National Highway Traffic Safety Administration September 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document revises the list of vehicles not originally manufactured to conform to the Federal motor vehicle safety standards (FMVSS) that NHTSA has decided to be eligible for importation. This list is contained in an appendix to the agency's regulations that prescribe procedures for import eligibility decisions. The list has been revised to add all vehicles that NHTSA has decided to be eligible for importation since October 1, 2004, and to remove all previously listed vehicles that are now more than 25 years old and need no longer comply with all applicable FMVSS to be lawfully imported. NHTSA is required by statute to publish this list annually in the Federal Register.

This Notice amends and updates the list of devices that conform to the Model Specifications for Screening Devices to Measure Alcohol in Bodily Fluids.

The Department of Transportation has submitted the following emergency processing public information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). This notice announces that the Information Collection Requested (ICR) abstracted below has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. The ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its expected burden. Comments should be directed to the Office of Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, 725-17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503, Attention NHTSA Desk Officer.

In response to a petition for rulemaking, this document proposes to require straight trucks with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of between 4,536 kilograms (10,000 pounds) and 11,793 kilograms (26,000 pounds) to be equipped with a rear object detection system. The purpose of the proposed requirement is to alert drivers to persons and objects directly behind the vehicle, thereby reducing backing-related deaths and injuries. This notice proposes two compliance options. Vehicle manufacturers could satisfy the proposed requirement either by installing a mirror system or rear video system that would make the area to the rear of the vehicle visible to the driver. The notice also asks a series of questions to help the agency determine whether the proposed requirements should be extended to vehicles in other weight classes and whether existing straight trucks engaged in interstate commerce should be retrofitted to meet the proposed requirements, as part of a future rulemaking.

This document amends Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 213, ``Child restraint systems,'' to permit information regarding online product registration to be included on the owner registration form required under the standard. This amendment enhances the opportunity of restraint owners to register their restraints online, which may increase registration rates and the effectiveness of recall campaigns. The final rule also better enables manufacturers to supplement (but not replace) recall notification via first-class mail with e-mail notification, which increases the likelihood that owners learn of a recall. The agency is also requiring that the telephone number required on child restraint labels for the purpose of enabling consumers to register by telephone be a U.S. number.

This notice withdraws the petition by Ford Motor Company (Ford) for an exemption from the parts marking requirements of the vehicle theft prevention standard for the Ford Thunderbird vehicle line.

This document responds to petitions for reconsideration requesting changes in our April 8, 2005 final rule establishing a new Federal motor vehicle safety standard (FMVSS) requiring installation in new light vehicles of a tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) capable of detecting when one or more of a vehicle's tires is significantly under-inflated. The petitions for reconsideration are granted in part and denied in part, and through this document, we are amending the standard and related provisions accordingly.

This document contains a list of vehicles recalled by their manufacturers during Calendar Year 2004 (January 1, 2004 through December 31, 2004) to correct a safety-related defect or a noncompliance with an applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standard (FMVSS). The listed vehicles are those that NHTSA has decided are substantially similar to vehicles imported into the United States that were not originally manufactured and certified to conform to all applicable FMVSS. The registered importers of those nonconforming vehicles are required to provide their owners with notification of, and a remedy for, the defects or noncompliances for which the listed vehicles were recalled.