[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 184 (Tuesday, September 23, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56777-56779]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-22556]


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CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION

[Docket No. CPSC-2012-0048]


Request for Information Regarding Passenger Use of ATVs

AGENCY: U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC or Commission) is 
issuing a notice seeking information from the public on the prevalence 
of carrying passengers on all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and the 
feasibility of a performance requirement that would prevent passengers 
from being carried on ATVs.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted by November 24, 2014.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CPSC-2012-
0048 by any of the following methods:
    Electronic Submissions: Submit electronic comments in the following 
way:
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments. To ensure timely processing of 
comments, the Commission is no longer accepting comments submitted by 
electronic mail (email) except through http://www.regulations.gov.
    Written Submissions: Submit written submissions in the following 
way:
    Mail/Hand delivery/Courier (for paper, disk, or CD-ROM submissions) 
preferably in five copies, to: Office of the Secretary, U.S. Consumer 
Product Safety Commission, Room 820, 4330 East West Highway, Bethesda, 
MD 20814; telephone (301) 504-7923.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name 
and docket number for this notice. All comments received may be posted 
without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal 
information provided. Do not submit confidential business information, 
trade secret information, or other sensitive or protected information 
(such as a Social Security Number) electronically; if furnished at all, 
such information should be submitted in writing.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Hope Nesteruk, Project Manager, 
Directorate for Engineering Sciences, U.S. Consumer Product Safety 
Commission, National Product Testing and Evaluation Center, 5 Research 
Place, Rockville, MD 20850, 301-987-2579; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    Since the 1980s, the CPSC has addressed ATV safety through various 
activities, including rulemaking, recalls, consumer education, media 
outreach following fatal incidents, and litigation. Despite these 
activities, ATV-related fatalities continue to be one of the largest 
categories of consumer product-related deaths. ATV safety, therefore, 
remains an ongoing Commission concern. Most recently, to assess the 
impact of passenger use of ATVs, the Commission Fiscal Year 2014 
Operating Plan tasked CPSC staff with ``assessing the inclusion of a 
performance standard related to preventing passengers on ATVs'' in the 
Commission's open rulemaking on ATVs. Accordingly, this request for 
information (RFI) seeks information from stakeholders related to 
passenger use of ATVs. CPSC staff will use information gathered from 
this RFI to assist in developing recommended courses of action for 
Commission consideration as to whether a performance requirement to 
prevent passenger use of ATVs is appropriate. Interested parties may 
provide information on the prevalence of passenger use and the reasons 
why passengers ride on ATVs; potential means of preventing passengers 
from being carried on ATVs not intended for that purpose; and potential 
impacts of these requirements on the utility of ATVs. Interested 
parties also may provide information on possible changes to ATV design 
that may prevent passenger use, and information on whether these 
changes could be translated into a performance standard.

II. Background

A. ATV-Related Activities Since 2006

    In October 2005, the Commission published in the Federal Register 
an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) for ATVs under the 
Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA) and the Federal Hazardous Substances 
Act (FHSA). Subsequently, in August 2006, the Commission issued a 
notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR) that proposed:
     Informational and training requirements for four-wheeled, 
adult, single-rider and tandem ATVs;
     Technical performance requirements for four-wheeled, 
adult, single-rider and tandem ATVs;
     Technical requirements for four-wheeled, youth ATVs; and
     A ban of three-wheeled ATVs.
The 2006 NPR also directed staff to address eight questions concerning 
youth ATVs and four questions concerning ATVs generally.
    Since the 2006 NPR on ATVs was issued, the U.S. Congress, the 
Commission, and the Specialty Vehicle Institute of America (SVIA), have 
all been actively involved in ATV safety efforts. For example, SVIA 
revised the voluntary standard twice, and CPSC staff conducted research 
and completed studies to respond to the Commission's questions in the 
NPR. Most significantly, Congress passed the Consumer Product Safety 
Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) in August 2008. Among other things, 
section 232 of the CPSIA:
     Required the Commission to make mandatory the voluntary 
standard for ATVs, the American National Standard for Four Wheel All-
Terrain Vehicles Equipment Configuration, and Performance Requirements, 
developed by the SVIA (ANSI/SVIA-1-2007);
     Made it unlawful for a manufacturer or distributor to 
import or distribute an ATV that did not comply with the mandated ATV 
standard and with action plans required by the CPSIA;
     Banned three-wheel ATVs until a mandatory standard is 
promulgated; and
     Required the Commission to issue a final rule on ATVs 
stemming from the 2006 NPR.
The Commission adopted the voluntary standard as a mandatory standard 
in a final rule on ATVs in the Federal Register on November 14, 2008 
(73 FR 67385). The Commission's ATV regulation is codified at 16 CFR 
part 1420 (part 1420) and became effective on April 13, 2009.
    In 2011, Congress directed \1\ the Commission to issue a final rule 
by August 12, 2012, stemming from the 2006 NPR. However, six years had 
passed since the NPR. Furthermore,

