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IVsource.net
2 August 2002

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has  issued a formal request for public comment on its plan for vehicle safety rulemaking priorities. The plan includes the agency’s highest priority rulemaking actions that fall within the immediate four-year time frame.  Included are active safety systems to address road departures, driver distraction, and car-truck crashes.

Last week, the US Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)  issued a formal request for public comment on its plan for vehicle safety rulemaking priorities, NHTSA Vehicle Safety Rulemaking Priorities: 2002-2005.  The plan includes the agency’s highest priority rulemaking actions that fall within the next four years.

According to a NHTSA press release, for the near term (2002-2003) NHTSA's regulatory priorities will be the Transportation, Recall Enhancement, Accountability, and Documentation Act (TREAD) requirements, which encompass tires, rollover prevention and child safety.  Other important safety concerns will include improved head restraints and fuel system integrity, advanced air bags and dummies, upgraded roof crush resistance, occupant ejection prevention in rollover crashes, offset frontal and enhanced side crash protection, and reduced glare from headlamps.

Longer term (2004-2005) testing, analysis, and potential rulemaking actions will address incompatibility in crashes between passenger cars and light trucks, dynamic stability control, roadway departure collision avoidance systems, and the reduction of driver distractions.

Motor Vehicle Deaths Remain at Over 100 per Day

Motor vehicle crashes killed 41,821 individuals and injured 3,189,000 others in 6.4 million crashes in 2000. Preliminary data from 2001 indicates that the number of fatalities will remain at over 41,000 annually.  "In addition to the terrible personal toll, these crashes result in a huge economic cost to society with an estimated annual cost of $230.6 billion, or an average of $820 for every person living in the United States," said NHTSA Administrator Jeffrey W. Runge, M.D. "One of the most important ways in which NHTSA carries out its safety mandate is to issue and enforce Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS). Through these rules, NHTSA strives to reduce the number of crashes and to minimize the consequences of the crashes that do occur."

NHTSA aims to influence the automotive industry to incorporate advances in vehicle and safety technology in new vehicles, while ensuring that the use of the new technologies actually enhances vehicle safety.  Agency safety standard priorities are driven by various factors, including: the size of the safety problem and likelihood of solutions; executive priorities; Congressional interest and mandates; petitions to the agency for rulemaking and other expressions of public interest; desire to harmonize safety standards with those of other nations; and changes needed as a result of new vehicle technologies.  The starting point for rulemaking priorities is the quest for the greatest potential protection of lives and prevention of injury, says the agency.

The plan is organized along several broad categories: light vehicle crash prevention and occupant protection; incompatibility between passenger cars and light trucks; heavy truck safety; and special populations protection, which includes safety for children, people with disabilities, and older people.  The plan also includes other active rulemaking areas, in addition to the top priorities.

"This plan provides a valuable management and communication tool for vehicle rulemaking actions that will make the greatest reductions in our most serious vehicle safety problems," said Administrator Runge.

Those wishing to have their comments considered must provide them to NHTSA by Sept. 23, 2002 when the docket, NHTSA-2002-12391, will close. After that, the agency will review the comments to determine what further actions should be taken.

Comments may be submitted in writing to the Department of Transportation's Docket Management Section, Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street SW, Washington, DC 20590.  It is requested, though not required, that two copies of the comments be provided. The docket section is open on weekdays from 10 am to 5 pm.  Members of the public who are providing comments should cite the docket number: NHTSA-2002-12391.

Alternatively, comments may be submitted electronically by logging onto the docket management system website at dms.dot.gov.  Click on "Help" or "Electronic Submission" to obtain instructions for filing the document electronically.  In every case, the comment should refer to the docket number, NHTSA-2002-12391.

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For More Information ...

... the plan and the notice of request for comments can be found on NHTSA's website at www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/rulings or from the Department of Transportation’s Docket Management System (dms.dot.gov). 

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