Research and Development Programs Meeting

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Research and Development Programs Meeting

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice.

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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 June 19, 1997, beginning

at 9:45 a.m. and ending at approximately 2:00 p.m. The deadline for

interested parties to suggest agenda topics is 4:15 p.m. on June 5,

1997. Questions may be submitted in advance regarding the agency's

research and development projects. They must be submitted in writing by

June 11, 1997, to the address given below. If sufficient time is

available, questions received after the June 11 date will be answered

at the meeting in 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 the questions submitted by June

11 will be available at the meeting and will be mailed to requesters

after the meeting.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Clarion Inn, Detroit Metro

Airport, 9191 Wickham Road, Romulus, Michigan 48174. Suggestions for

specific R&D topics as described below and questions for the June 19,

1997, 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.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NHTSA intends to provide detailed

presentations about its research and development programs in a series

of public meetings. The series started in April 1993. The purpose is to

make available more complete and timely information regarding the

agency's research and development programs. This seventeenth meeting in

the series will be held on June 19, 1997.

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 June 5, 1997. 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 listed elsewhere in this notice. NHTSA asks that

the suggestions be limited to six, in priority order, so that the

presentations at the June 19 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.

Specific R&D topics are:

On-line tracking system for NHTSA's research projects, and

Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network (CIREN).

Specific Crashworthiness R&D topics are:

Automatic lifesaving system--improved triage, transport, and

treatment decisionmaking for automatic collision notification

technologies,

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 safety research (ISOFIX),

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:

Intelligent vehicle initiative,

Strategic plan for NHTSA's Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS)

crash avoidance research,

Status and plans for anti-lock brake system (ABS) research,

Truck tire traction,

Portable data acquisition system for crash avoidance research

(DASCAR),

Systems to enhance EMS response (automatic collision notification),

Crash causal analysis,

Human factors guidelines for crash avoidance warning devices,

Longer combination vehicle safety,

Drowsy driver monitoring,

Driver workload assessment,

Pedestrian detection devices for school bus safety,

Preliminary rearend collision avoidance system guidelines,

Preliminary road departure collision avoidance system guidelines,

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Preliminary intersection collision avoidance system guidelines, and

Preliminary 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 June 11, 1997,

will be answered. A transcript of the meeting, copies of materials

handed out at the meeting, and copies of the suggestions offered by

commenters will be available for public inspection in NHTSA's Technical

Reference Division, Room 5108, 400 Seventh St., SW., Washington, DC

20590. Copies of the transcript will then be available at 10 cents a

page, upon request to NHTSA's Technical Reference Division. The

Technical Reference Division is open to the public from 9:30 a.m. to

4:00 p.m.

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 on 202-366-4862 by

close of business June 12, 1997.

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.

Issued: May 22, 1997.

Ralph J. Hitchcock,

Acting Associate Administrator for Research and Development.

[FR Doc. 97-14036 Filed 5-28-97; 8:45 am]

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