[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 31 (Thursday, February 14, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8743-8744]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-2521]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2008-0016, Notice 1]


NHTSA's Activities Under the United Nations Economic Commission 
for Europe 1998 Global Agreement: Head Restraints

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

ACTION: Request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NHTSA is publishing this notice to inform the public that 
there may be a vote to adopt the Global Technical Regulation (GTR) on 
Head Restraints at the March 2008 session of the World Forum for 
Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29). In anticipation of this 
vote, NHTSA is requesting comments on this GTR to inform its decision 
for the vote. Publication of this information is in accordance with 
NHTSA's Statement of Policy regarding Agency Policy Goals and Public 
Participation in the Implementation of the 1998 Global Agreement on 
Global Technical Regulations.

DATES: Written comments may be submitted to this agency by March 6, 
2008.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments [identified by DOT Docket No. NHTSA-
2008-0016, Notice 1] by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
     Mail: Docket Management Facility: U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., West Building Ground 
Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: West Building Ground Floor, Room 
W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, 
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. Telephone: 1-800-647-
5527.
     Fax: 202-493-2251.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and 
docket number for this proposed collection of information. Note that 
all comments received will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided. 
Please see the Privacy Act heading below.
    Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all 
comments received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual 
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf 
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review DOT's 
complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register published on 
April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477-78) or you may visit http://DocketInfo.dot.gov.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov and follow the 
online instructions, or visit the Docket Management Facility at the 
street address listed above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Ezana Wondimneh, Chief, 
International Policy and Harmonization (NVS-133), National Highway 
Traffic Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, 
DC 20590-0001; Phone: 202-366-2117, Fax: 202-493-2990.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On December 14, 2004, NHTSA published a 
final rule upgrading Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 
202, ``Head Restraints.'' (64 FR 74847) In upgrading the existing 
FMVSS, NHTSA adopted into the FMVSS many of the requirements which 
already existed in the head restraint regulation of the United Nations 
Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), and which provided improved 
safety over then existing FMVSS. However, in instances where 
opportunities existed to achieve increased safety in a cost effective 
manner or to better enforce our standard, the agency went beyond or 
took an approach different from that in the UNECE regulation. One 
important area in which the FMVSS achieved increased safety over the 
current UNECE regulation was in the addition of a backset requirement 
(the distance between the head restraint and the back of the head) to 
reduce whiplash injuries.
    In anticipation of these differences between the FMVSS and the 
UNECE regulation, in its October 8, 2004 notice on the status of 
NHTSA's participation under the 1998 Agreement (69 FR 60460), NHTSA 
sought comments on whether the U.S. should sponsor a GTR on head 
restraints. NHTSA thought that a GTR in this area would not be 
difficult to achieve given the level of harmonization that already 
existed between the U.S. and UNECE regulations. In addition, NHTSA 
believed that much would be gained from such an effort worldwide. The 
GTR will incorporate the newly adopted backset requirements from the 
U.S. regulation, thus improving safety in countries that do not have a 
backset requirement. The GTR will also harmonize any remaining 
differences between the UNECE regulation and the FMVSS, creating a 
common regulatory framework and paving the way for future cooperation 
in the area of rear impact and whiplash injury reduction. No comments 
were received from the U.S. public objecting to NHTSA's sponsorship and 
pursuit of this GTR. Many countries participating in the United 
Nations' process under the 1998 Agreement also welcomed the U.S. 
leadership. Since whiplash injuries are not unique to the United 
States, countries around the world had strong incentive to cooperate in 
order to address the social and economic impacts of these injuries.
    During the November 2004 meeting of WP.29, NHTSA gained the 
approval of the Executive Committee of the 1998 Global Agreement (AC.3) 
to begin the development of a Head Restraints GTR. The proposal was 
referred to the Working Party on Passive Safety (GRSP). In February 
2005, the GRSP formed an informal working group, chaired by the United 
States, to develop the GTR.
    In developing and drafting the new GTR, the working group combined 
elements from UNECE Regulations Nos. 17 and 25, and the newly upgraded 
FMVSS No. 202. The group also