[[Page 56778]]

many of the proposed requirements in the 2006 NPR were addressed by the 
combination of part 1420 and mandatory action plans. Taken together, 
these requirements addressed, in part or in whole, the majority of the 
safety measures that the Commission proposed in the 2006 NPR. Thus, the 
Commission voted to host an ATV Safety Summit to ``provide stakeholders 
an opportunity to present their views on the outstanding issues'' 
related to ATV safety, in addition to providing a forum for 
stakeholders to discuss new innovations in ATV safety. The Commission 
held the ATV Safety Summit on October 11 and 12, 2012, and accepted 
comments through November 14, 2012. A summary of these comments is 
available on CPSC's Web site.\2\
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    \1\ Section 9 of Public Law 112-28 (August 12, 2011).
    \2\ http://cpsc.gov/PageFiles/26/Regulations,%20Laws%20Standards/Rulemaking/ATVs/Final%20ReportATVSafetySummitfinal.pdf.
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    Most recently, the Commission's Fiscal Year 2014 Operating Plan 
directed staff to perform six activities, as resources permit, in 
preparation for a draft NPR on ATVs. The six activities:
    1. Consulting with the National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration regarding the categorization of youth ATVs, as well as 
the establishment of additional safety standards for ATVs.
    2. Assessing the inclusion in the NPR of a performance standard 
related to preventing passengers on ATVs.
    3. Contracting for further testing of a child-resistant ATV 
ignition prototype device.
    4. Conducting a literature review and develop a testing strategy to 
evaluate steering and stability issues related to ATVs.
    5. Conducting a literature review and analysis regarding roll-over 
protection systems for ATVs.
    6. Conducting an ATV off-road exposure survey (the first year of a 
3-year effort).
CPSC staff now seeks input from stakeholders related to item 2. 
Specifically, staff seeks information on the prevalence of passengers 
riding on ATVs and the feasibility of establishing a performance 
requirement that would prevent or reduce the likelihood of passengers 
riding on an ATV. For example, a performance requirement could prevent 
an ATV from being able to carry a passenger on a seat or cargo rack. 
Note, however, that any law or regulation aimed at changing consumer 
use of ATVs, such as a law to prohibit ATV use by passengers, would 
need to be addressed at the state level.

B. CPSC Staff Activities Related to ATV Passenger Use ATV-Related 
Activities Since 2006

    In the 2014 fiscal year, CPSC staff conducted a pilot study 
analyzing several characteristics of passenger-involved fatality 
incidents for presentation to the Commission. By analyzing ATV fatality 
data, staff's pilot study was intended to determine: (1) If specific 
passenger locations on the ATV are associated with more fatal 
incidents; and (2) if and how passengers affect ATV-related fatal 
incidents. The pilot study was intended to assist the Commission in 
deciding whether to devote additional resources to the development of a 
performance standard for passenger use of ATVs.
    To date, CPSC staff's review of incident reports and other studies 
demonstrates that passengers ride in various locations on the ATV, 
e.g., cargo rack and seat, and in front of and behind the operator. 
CPSC staff's special study on ATV-related deaths and emergency 
department-treated injuries \3\ shows that passengers comprise about 25 
percent of injured victims. From 2005 through 2007, about 25 percent of 
fatalities involved ATVs with multiple riders; however, a passenger was 
the victim in slightly less than half of those fatalities with multiple 
riders, meaning that about 10 percent of fatalities are to a passenger 
of an ATV. In addition, the recent pilot study of ATV-related 
fatalities \4\ found that of 502 reported incidents with more than one 
rider on the ATV, more than 80 percent involved two riders: a driver 
and a passenger. Of those, about half involved both riders on the seat 
of the ATV,\5\ and the driver was more likely to be fatally injured 
than the passenger. Around 10 percent of passenger-related fatal 
incidents involved more than two riders (i.e., a driver and two or more 
passengers). When two or more passengers were involved, a passenger was 
more likely to be fatally injured.
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    \3\ http://www.cpsc.gov//Global/Research-and-Statistics/Injury-Statistics/Sports-and-Recreation/ATVs/ATVSpecialStudyReport.pdf.
    \4\ http://www.cpsc.gov//Global/Research-and-Statistics/Injury-Statistics/Sports-and-Recreation/ATVs/ATVPassengerPilotStudyReport.pdf.
    \5\ A large number of reported incidents did not have enough 
information available to determine exactly where the passenger was 
in relation to the driver.
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III. Information Requested

