[Federal Register: November 17, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 221)] [Notices] [Page 63958-63959] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr17no98-127] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Research and Development Programs Meeting AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, DOT. ACTION: Notice. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: This notice announces a public meeting at which NHTSA will describe and discuss specific research and development projects. Further, the notice requests suggestions for topics to be presented by the agency. Dates and Times: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will hold a public meeting devoted primarily to presentations of specific research and development projects on December 17, 1998, beginning at 1:30 p.m. and ending at approximately 5:00 p.m. The deadline for interested parties to suggest agenda topics is 4:15 p.m. on November 30, 1998. Questions may be submitted in advance regarding the agency's research and development projects. They must be submitted in writing by December 3, 1998, to the address given below. If sufficient time is available, questions received after the December 3 date will be answered at the meeting during the discussion period. The individual, group, or company asking a question does not have to be present for the question to be answered. A consolidated list of answers to questions submitted by December 3 will be available at the meeting and will be mailed to requesters after the meeting. ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Clarion Hotel, 9191 Wickham Road, Romulus, MI. Suggestions for specific R&D topics as described below and questions for the December 17, 1998, meeting relating to the agency's research and development programs should be submitted to the Office of the Associate Administrator for Research and Development, NRD-01, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Room 6206, 400 Seventh St., SW, Washington, DC 20590. The fax number is (202) 366- 5930. [[Page 63959]] SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In recent years, since April 1993, NHTSA has provided detailed information about its research and development programs in presentations at a series of public meetings. The purpose is to make available more complete and timely information regarding the agency's research and development programs. This is the twenty-second meeting in that series, and it will be held on December 17, 1998, at the Clarion Hotel, 9191 Wickham Road, Romulus, MI. NHTSA requests suggestions from interested parties on the specific agenda topics to be presented. NHTSA will base its decisions about the agenda, in part, on the suggestions it receives by close of business at 4:15 p.m. on November 30, 1998. Before the meeting, it will publish a notice with an agenda listing the research and development topics to be discussed. The agenda can also be obtained by calling or faxing the information numbers or the E-mail address listed elsewhere in this notice or from NHTSA's Web site under Announcements/Public Meetings at URL http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/nhtsa/announce/meetings/. NHTSA asks that the suggestions be limited to six, in priority order, so that the presentations at the December 17 R&D meeting can be most useful to the audience. Specific R&D topics are listed below. Many of these topics have been discussed at previous meetings. Suggestions for agenda topics are not restricted to this listing, and interested parties are invited to suggest other R&D topics of specific interest to their organizations. Additionally, if any interested parties would like to make a presentation regarding technical issues concerning any of NHTSA's research programs, information concerning the proposed topic and speaker should be submitted in writing by close of business November 30, 1998. Specific R&D topics are: Fiscal Year 1999 R&D Research Efforts, International Harmonized Research Activities (IHRA), On-line tracking system for NHTSA's research projects, and Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network (CIREN). Specific Crashworthiness R&D topics are: Status of advanced air bag research, Demonstration of CD ROM for child restraint/vehicle compatibility, Preparation of new dummies for assessment of advanced air bag technology, Status of research on restraint systems for rollover protection, Improved frontal crash protection (program status, problem identification, offset testing), Advanced glazing research, Vehicle aggressivity and fleet compatibility, Upgrade side crash protection, Upgrade seat and occupant restraint systems, Child restraint/air bag interaction (CRABI) dummy testing, Truck crashworthiness/occupant protection, National Transportation Biomechanics Research Center (NTBRC), Head and neck injury research, Lower extremity injury research, Thorax injury research, Human injury simulation and analysis, Refinements to the Hybrid III dummy, and Advanced frontal test dummy. Specific Crash Avoidance R&D topics are: National Advanced Driving Simulator (NADS), Intelligent vehicle initiative, Status and plans for anti-lock brake system (ABS) research and testing, Human factors guidelines for crash avoidance warning devices, Drowsy driver monitoring, Driver workload assessment, Rearend collision avoidance system guidelines, Road departure collision avoidance system guidelines, Intersection collision avoidance system guidelines, Lane change/merge collision avoidance system guidelines. National Center for Statistics and Analysis (NCSA) topic is: Special crash investigation studies of air bag cases. Separately, questions regarding research projects that have been submitted in writing not later than close of business on December 3, 1998, will be answered. The summary minutes of the meeting, copies of materials handed out at the meeting, and answers to the questions submitted for response at the meeting will be available for public inspection in the DOT Docket in Washington, DC, within 3 weeks after the meeting. Copies of this material will then be available at ten cents a page upon request to DOT Docket, Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590. The DOT Docket is open to the public from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The summary minutes, handouts, and answers to the questions will also be available on NHTSA's Web site under Announcements/Public Meetings at URL http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/nhtsa/ announce/meetings/. NHTSA will provide technical aids to participants as necessary, during the Research and Development Programs Meeting. Thus, any person desiring the assistance of ``auxiliary aids'' (e.g., sign-language interpreter, telecommunication devices for deaf persons (TTDs), readers, taped texts, braille materials, or large print materials and/ or a magnifying device), please contact Rita Gibbons by telephone on (202) 366-4862, by telefax on (202) 366-5930, or by E-mail at rgibbons@nhtsa.dot.gov by close of business December 3, 1998. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rita Gibbons, Staff Assistant, Office of Research and Development, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590. Telephone: (202) 366-4862. Fax number: (202) 366-5930. E-mail: rgibbons@nhtsa.dot.gov. Issued: November 10, 1998. Raymond P. Owings, Associate Administrator for Research and Development. [FR Doc. 98-30675 Filed 11-16-98; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4910-59-P