Preliminary Theft Data; Motor Vehicle Theft Prevention Standard, 50014-50021 [2013-20020]

Agencies

• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 159 (Friday, August 16, 2013)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 50014-50021]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-20020]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 541

[Docket No. NHTSA-2013-0073]


Preliminary Theft Data; Motor Vehicle Theft Prevention Standard

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 
Department of Transportation.

ACTION: Publication of preliminary theft data; Request for Comments; 
Correction.

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SUMMARY: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) 
published in the Federal Register of July 9, 2013, a request for 
comments about thefts of model year (MY) 2011 passenger motor vehicles 
that occurred in calendar year (CY) 2011. This document corrects errors 
that were made in that publication. In the July 9, 2013 publication, 
the vehicle theft rate for CY/MY 2011 vehicles was erroneously reported 
to be 0.10 thefts per thousand vehicles produced. The actual theft rate 
for CY/MY 2011 vehicles is 0.99 thefts per thousand vehicles produced. 
Accordingly, Figure 1: Theft Rate Data Trend (1993-2011) has been 
amended to reflect the revised theft rate for CY/MY 2011. The 
publication also erroneously reported that the theft rate for CY/MY 
2011 decreased significantly by 91.45 percent from the theft rate for 
CY/MY 2010 vehicles. The publication should be corrected to reflect 
that the theft rate for CY/MY 2011 decreased significantly by 15.38 
percent from the theft rate for CY/MY 2010 vehicles (1.17 thefts per 
thousand vehicles). The republishing of this document in its entirety 
corrects those errors. This document also extends the comment period to 
allow 60 days from the publication of this notice.
    Publication of these data fulfills NHTSA's statutory obligation to 
periodically obtain accurate and timely theft data, and publish the 
information for review and comment.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before October 15, 2013.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Docket No. NHTSA-2012-
0073 by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
     Mail: Docket Management Facility: U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., West Building Ground Floor, 
Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: West Building Ground Floor, Room 
W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, 
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
     Fax: 202-493-2251.
    Instructions: For detailed instructions on submitting comments and 
additional information on the rulemaking process, see the Public 
Participation heading of the Supplementary Information section of this 
document. Note that all comments received will be posted without change 
to https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided. Please see the Privacy Act heading below.
    Privacy Act: 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 (65 FR 19477-78) or you may visit https://DocketsInfo.dot.gov.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to https://www.regulations.gov or the street 
address listed above. Follow the online instructions for accessing the 
dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Rosalind Proctor, Office of 
International Policy, Fuel Economy and Consumer Programs, NHTSA, 1200 
New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590. Ms. Proctor's telephone 
number is (202) 366-4807. Her fax number is (202) 493-0073.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This publication revises the Federal 
Register notice published on July 9, 2013 (78 FR 41016) which 
erroneously reported the theft rate for CY/MY 2011 vehicles and the 
percentage of its change from the theft rate for CY/MY 2010 vehicles. 
No other errors exist in the publication. The publication has been 
revised and is reprinted below in its entirety.
    NHTSA administers a program for reducing motor vehicle theft. The 
central feature of this program is the Federal Motor Vehicle Theft 
Prevention Standard, 49 CFR Part 541. The standard specifies 
performance requirements for inscribing or affixing vehicle 
identification numbers (VINs) onto certain major original equipment and 
replacement parts of high-theft lines of passenger motor vehicles.
    The agency is required by 49 U.S.C. 33104(b)(4) to periodically 
obtain, from the most reliable source, accurate and timely theft data, 
and publish the data for review and comment. To fulfill the Sec.  
33104(b)(4) mandate, this document reports the preliminary theft data 
for CY 2011 the most recent calendar year for which data are available.
    In calculating the 2011 theft rates, NHTSA followed the same 
procedures it has used since publication of the 1983/1984 theft rate 
data (50 FR 46669, November 12, 1985). The 2011 theft rate for each 
vehicle line was calculated by dividing the number of reported thefts 
of MY 2011 vehicles of that line stolen during calendar year 2011 by 
the total number of vehicles in that line manufactured for MY 2011, as 
reported to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). As in all 
previous reports, NHTSA's data were based on information provided to 
NHTSA by the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) of the Federal 
Bureau of Investigation. The NCIC is a government system that receives 
vehicle theft information from approximately 23,000 criminal justice 
agencies and other law enforcement authorities throughout the United 
States. The NCIC data also include reported thefts of self-insured and 
uninsured vehicles, not all of which are reported to other data 
sources.
    The preliminary 2011 theft data show a significant decrease in the 
vehicle theft rate when compared to the theft rate experienced in CY/MY 
2010 (For 2010 theft data, see 77 FR 58500, September 21, 2012). The 
preliminary

