National Highway Traffic Safety Administration August 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document grants in full the Chrysler Group LLC (Chrysler) petition for exemption of the Fiat 500 vehicle line in accordance with 49 CFR Part 543, Exemption From Vehicle Theft Prevention Standard. This petition is granted because the agency has determined that the antitheft device to be placed on the line as standard equipment is likely to be as effective in reducing and deterring motor vehicle theft as compliance with the parts-marking requirements of 49 CFR Part 541, Federal Motor Vehicle Theft Prevention Standard.

In 2009, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) took a big step toward the goal of unifying the FARS and NASS GES data definitions and changes, simplifying crash data entry and analysis while also reducing costs and errors. The Data Standardization Work Group, consisting of representatives from NHTSA, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), was chartered in 2006. The mission of the work group was to improve the compatibility of FARS and NASS GES and to bring both systems into alignment with the Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC), the guideline used now by nearly all States in the development and revision of their crash report forms and databases. After a thorough review of the data elements and attributes (variable values) in FARS and NASS GES and comparison to the recommended MMUCC data elements and attributes, the first of two phases of identified standardization changes were implemented in 2009, involving 45 common data elements. The second and much larger phase involving all the remaining variables was implemented in 2010. This webinar will highlight the 2009 changes. Also, NCSA will be presenting ``how to use'' the auxiliary files created from the FARS and NASS GES data bases.

This notice announces NHTSA's publication of a Technical Report its existing Safety Standard 121, Air Brake Systems. The report's title is: The Effectiveness of ABS [Antilock Braking Systems] in Heavy Truck Tractors and Trailers.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this notice announces that the Information Collection Request (ICR) abstracted below will be 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. The Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period was published on May 26, 2010 (75 FR 29487).

In accordance with NHTSA's 2007 Motorcoach Safety Plan and DOT's 2009 Departmental Motorcoach Safety Action Plan, NHTSA is issuing this NPRM to propose to amend the Federal motor vehicle safety standard (FMVSS) on occupant crash protection (FMVSS No. 208) to require lap/ shoulder seat belts for each passenger seating position in new motorcoaches. This NPRM also proposes to require a lap/shoulder belt for the motorcoach and large school bus driver's seating positions, which currently are required to have either a lap or a lap/shoulder belt. Although motorcoach transportation overall is a safe form of transportation in the United States, several motorcoach crashes in 2008 have illustrated that motorcoach rollover crashes, while a relatively rare event, can cause a significant number of fatal or serious injuries in a single event. NHTSA's safety research on motorcoach seat belts, completed in 2009, shows that the installation of lap/shoulder belts on motorcoaches is practicable and effective. We believe that the seat belt assemblies that would be installed on motorcoach passenger seats pursuant to this rulemaking could reduce the risk of fatal injuries in rollover crashes by 77 percent, primarily by preventing occupant ejection in a crash.

On February 14, 2006, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) granted in full Ford Motor Company's (Ford) petition for an exemption in accordance with Sec. 543.9(c)(2) of 49 CFR part 543, Exemption from the Theft Prevention Standard for the Ford Focus vehicle line beginning with model year (MY 2006). On June 18, 2010, Ford submitted a petition to modify its previously approved exemption for the Ford Focus vehicle line beginning with model year (MY) 2012. NHTSA is granting Ford's petition to modify the exemption in full because it has determined that the modified device is also likely to be as effective in reducing and deterring motor vehicle theft as compliance with the parts-marking requirements of the Theft Prevention Standard.

This document proposes to increase the maximum civil penalty amounts for violations covering a related series of violations of the Vehicle Safety Act and violations of the odometer standard with intent to defraud. This action would be taken pursuant to the Federal Civil Monetary Penalty Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended by the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996, which requires us to review and, as warranted, adjust penalties based on inflation at least every four years.

This document adopts fees for Fiscal Year 2011 and until further notice, as authorized by 49 U.S.C. 30141, relating to the registration of importers and the importation of motor vehicles not certified as conforming to the Federal motor vehicle safety standards (FMVSS). These fees are needed to maintain the registered importer (RI) program.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) published in the Federal Register of March 10, 2010, a document on thefts of model year (MY) 2007 passenger motor vehicles that occurred in calendar year (CY) 2007. The document was published with several errors. In that publication, a vehicle line was omitted from the theft rate data which affected the overall theft rate calculation, the number of vehicle lines above the 1990/1991 median theft rate and the vehicle rankings. Additionally, vehicle line names and production numbers were listed incorrectly. The republishing of this document in its entirety corrects those errors.

This document corrects several cross-references in the agency's regulation exempting specified modifications for handicapped persons from the ``make inoperative'' prohibition of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act. This action responds to a letter from the National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association to correct the regulation.