    This RFI is intended to supplement staff's pilot study to gather 
information from the public on the prevalence of carrying passengers on 
ATVs and the feasibility of a performance requirement that would 
prevent passengers from being carried on ATVs. CPSC staff's data 
analysis can only quantify passenger location in fatal incidents. 
Staff's data do not provide information on passenger location during 
normal, non-incident use. In addition, CPSC data contain little 
information about aftermarket use of passenger seats or information 
about the need of ATV drivers to carry passengers. Accordingly, CPSC 
staff seeks data and information concerning three main topic areas: (1) 
The prevalence of passengers riding ATVs; (2) the purchase and use of 
aftermarket seats; and (3) the feasibility of a performance standard 
that would reduce or eliminate carrying passengers on ATVs. Commenters 
are encouraged to answer as few or as many of the following questions 
as they wish.

A. Prevalence of Passenger Riding

     What, if any, data are available regarding the location of 
ATV passengers when riding? That is, where are passengers sitting or 
standing when riding ATVs? CPSC's data are limited to information 
related to injury and fatality incidents but does not provide 
information regarding ATV use when an incident does not occur.
     What, if any, data are available regarding the frequency 
and duration of passengers riding on ATVs that are not intended to 
carry more than one rider? Is the frequency and duration of passengers 
riding on ATVs associated with the type of ATV use, e.g., trail riding, 
versus utility use, versus hunting use? What, if any, data are 
available regarding the frequency and duration of drivers alone riding 
on ATVs that are not intended to carry more than one rider?
     What, if any, data are available regarding why ATV drivers 
carry passengers and the reasons passengers ride ATVs?
     What, if any, data are available regarding user demand for 
two-rider ATVs, also called Tandem, 2-Up, or Type II ATVs?
     Other than the data from CPSC sources, (e.g., reports and 
databases), what, if any, data are available regarding injury or risk 
of injury associated with passenger use of ATVs on single-rider versus 
tandem ATVs? This includes, but is not limited to, data about the 
mechanism of driver and passenger injuries, the disposition of drivers 
and passengers, interactions between the driver and passenger in 
incidents, weight of driver and passengers, helmet use of drivers and 
passengers, age/gender of the driver and passengers, and sequence of 
events in incidents with passengers.

[[Page 56779]]

B. Aftermarket Seats

    Aftermarket seats generally attach to cargo racks and are generally 
marketed as being intended for use when the ATV is not moving.
     What, if any, data are available regarding use of 
aftermarket seats by passengers when the ATV is moving?
     What, if any, data are available regarding injury or risk 
of injury associated with the use of aftermarket seats?

C. Feasibility

     Can design modifications be made to ATVs to prevent 
passengers?
     If design modifications are feasible, please describe 
possible design changes that could prevent passengers. How could such 
modifications affect the usability or utility of the ATV? Although CPSC 
cannot mandate a specific design, information regarding proof-of-
concept designs can inform decision making regarding the feasibility of 
a performance requirement.
     Would it be feasible to establish a performance standard 
that would prevent consumers from carrying passengers or installing 
aftermarket seats capable of carrying passengers without significantly 
adversely affecting the usability or utility of the ATV for purposes 
other than carrying passengers?
     How would a performance requirement to prevent passenger 
use of ATVs affect two-rider ATVs, also called Tandem, 2-Up, or Type II 
ATVs? Should such a requirement apply to two-rider ATVs?

    Dated: September 18, 2014.
Todd A. Stevenson,
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission.
[FR Doc. 2014-22556 Filed 9-22-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6355-01-P