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theft rate for MY 2011 passenger vehicles stolen in calendar year 2011 
decreased to 0.99 thefts per thousand vehicles produced, a decrease of 
15.38 percent from the rate of 1.17 thefts per thousand vehicles 
experienced by MY 2010 vehicles in CY 2010. For MY 2011 vehicles, out 
of a total of 226 vehicle lines, four lines had a theft rate higher 
than 3.5826 per thousand vehicles, the established median theft rate 
for MYs 1990/1991 (See 59 FR 12400, March 16, 1994). Of the four 
vehicle lines with a theft rate higher than 3.5826, four are passenger 
car lines, none are multipurpose passenger vehicle lines, and none are 
light-duty truck lines.
    The agency believes that the theft rate reduction is a result of 
several factors, including vehicle parts marking; the increased use of 
standard antitheft devices and other advances in electronic technology 
(i.e., immobilizers) and theft prevention methods; increased and 
improved prosecution efforts by law enforcement organizations; and, 
increased public awareness which may have contributed to the overall 
reduction in vehicle thefts. The preliminary MY 2011 theft rate 
reduction is consistent with the general decreasing trend of theft 
rates over the past 19 years as indicated by Figure 1.
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Theft Rate Per Thousand Vehicles Produced

    In Table I, NHTSA has tentatively ranked each of the MY 2011 
vehicle lines in descending order of theft rate. Public comment is 
sought on the accuracy of the data, including the data for the 
production volumes of individual vehicle lines.
    Comments must not exceed 15 pages in length (49 CFR part 553.21). 
Attachments may be appended to these submissions without regard to the 
15 page limit. This limitation is intended to encourage commenters to 
detail their primary arguments in a concise fashion.
    If a commenter wishes to submit certain information under a claim 
of confidentiality, three copies of the complete submission, including 
purportedly confidential business information, should be submitted to 
the Chief Counsel, NHTSA, at the street address given in the FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section, and two copies from which the 
purportedly confidential information has been deleted should be 
submitted to the docket. A request for confidentiality should be 
accompanied by a cover letter setting forth the information specified 
in the agency's confidential business information regulation. 49 CFR 
Part 512.
    All comments received before the close of business on the comment 
closing date indicated above for this document will be considered, and 
will be available for examination in the docket at the above address 
both before and after that date. To the extent possible, comments filed 
after the closing date will also be considered. Comments on this 
document will be available for inspection in the docket. NHTSA will 
continue to file relevant information as it becomes available for 
inspection in the docket after the closing date, and it is recommended 
that interested persons continue to examine the docket for new 
material.
    Those persons desiring to be notified upon receipt of their 
comments in the rules docket should enclose a self-addressed, stamped 
postcard in the envelope with their comments. Upon receiving the 
comments, the docket supervisor will return the postcard by mail.
    Privacy Act: 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 
https://DocketsInfo.dot.gov.

    Authority:  49 U.S.C. 33101, 33102 and 33104; delegation of 
authority at 49 CFR 1.50.
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P

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    Issued on: August 5, 2013.
Christopher J. Bonanti,
Associate Administrator for Rulemaking.
[FR Doc. 2013-20020 Filed 8-15-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-C