[Federal Register: May 2, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 85)]
[Notices]
[Page 23521-23522]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr02my03-110]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. NHTSA-2003-14838]
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Occupant Crash
Protection; Review: NCAP Test Improvements With Safety Belt
Pretensioners and Load Limiters
AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),
Department of Transportation.
ACTION: Request for comments on technical report and evaluation note.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces NHTSA's publication of a Technical
Report and an Evaluation Note reviewing and evaluating the
effectiveness of safety belt pretensioners and load limiters, safety
devices that manufacturers can voluntarily install in vehicles. The
report's title is NCAP Test Improvements with Pretensioners and Load
Limiters.
DATES: Comments must be received no later than September 2, 2003.
ADDRESSES: Report: You may obtain a copy of the report free of charge
by sending a self-addressed mailing label to Communications Services
(NPO-503), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 400 Seventh
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590. A summary of the report is available
on the Internet for viewing online at http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/regrev/evaluate/809562.html.
The full report is available on the
internet in PDF format at http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/regrev/evaluate/pdf/
809562.pdf.
Comments: All comments should refer to the Docket number of this
notice (NHTSA-2003-14838). You may submit your comments in writing to:
U.S. Department of Transportation Docket Management, Room PL-401, 400
Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590. You may also submit your
comments electronically by logging onto the Dockets Management System
Web site at http://dms.dot.gov. Click on ``Help'' to obtain
instructions for filing the document electronically.
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 (Volume 65, Number 70; Pages 19477-78) or you may visit
http://dms.dot.gov.
You may call Docket Management at 202-366-9324 and visit the Docket
from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Charles J. Kahane, Chief, Evaluation
Division, NPO-321, Planning, Evaluation, and Budget, National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration, Room 5208, 400 Seventh Street, SW.,
Washington, DC 20590. Telephone: 202-366-2560. FAX: 202-366-2559. E-
mail: ckahane@nhtsa.dot.gov. For information about NHTSA's evaluations of the effectiveness of
existing regulations and programs: Visit the NHTSA Web site at http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov
and click ``Regulations & Standards'' underneath
``Vehicle & Equipment Information'' on the home page; then click
``Regulatory Evaluation'' on the ``Regulations & Standards'' page.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Scores on frontal New Car Assessment Program
(NCAP) tests were obtained for passenger cars and light trucks which at
one time did not have pretensioners and/or load limiters but later
included them as standard equipment, in order to determine the
effectiveness of these safety devices. The NCAP test is a 35 mph full-
frontal crash into a rigid barrier, with 50th percentile male
anthropomorphic dummies seated at the driver and right-front passenger
positions, protected by the vehicle's safety belts. Seat belt
pretensioners retract the seat belt almost instantly in a crash to
remove excess slack, which helps to keep the occupant restrained. It
also helps to position the occupant back and squarely in the seat, so
that the air bag can more effectively deploy. Load limiters and other
energy management systems allow seat belts to yield in a crash,
preventing the shoulder belt from directing too much energy on the
chest of the occupant. Note that load limiters are the primary, but not
only, energy management method used in seat belts. Changes in NCAP
scores of these vehicles were compared to those of vehicles that did
not add either pretensioners or load limiters. The combination of
pretensioners and load limiters is estimated to reduce (i.e., improve)
Head Injury Criterion (HIC) by 232, chest acceleration by an average of
6.6 g's, and chest deflection by 10.6 mm, for drivers and right front
passengers. Each of these reductions is statistically significant. When
looked at individually, pretensioners are more effective in reducing
HIC scores for drivers and right front passengers, as well as chest
acceleration and chest deflection scores for drivers. Load limiters
show greater reductions in chest acceleration and chest deflection
scores for right front passengers.
How Can I Influence NHTSA's Thinking on This Evaluation?
NHTSA welcomes public review of this preliminary report and invites
reviewers to submit comments about the data, the statistical methods
used in the analyses, and/or additional information. NHTSA will submit
to the Docket a response to the comments and, if appropriate,
additional analyses that supplement the report. If the comments warrant
a significant revision, then NHTSA will either add an appendix to the
report or publish a revised report; otherwise, this preliminary report
will serve as the final report.
How Do I Prepare and Submit Comments?
Your comments must be written and in English. To ensure that your
comments are correctly filed in the Docket, please include the Docket
number of this document (NHTSA-2003-14838) in your comments.
Your primary comments must not be more than 15 pages long (49 CFR
553.21). However, you may attach additional documents to your primary
comments. There is no limit on the length of the attachments.
Please send two paper copies of your comments to Docket Management
or submit them electronically. The mailing address is U.S. Department
of Transportation Docket Management, Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street,
SW., Washington, DC 20590. If you submit your comments electronically,
log onto the Dockets Management System Web site at http://dms.dot.gov
and click on ``Help'' to obtain instructions.
We also request, but do not require you to send a copy to Marie
Walz, Evaluation Division, NPO-321, National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration, Room 5208, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590
(alternatively, FAX to 202-366-2559 or e-mail to
Marie.Walz@nhtsa.dot.gov) . She can check if your comments have been
received at the Docket and she can expedite their review by NHTSA.
How Can I Be Sure That My Comments Were Received?
If you wish Docket Management to notify you upon its receipt of
your comments, enclose a self-addressed, stamped postcard in the
envelope containing your comments. Upon receiving your comments, Docket
[[Page 23522]]
Management will return the postcard by mail.
How Do I Submit Confidential Business Information?
If you wish to submit any information under a claim of
confidentiality, send three copies of your complete submission,
including the information you claim to be confidential business
information, to the Chief Counsel, NCC-110, National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration, Room 5219, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington,
DC 20590. Include a cover letter supplying the information specified in
our confidential business information regulation (49 CFR part 512).
In addition, send two copies from which you have deleted the
claimed confidential business information to Docket Management, Room
PL-401, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590, or submit them
electronically.
Will the Agency Consider Late Comments?
In our response, we will consider all comments that Docket
Management receives before the close of business on the comment closing
date indicated above under DATES. To the extent possible, we will also
consider comments that Docket Management receives after that date.
Please note that even after the comment closing date, we will
continue to file relevant information in the Docket as it becomes
available. Further, some people may submit late comments. Accordingly,
we recommend that you periodically check the Docket for new material.
How Can I Read the Comments Submitted by Other People?
You may read the comments by visiting Docket Management in person
at Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC from 10 a.m. to
5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
You may also see the comments on the Internet by taking the
following steps:
1. Go to the Docket Management System (DMS) Web page of the
Department of Transportation (http://dms.dot.gov).
2. On that page, click on ``Simple Search.''
3. On the next page (http://dms.dot.gov/search/searchFormSimple.cfm/
) type in the five-digit Docket number shown at
the beginning of this Notice (14838). Click on ``Search.''
4. On the next page, which contains Docket summary information for
the Docket you selected, click on the desired comments. You may also
download the comments.
Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30111, 30168; delegation of authority at 49
CFR 1.50 and 501.8.
Rose A. McMurray,
Associate Administrator for Planning, Evaluation, and Budget.
[FR Doc. 03-10815 Filed 5-1-03; 8:45 am]
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