[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 17 (Thursday, January 27, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3975-3976]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-1467]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2005-20132]


Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Lives Saved by the 
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards and Their Costs; Technical 
Reports

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

ACTION: Request for comments on technical reports.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces NHTSA's publication of three technical 
reports estimating how many lives have been saved by vehicle safety 
technologies meeting the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, and 
their costs. The reports' titles are: Lives Saved by the Federal Motor 
Vehicle Safety Standards and Other Vehicle Safety Technologies, 1960-
2002, Passenger Cars and Light Trucks; Cost and Weight Added by the 
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards for Model Years 1968-2001 in 
Passenger Cars and Light Trucks; and Cost Per Life Saved by the Federal 
Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.

DATES: Comments must be received no later than May 27, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Report: The entire reports are available on the Internet for 
viewing on line in PDF format, and their summaries in HTML format at 
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/regrev/evaluate. You may also 
obtain copies of the reports free of charge by sending a self-addressed 
mailing label to Charles Kahane (NPO-131), National Highway Traffic 
Safety Administration, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590.
    Comments: You may submit comments (identified by DOT DMS Docket 
Number NHTSA-2005-20132) by any of the following methods:
     Web site: http://dms.dot.gov. Follow the instructions for 
submitting comments on the DOT electronic docket site.
     Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
     Mail: Docket Management Facility; U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Nassif Building, Room PL-401, 
Washington, DC 20590-001.
     Hand Delivery: Room PL-401 on the plaza level of the 
Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC, between 9 
a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
    You may call Docket Management at (202) 366-9324 and visit the 
Docket from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Charles Kahane, Chief, Evaluation 
Division, NPO-131, National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 
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/cars/rules/regrev/evaluate.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NHTSA began to evaluate the effectiveness of 
its Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) in 1975. By October 
2004, NHTSA had evaluated the effectiveness of virtually all the life-
saving technologies introduced in passenger cars or in light trucks 
(including pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles and vans) from about 
1960 up through the later 1990's. A statistical model estimates the 
number of lives saved from 1960 to 2002 by the combination of these 
life-saving technologies. Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) 
data for 1975-2002 document the actual crash fatalities in vehicles 
that, especially in recent years, include many safety technologies. 
Using NHTSA's published effectiveness estimates, the model estimates 
how many people would have died if the vehicles had not been equipped 
with any of the safety technologies. In addition to equipment meeting 
specific FMVSS, the model tallies lives saved by installations in 
advance of the FMVSS, back to 1960, and by non-compulsory improvements, 
such as the redesign of mid and lower instrument panels. FARS data have 
been available since 1975, but an extension of the model allows 
estimates of lives saved in 1960-1974.
    Vehicle safety technologies saved an estimated 328,551 lives from 
1960 through 2002. The annual number of lives saved grew quite steadily 
from 115 in 1960, when a small number of people used lap belts, to 
24,561 in 2002, when most cars and light trucks were equipped with 
numerous modern safety technologies and belt use on the road achieved 
75 percent.
    NHTSA likewise began to evaluate the cost of the FMVSS in 1975. 
Detailed engineering ``teardown'' analyses for representative samples 
of vehicles

[[Page 3976]]

estimate how much specific FMVSS add to the weight and the retail price 
of a vehicle. This process is also known as ``reverse engineering.'' By 
July 2004, NHTSA had evaluated virtually all the cost- and weight-
adding technologies introduced by 2001 in passenger cars or in light 
trucks in response to the FMVSS. The agency estimated the cost and 
weight added by all the FMVSS, and by each individual FMVSS, to model 
year 2001 passenger cars and light trucks, and also in all earlier 
model years, back to 1968. NHTSA estimates that the FMVSS added an 
average of $839 (in 2002 dollars) and 125 pounds to the average 
passenger car in model year 2001. Approximately four percent of the 
cost and four percent of the weight of an average new passenger car 
could be attributed to the FMVSS. An average of $711 (in 2002 dollars) 
and 86 pounds was added to the average light truck in model year 2001. 
Approximately three percent of the cost and two percent of the weight 
of an average new truck could be attributed to the FMVSS.
    NHTSA has evaluated both the life-saving benefits and the consumer 
cost for a substantial ``core'' group of safety technologies for 
passenger cars and light trucks. In 2002, these technologies added an 
estimated $11,353,000,000 (in 2002 dollars) to the cost of new cars and 
light trucks of that model year. They saved an estimated 20,851 lives 
in the cars and light trucks on the road during that calendar year. 
That amounts to $544,482 per life saved in 2002.

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

    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-2005-20132) 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.
    Please send two paper copies of your comments to Docket Management, 
submit them electronically, fax them, or use the Federal eRulemaking 
Portal. 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 Web site at http://dms.dot.gov and click on ``Help'' 
to obtain instructions. The fax number is 1-202-493-2251. To use the 
Federal eRulemaking Portal, go to http://www.regulations.gov and follow 
the online instructions for submitting comments.
    We also request, but do not require you to send a copy to Charles 
Kahane, Evaluation Division, NPO-131, 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 a.m. to 
5 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 ``Simple Search.''
    C. On the next page (http://dms.dot.gov/search/searchFormSimple.cfm/) type in the five-digit Docket number shown at 
the beginning of this Notice (20132). 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.

Joseph S. Carra,
Associate Administrator for the National Center for Statistics and 
Analysis.
[FR Doc. 05-1467 Filed 1-26-05; 8:45 am]
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