National Highway Traffic Safety Administration March 10, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We have received applications from two motorcycle manufacturers (Bajaj and Piaggio) for temporary exemptions from a provision in the Federal motor vehicle safety standard on motorcycle controls and displays specifying that a motorcycle rear brake, if provided, must be controlled by a right foot control. The manufacturers ask that we permit the left handlebar as an alternative location for the rear brake control. Each manufacturer states its belief that ``compliance with the standard would prevent the manufacturer from selling a motor vehicle with an overall level of safety at least equal to the overall safety level of nonexempt vehicles.'' We are publishing this notice of receipt of the applications in accordance with our regulations on the subject, and ask for public comment on each application. This publication does not mean that we have made a judgment yet about the merits of the applications.