[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 52 (Friday, March 18, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13227-13229]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-5342]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2000-6940]


Anthropomorphic Test Devices; Denial of Petition for 
Reconsideration Regarding the Hybrid III 5th Percentile Female Test 
Dummy, Alpha Version

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

ACTION: Denial of petition for reconsideration.

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SUMMARY: This notice denies an August 29, 2002, petition for 
reconsideration submitted by DaimlerChrysler. The petitioner asked the 
agency to delay the effective date of the Hybrid III 5th Percentile 
Female Test Dummy, specified in the 49 CFR Part 572, Subpart O final 
rule, ``Response to Petitions for Reconsideration'' (67 FR 46400).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For non-legal issues: Mr. Sean Doyle, 
Office of Crashworthiness Standards, NVS-111, National Highway Traffic 
Safety Administration, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590. 
Telephone: (202) 366-1740. Facsimile: (202) 473-2629. Electronic Mail: 
[email protected].
    For legal issues: Mr. Christopher Calamita, Office of Chief 
Counsel, NCC-112, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 400 
Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590. Telephone: (202) 366-2992. 
Facsimile: (202) 366-3820. Electronic Mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    DaimlerChrysler petitioned the National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration (NHTSA), in a letter dated August 29, 2002, to delay the 
September 13, 2002, effective date for the dummy specified in the Part 
572, Subpart O final rule (67 FR 46400) until all issues related to the 
neck are resolved.
    In the mid 1990's, there had been serious concern regarding air bag 
related fatalities and injuries to small female drivers seated close to 
deploying air bags in low speed crashes. Crash data showed that small-
stature women often experienced a higher potential for serious injury 
in low speed crashes, even when properly restrained. To help deal with 
these concerns, NHTSA published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) 
on September 18, 1998, to upgrade Federal Motor Vehicle

[[Page 13228]]

Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 208, ``Occupant crash protection'' (63 FR 
49958). The NPRM proposed that vehicles be equipped with advanced air 
bags that meet new and more rigorous performance requirements. The NPRM 
proposed alternative options for complying with the new set of 
performance requirements to ensure that new air bags were designed to 
avoid causing injury to a broad array of occupants. After receiving 
public comments, the agency published a supplemental notice of proposed 
rulemaking (SNPRM) on November 5, 1999, for FMVSS No. 208 (64 FR 60556) 
outlining the proposed Nij neck injury criterion. DaimlerChrysler 
submitted comments on December 23, 1999, (NHTSA Docket No. NHTSA-99-
6407) in response to the SNPRM citing its concerns over the need and 
usefulness of the Nij specification as an adequate neck injury measure 
in the advanced air bag rule, and questioning the sufficiency of the 
Hybrid III neck to measure appropriately the injury producing forces 
and movements as they relate to the human neck.
    Complementing the November 5, 1999, proposed rulemaking, the agency 
incorporated in 49 CFR Part 572 the specifications for the Hybrid III 
5th Percentile Female Test Dummy (65 FR 10961) on March 1, 2000. This 
dummy was incorporated to permit assessment of the potential for injury 
to small-stature adults and teenagers in frontal crashes and to 
facilitate the development of technologies that would minimize the risk 
of injury from deploying air bags, in part, through application of Nij 
as an injury assessment measure. In response to the March 1, 2000, 
final rule, DaimlerChrysler submitted a petition for reconsideration on 
April 14, 2000, again stating its concern with the need for and use of 
Nij and the adequacy of the HIII 5th Percentile Female Dummy's neck.
    After consideration of DaimlerChrysler's and others' comments to 
the November 1999 SNPRM, the agency published a final rule amending 
FMVSS No. 208 on May 12, 2000 (65 FR 30680), adopting the proposed neck 
injury criteria. Since the publication of the advanced air bag final 
rule, DaimlerChrysler has submitted additional petitions to FMVSS No. 
208 on June 26, 2000, and February 1, 2002, reiterating its previous 
objection regarding Nij and the Hybrid III 5th Percentile Female Test 
Dummy's neck.
    The agency first addressed DaimlerChrysler's petitions for 
reconsideration concerning the adequacy of the Nij and the Hybrid III 
5th Percentile Female Test Dummy's neck in the response to petitions 
for reconsideration of the advanced air bag rulemaking published on 
December 18, 2001 (66 FR 65376). On July 15, 2002, the agency likewise 
denied the DaimlerChrysler petition for reconsideration (submitted 
April 14, 2000) of the adoption of the Hybrid III 5th Percentile Female 
into 49 CFR Part 571, Subpart O (67 FR 46400).

