[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 51 (Thursday, March 15, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15452-15453]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-6266]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2010-0053]


Visual-Manual NHTSA Driver Distraction Guidelines for In-Vehicle 
Electronic Devices

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

ACTION: Announcement of technical workshop.

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SUMMARY: On February 24, 2012, NHTSA published proposed Visual-Manual 
Driver Distraction Guidelines for In-Vehicle Electronic Devices. NHTSA 
is announcing a public workshop to discuss technical issues relevant to 
these proposed Guidelines. The workshop will include brief NHTSA 
presentations outlining the content of and basis for the Guidelines and 
will provide opportunities for the public to ask questions and present 
information on the technical aspects of the proposed Guidelines.

DATES: Technical Workshop. The technical workshop will be held on March 
23, 2012, at the location indicated in the ADDRESSES section below. The 
workshop will start at 9 a.m. and is scheduled to continue until 12 
p.m., local time. However, the workshop will continue beyond 12 p.m. if 
there are presenters who have not yet had a chance to make their 
presentation or if the presiding official believes that allowing the 
discussion to extend beyond that time would be beneficial. If you would 
like to attend the technical workshop and either make a presentation or 
participate in the discussion, please contact the person identified 
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT no later than March 16, 2012.
    Written comments. As announced in the proposal, to be assured of 
consideration, written comments on the proposed NHTSA Guidelines must 
be received by April 24, 2012 (77 FR 11200).

ADDRESSES: The March 23, 2012 technical workshop will be held at the 
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle and Research 
Test Center, 10820 State Route 347--Bldg. 60, East Liberty, Ohio 43319.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you would like to attend the 
technical workshop and either make a presentation or participate in the 
discussion, please contact Elizabeth Mazzae, by the date specified 
under DATES section above, at: Applied Crash Avoidance Research 
Division, Vehicle Research and Test Center, NHTSA, 10820 State Route 
347--Bldg. 60, East Liberty, Ohio 43319; Telephone (937) 666-4511; 
Facsimile: (937) 666-3590; email address: [email protected].
    Please provide her with the following information: Name, 
affiliation, address, email address, telephone and fax numbers, and 
indicate whether you require accommodations such as a sign language 
interpreter or translator or whether you plan to use technological aids 
(e.g., audio-visuals, computer slideshows).
    You may learn more about the proposed NHTSA Guidelines by visiting 
the Department of Transportation's Web site on distracted driving, 
Distraction.gov, NHTSA's Web site, www.nhtsa.gov, or by searching the 
public docket (NHTSA-2010-0053) at www.regulations.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The proposed NHTSA Guidelines are meant to 
promote safety by discouraging the introduction of excessively 
distracting devices in vehicles. These NHTSA Guidelines, which are 
voluntary, apply to communications, entertainment, information 
gathering, and navigation devices or functions that are not required to 
operate the vehicle safely and that are operated by the driver through 
visual-manual means (meaning

[[Page 15453]]

the driver looking at a device, manipulating a device-related control 
with the driver's hand, and watching for visual feedback).
    The proposed NHTSA Guidelines list certain secondary, non-driving 
related tasks that, based on NHTSA's research, are believed by the 
agency to interfere inherently with a driver's ability to safely 
control the vehicle. The Guidelines recommend that those in-vehicle 
devices be designed so that they cannot be used by the driver to 
perform such tasks while the driver is driving. For all other 
secondary, non-driving-related visual-manual tasks, the NHTSA 
Guidelines specify a test method for measuring the impact of performing 
those tasks on driving safety and time-based acceptance criteria for 
assessing whether a task interferes too much with driver attention to 
be suitable to be performed while driving. If a task does not meet the 
acceptance criteria, the NHTSA Guidelines recommend that in-vehicle 
devices be designed so that the task cannot be performed by the driver 
while driving.
    In addition to identifying inherently distracting tasks and 
providing a means for measuring and evaluating the level of distraction 
associated with other non-driving-related tasks, the NHTSA Guidelines 
set forth several design recommendations for in-vehicle devices in 
order to minimize their potential for distraction.
    The proposed NHTSA Guidelines were published in the Federal 
Register on February 24, 2012 (77 FR 11200) and are available on the 
Web pages listed above under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT and also 
in the rulemaking docket. The notice is also available at http://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/rulemaking/pdf/Distraction_NPFG-02162012.pdf.
    Background information concerning the proposal in particular and 
the problem of distracted driving in general is available at http://www.nhtsa.gov/About+NHTSA/Press+Releases/2012/U.S.+Department+of+Transportation+Proposes+'Distraction'+Guidelines+for+
Automakers and at http://www.distraction.gov/.
    The purpose of the public technical workshop is to provide 
interested parties with an opportunity to discuss issues relevant to 
the technical aspects of NHTSA's Visual-Manual Driver Distraction 
Guidelines. The workshop will include brief NHTSA presentations 
outlining the content and basis of the proposed Guidelines. The 
workshop will be held in a lab environment.
    Technical Workshop Procedures. Because the technical workshop will 
be located in a lab environment, NHTSA requests that the number of 
those attending from each affiliation be held to a minimum. For 
security purposes, photo identification is required to enter NHTSA's 
Vehicle Research and Test Center.
    NHTSA will conduct the workshop informally. Thus, technical rules 
of evidence will not apply. There will be an opportunity for attendees 
to make presentations and ask NHTSA staff questions related to the 
technical aspects of the proposed Guidelines.
    Once NHTSA establishes how many people have registered to make 
presentations at the workshop, we will allocate an appropriate amount 
of time to each participant, allowing time for necessary breaks. In 
addition, we will reserve a block of time for anyone else in the 
audience who wants to make a presentation.
    For planning purposes, each speaker should anticipate speaking for 
approximately 15-20 minutes, although we may need to shorten that time 
if there is a large turnout. We will accommodate your requested 
presentation time to the extent we can, consistent with the other 
requests we receive. We request that you bring three copies of your 
statement or other material (e.g., film clips and slides) so that it 
can be placed into the docket.
    If you plan to use technological aids (e.g., audio-visuals, 
computer slideshows), you must notify the contact person in the FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section above in advance of the meeting and 
make advance arrangements with that person regarding the use of any 
aids in order to facilitate set-up.
    Presenters wishing to provide supplementary information should 
submit it by the April 24th deadline for written comments. Written 
statements and supporting information submitted during the comment 
period will be considered with the same weight as oral comments and 
supporting information presented at the technical workshop.

    Issued on March 9, 2012.
David L. Strickland,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2012-6266 Filed 3-12-12; 4:15 pm]
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