impact occupant protection. Part of 
that understanding relates to how head restraints and seat backs work 
together. This understanding helped to guide the agency in formulating 
its proposal to upgrade FMVSS No. 202 (66 FR 968). As the agency 
developed that proposal, we kept in mind that our eventual goal is to 
evaluate the performance of head restraints and seat backs as a single 
system to protect occupants, just as they work in the real world, 
instead of evaluating their performance separately as individual 
components.

III. Agency Rationale for Terminating Rulemaking

    Although the agency has a better understanding of the issues 
associated with seat performance in rear impacts at various speeds, 
further studies are needed to allow NHTSA to develop a proposed upgrade 
to FMVSS No. 207 that will effectively balance seat back strength and 
interaction with other vehicle attributes.
    In addition, it continues to be a challenge to assess the potential 
benefits of regulatory strategies for improving seat performance in 
higher speed rear impacts. Although there is anecdotal evidence of 
occupant injury due to poor seat performance resulting in occupant-to-
occupant contact, contact with the vehicle interior, or even ejections, 
it remains a difficult task to assess the scope of this problem on a 
national level. According to the National Automotive Sampling System 
(NASS) Crashworthiness Data System (CDS), rear impacts represent about 
8 percent of crashes severe enough to make it necessary for a vehicle 
to be towed from the crash scene. In comparison, frontal crashes 
represent 56 percent; side crashes, 26 percent; and rollover crashes, 8 
percent (NASS annualized data 1992-2001). However, rear impacts cause 
less than two percent of moderate-to-severe injuries. Similarly, the 
Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) shows that about 3 percent of 
all traffic crash fatalities involved occupants of vehicles struck in 
the rear (FARS annualized data 1998-2002). Thus, in comparison to other 
crash modes, there is considerably less data available to assess the 
potential benefits of upgrading FMVSS No. 207 for higher speed rear 
impacts. The problem associated with the relatively small number of 
moderate-to-severe injuries in rear impacts is compounded by the 
difficulty in determining the extent to which those injuries can be 
attributed to seat performance.
    We have concluded that further study is needed to make a definitive 
determination of the relative merits of different potential rulemaking 
approaches in this area. Accordingly, we have decided that we should 
remove this rulemaking from the Semi-Annual Regulatory Agenda (Unified 
Agenda) because rulemaking action is not anticipated in the near 
future. However, the agency will continue to monitor issues related to 
rear impact protection, and specifically the performance of seats in 
this crash mode. Research into this area will continue as priorities 
allow, particularly as it relates to the goal of unifying FMVSS Nos. 
202 and 207 into a single comprehensive rear impact protection 
standard.

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

    Issued on: November 9, 2004.
Stephen R. Kratzke,
Associate Administrator for Rulemaking.
[FR Doc. 04-25425 Filed 11-15-04; 8:45 am]
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