Analysis

    In its petition for reconsideration dated August 29, 2002, 
DaimlerChrysler claimed that it either did not clearly communicate its 
position in its April 14, 2000, petition for reconsideration of the 
final rule (Subpart O) or NHTSA misinterpreted what DaimlerChrysler was 
attempting to convey. In particular DaimlerChrysler stated that:
    1. DaimlerChrysler only petitioned to discontinue use of the Nij in 
conjunction with the Hybrid-III neck and did not petition to 
discontinue use of the neck;
    2. The agency believes that DaimlerChrysler contends that the neck 
muscles do not contribute to global moments of the neck, when 
DaimlerChrysler's position is that moments generated due to neck 
muscles do not contribute to injury; and
    3. The agency did not address DaimlerChrysler's claim that the 
basis of the moment component of the Nij is the local moments, and that 
the global moments (the moments measured by the Hybrid III [neck]) 
cannot be used to estimate the local moments.
    4. DaimlerChrysler questioned the accuracy of the response of the 
Hybrid III dummy neck with regards to the moments recorded when there 
was little head rotation.
    After consideration of DaimlerChrysler's August 29, 2002, petition 
for reconsideration of 49 CFR Part 572, Subpart O final rule, NHTSA 
concludes that there is no reasonable justification to delay the 
implementation date of the Hybrid III 5th Percentile Female Test Dummy 
final rule as the petitioner requested. The issues in this petition for 
reconsideration were raised by DaimlerChrysler previously, twice in 
petitions of FMVSS No. 208 (June 26, 2000, Docket No. 00-7013 and 
February 1, 2002, Docket No. 01-1110) and once in a petition of 49 CFR 
Part 572 (April 14, 2000, Docket No. 00-6940). The agency fully 
understood and considered the issues raised by DaimlerChrysler when it 
denied those three previous petitions. The agency does not believe it 
is appropriate to challenge the validity of Nij in a petition for 
reconsideration of a rule implementing or amending 49 CFR Part 572, 
Subpart O, since the Nij neck injury criteria is specified in FMVSS No. 
208 and is not relevant to 49 CFR Part 572.
    NHTSA fully understands that DaimlerChrysler only petitioned to 
discontinue use of the Nij in conjunction with the Hybrid III neck and 
did not petition to completely discontinue use of the neck. NHTSA 
acknowledges the likelihood that injury causing moments are those of 
the ligamentous spine when some moment levels are exceeded, as does the 
agency acknowledge that the global neck moments, measured by the Hybrid 
III dummy neck, may include some contribution from the muscle pairs, as 
well as the local moment at the occipital condyle (OC). However, the 
agency disagrees that Nij cannot be used with the Hybrid III dummy 
neck, since the criteria was developed and validated for that 
particular dummy neck.\1\ Furthermore, the Nij was adjusted to account 
for possible muscle contribution.
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    \1\ ``Development of Improved Injury Criteria for the Assessment 
of Advanced Automotive Restraint Systems--II'' and ``Supplemental: 
Development of Improved Injury Criteria for the Assessment of 
Advanced Automotive Restraint Systems--II'' (NHTSA Docket  
1999-6407).
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    DaimlerChrysler also questioned the accuracy of the response of the 
Hybrid III dummy neck with regards to the moments recorded when there 
was little head rotation. The agency's analysis of air bag loading 
patterns with the Hybrid III neck showed that in nearly all cases with 
high moments at the OC, there was also a corresponding high shear force 
caused by direct contact between the air bag and the neck. This 
correlation between a high OC moment and high shear force measured by 
the upper and lower neck load cells were recorded only when the air bag 
directly contacted the neck. Moreover, this direct neck contact did not 
always result in significant head rotation. The agency, therefore, 
believes the moments being recorded are appropriate because they are 
partly accounted for by the shear force that is occurring during 
contact.
    Lastly, the Transportation Equity Act (TEA 21) initially specified 
the implementation of advanced air bags by September 1, 2002. The 
agency used provisions allowed in the Act to extend the implementation 
date from September 1, 2002 to September 1, 2003, (January 1, 2003, 
Docket No. 02-14270). To further ease the transition, a phase-in period 
was established with the first year of implementation reduced

[[Page 13229]]

to 20% of the vehicle production.\2\ Consequently, 20% of the vehicle 
fleet already complies with the advanced air bag requirements, and 
within the next few months the majority of the vehicle fleet (65% of 
model year 2005 vehicles) will comply with the advanced air bag 
requirements. To date, there have been no manufacturers unable to meet 
the FMVSS No. 208 Nij requirements.
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    \2\ The second year of the phase-in requires 65% of the 
production to comply with the advanced air bag requirement.
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Conclusion

    Inasmuch as the DaimlerChrysler's petition did not provide further 
test data to support its petition, and the Nij limits are practicable 
and have contributed to the elimination of special risks for small-
statured occupants, the agency finds no reason or justification for 
giving the DaimlerChrysler petition further consideration. Accordingly, 
the DaimlerChrysler Petition for Reconsideration of August 29, 2002, is 
hereby denied.

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

    Issued on: March 14, 2005.
Stephen R. Kratzke,
Associate Administrator for Rulemaking.
[FR Doc. 05-5342 Filed 3-17-05; 8:45 am]
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