Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Side Impact Protection; Review: Side Impact Protection, Passenger Cars; Evaluation Report

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-99-6545]

RIN 2127-AF54

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Side Impact Protection;

Review: Side Impact Protection, Passenger Cars; Evaluation Report

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),

Department of Transportation.

ACTION: Request for comments on technical report.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces NHTSA's publication of a Technical

Report reviewing and evaluating its existing Safety Standard 214, Side

Impact Protection. The report's title is Evaluation of FMVSS 214--Side

Impact Protection: Dynamic Performance Requirement; Phase 1:

Correlation of TTI(d) with Fatality Risk in Actual Side Impact

Collisions of Model Year 1981-1993 Passenger Cars; Plan for Phase 2:

Effect of FMVSS 214 and Correlation of TTI(d) with Actual Fatality Risk

in Model Year 1992-2000 Passenger Cars.

DATES: Comments must be received no later than April 6, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Report: You may obtain a copy of the report free of charge

by sending a self-addressed mailing label to Publications Ordering and

Distribution Services (NAD-51), National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590. The

executive summary of the report is available on the Internet for

viewing on line at www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/regrev/evaluate/

809004.html. The full report is available on the Internet in PDF format

at www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/regrev/evaluate/pdf/809004.pdf.

Comments: All comments should refer to the Docket number of this

notice. 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 website at http://

dms.dot.gov. Click on ``Help & Information'' or ``Help/Info'' to obtain

instructions for filing the document electronically.

You may call Docket Management at 202-366-9324 and visit the Docket

from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Charles J. Kahane, Chief, Evaluation

Division, NPP-22, Plans and Policy, National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration, Room 5208, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC

20590. Telephone: 202-366-2560. FAX: 202-366-2559. E-mail:

[email protected] .

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

``Car Safety'' on the home page; then click ``Regulatory Evaluation''

on the ``Regulations & Standards'' page.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Safety Standard 214 (49 CFR 571.214) was amended in 1990 to assure

occupant protection in a dynamic test that simulates a severe right-

angle collision (55 FR 45752). It was phased into passenger cars by

requiring percentages of cars manufactured during September 1, 1993-

August 30, 1996 and all cars manufactured on or after September 1, 1996

for sale in the United States to meet the test. The purpose of Safety

Standard 214 is to reduce fatalities and injuries by limiting the force

levels on the occupant's thorax and pelvis. The test involves a Moving

Deformable Barrier hitting the side of a vehicle. Side Impact Dummies

are seated adjacent to the impact point. A Thoracic Trauma Index,

TTI(d) and pelvic g's are measured on the dummies.

As required by the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993

and Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735), NHTSA reviews existing

regulations to determine if they are achieving policy goals. The agency

is evaluating the effectiveness, benefits and costs of side impact

protection for new passenger cars in two phases, as crash data become

available. Phase 1, completed in this report, is a statistical analysis

of relationships between front-seat TTI(d) and fatality risk in actual

side impacts on the highway, in baseline, pre-standard vehicles of

model years 1981-93, based on Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS)

data from late 1980 through early 1998. These baseline-tested make-

models have been on the road long enough to accumulate a sufficient

crash data base for meaningful statistical analyses.

The principal finding of Phase 1 is a statistically significant

association of TTI(d) with side-impact fatality risk in passenger cars

of model years 1981-93: the lower the TTI(d), the lower the fatality

risk. The observed relationship is stronger, however, in 2-door cars

than in 4-door cars. Each reduction of TTI(d)

[[Page 68718]]

by one unit is associated with an estimated 0.927 percent reduction of

fatality risk in side impacts of 2-door cars. The association between

TTI(d) and fatality risk in the corresponding analysis of baseline 4-

door cars was not statistically significant. In 2-door cars, TTI(d) has

improved from an average of 110 in baseline, model year 1981-90 cars to

an average of 74 in model year 1997. In 4-door cars, average TTI(d) has

improved from 80 in 1981-90 to 65 in 1997.

The report also presents a plan for Phase 2, a proposed statistical

comparison of side-impact fatality and injury rates in cars produced

immediately after vs. immediately before the implementation of FMVSS

214. Adequate crash data on those make-models are likely to accumulate

by 2001.

How Can I Influence NHTSA's Thinking on This Evaluation?

NHTSA welcomes public review of the technical report and invites

the reviewers to submit comments about the data and the statistical

methods used in the Phase 1 analyses or proposed for Phase 2. NHTSA

will submit to the Docket a response to the comments and, if

appropriate, additional analyses that supplement or revise the

technical report.

The agency is especially interested in learning of any additional

data or information on the following topics:

Why do the Phase 1 analyses show a stronger correlation of

TTI(d) and fatality risk in 2-door cars than in 4-door cars? Is it an

artifact of the data or the statistical method, or is there a physical

explanation?

Have baseline crash tests conforming to the FMVSS 214

configuration been run for any other unmodified pre-FMVSS 214 cars?

The Phase 2 plan (Chapter 8 and Appendix B of the report)

gives chronologies of the side-impact test results and side-component

modifications of 52 make-model groups of passenger cars. Please correct

any omissions or inaccuracies in the chronologies. Specifically, are

TTI(d) scores available for any of the make-model-year-body style

combinations described as ``TTI(d) unknown'' in Appendix B?

Should any of the 52 make-model groups be excluded from

the Phase 2 analysis because, for example, the side-structure upgrade

coincided with some other redesign that greatly changed crash rates?

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-99-6545) 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 website at http://dms.dot.gov

and click on ``Help & Information'' or ``Help/Info'' to obtain

instructions.

We also request, but do not require you to send a copy to Charles

J. Kahane, Chief, Evaluation Division, NPP-22, National Highway Traffic

Safety Administration, Room 5208, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington,

DC 20590 (alternatively, FAX to 202-366-2559 or e-mail to

[email protected]) . He can check if your comments have been

received at the Docket and he 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

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-01, 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.

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 10:00 a.m.

to 5:00 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 ``search.''

(3) On the next page ((http://dms.dot.gov/search/) type in the

four-digit Docket number shown at the beginning of this Notice (6545).

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.

William H. Walsh,

Associate Administrator for Plans and Policy.

[FR Doc. 99-31754 Filed 12-7-99; 8:45 am]

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