[[Page 8744]]

reviewed new research which led to the inclusion of requirements not 
contained in the previously mentioned regulations and discussed areas 
of further research which could be addressed in a second phase to this 
GTR. In an October 10, 2006 (71 FR 59582) notice, NHTSA described the 
interim progress on the head restraint GTR and sought comments. NHTSA 
did not receive comments. The informal working group has completed 
drafting the GTR, and at the December 2007 session of GRSP the GTR was 
recommended to WP.29/AC.3 for a vote at its March 2008 Session.
    The U.S. successfully argued for the inclusion of a backset 
requirement in the GTR. The backset requirement and measurement 
procedure in the GTR are as specified in FMVSS No. 202. The Group of 
Experts studied and evaluated the extent to which the choice of 
reference point has an impact on the level of stringency. The two 
reference points in question are H-point, which is the actual hip point 
of the dummy sitting in the seat, and the R-point, which is the 
theoretical hip point of the dummy that manufacturers use when 
designing a vehicle. The R-point is the same as the seating reference 
point (SgRP) when the seat is set in the rearmost seating position. 
Both have been used in U.S. regulations. Currently, the FMVSS No. 202 
relies on the H-point, while the UNECE regulation relies on the R-
point. The group of experts found that for the backset measurement, the 
choice of reference point does have an impact on stringency. To that 
end, they sought to determine an equivalent limit between the two 
reference points. The group found that requirements with the R-point 
should be 45 mm to provide equivalent stringency as the 55 mm 
requirement when using the H-point. The GTR provides the flexibility 
for contracting parties to decide on the reference point provided that 
they make the necessary adjustments to the requirements to make them 
equivalent. Contracting parties choosing the H-point requirement will 
use the 55 mm backset requirement while those opting for R-point will 
use the 45 mm requirement. Since H-point and the 55 mm backset 
requirement have been established in the U.S. regulation and it is the 
preferred option in the GTR, NHTSA will continue to require it. 
However, with respect to all other measurements, the group of experts 
found that the reference point should not impact stringency and 
therefore, it was agreed that the R-point should be specified in the 
GTR. Providing that cost-benefit analysis confirms that there will be 
no impact on benefits in the U.S., the U.S. will propose using R-point 
in its compliance testing for all measurements other than backset.
    The agency believes that this GTR will improve the current U.S. 
regulation and provide significant benefits in other countries which 
adopt this GTR, due to the backset requirement. This GTR also 
harmonizes all existing international regulations on head restraints, 
creating a common regulatory base to which further harmonized 
improvements could be added. The European Union and Japan have been 
conducting extensive research in the area of rear impact, particularly 
as it pertains to more biofidelic anthropomorphic dummies. WP.29 has 
already approved the concept of a Phase 2 for head restraints to 
consider this research. Working from common regulatory requirements, 
the U.S. believes there will be the possibility of preventing more 
whiplash injuries in the future, looking at the seat and the head 
restraint as a system.
    The GTR is expected to be voted on at the March 2008 session of 
WP.29 and AC.3. In anticipation of this vote, NHTSA is again requesting 
comments on this GTR. Once the GTR is established through consensus 
voting at WP.29, NHTSA will initiate domestic rulemaking to amend its 
existing FMVSS to incorporate approved provisions of the GTR. This will 
allow for further opportunity to consider comments from interested 
parties through the usual rulemaking process. If NHTSA's rulemaking 
process leads it to either not adopt or to modify aspects of the GTR, 
the agency will seek to amend the GTR in accordance with established 
procedures under the 1998 Global Agreement and WP.29, as it recently 
did with the door lock GTR.

    Issued on: February 5, 2008.
Stephen R. Kratzke,
Associate Administrator for Rulemaking.
 [FR Doc. E8-2521 Filed 2-13-08; 8:45 am]
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