National Highway Traffic Safety Administration April 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Transportation (DOT) invites public comments about our intention to request Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval for a new information collection. The collection involves recruitment of participants, balancing the subject sample and debriefing questionnaires. The information to be collected will be used to balance the participants between younger and older age groups, genders and previous driving experience with keyless ignition, or lack thereof. These observational experiments are being conducted in support of current agency regulatory efforts that contemplate revising Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 114 (Docket No. NHTSA-2011-0174 RIN 2127-AK88). We are required to publish this notice in the Federal Register by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13.

Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. (Mitsubishi) \1\ has determined that an unknown number of replacement seat belts that it imported do not include the installation, usage and maintenance instructions required by paragraphs S4.1(k) and S4.1(l) of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 209, Seat Belt Assemblies. Mitsubishi filed an appropriate report dated October 25, 2010, pursuant to 49 CFR Part 573 Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility and Reports.

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 has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. The ICR describes the nature of the information collections and their expected burden. The notice of proposed rulemaking, which included a statement of the collection of information and a 60-day comment period, was published on January 28, 2009.

In this NPRM, we (NHTSA) propose to revise the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard for accelerator control systems (ACS) in two ways. First, we propose to amend the Standard to address more fully the failure modes of electronic throttle control (ETC) systems and also to include test procedures for hybrid vehicles and certain other vehicles. This part of today's proposal is related to an NPRM that NHTSA published in 2002. Second, we propose to add a new provision for a brake-throttle override (BTO) system, which would require that input to the brake pedal in a vehicle must have the capability of overriding input to the accelerator pedal. This BTO proposal is an outgrowth of NHTSA's research and defect investigation efforts aimed at addressing floor mat entrapment and related situations.\1\ We propose to apply the requirement for BTO systems to new passenger cars, multipurpose passenger vehicles, trucks and buses that have a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds (4,536 kilograms) or less and ETC.

This document grants in full the petition of Tesla Motors Inc's. (Tesla) for an exemption of the Model S vehicle line in accordance with 49 CFR Part 543, Exemption from the 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 the Theft Prevention Standard 49 CFR Part 541, Federal Motor Vehicle Theft Prevention Standard. Tesla requested confidential treatment for specific information in its petition. The agency granted Tesla's request for confidential treatment by a letter dated December 5, 2011.

OSRAM SYLVANIA Products, Inc.\1\ (OSRAM) has determined that certain Type HB2 replaceable light sources, manufactured between September 25, 2011, and October 8, 2011, do not fully comply with paragraph S7.7 of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 108, Lamp, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment. OSRAM has filed an appropriate report dated November 23, 2011 \2\, pursuant to 49 CFR part 573, Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility and Reports.

This final rule amends the implementation date for use of the revised uniform criteria for State Observational Surveys of Seat Belt Use. With this change, States may continue in calendar year 2012 to use a survey design that was approved under the old uniform criteria or, at their election, use a survey design approved under the revised uniform criteria. In calendar year 2013, all States must use a survey design approved under the revised uniform criteria.

Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, LLC, (Bridgestone),\1\ has determined that certain Firestone Transforce AT, size LT265/70R17, light truck replacement tires manufactured between November 20, 2011 and December 10, 2011, do not fully comply with paragraph S5.5(d) of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 139, New Pneumatic Radial Tires for Light Vehicles. Bridgestone has filed an appropriate report dated January 9, 2012, pursuant to 49 CFR Part 573, Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility and Reports.

This document announces receipt by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of a petition for a decision that nonconforming 1999 to 2006 Toyota Land Cruiser IFS 100 Series multipurpose passenger vehicles (MPVs) manufactured prior to September 1, 2006 that were not originally manufactured to comply with all applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS), are eligible for importation into the United States because they are substantially similar to vehicles that were originally manufactured for sale in the United States and that were certified by their manufacturer as complying with the safety standards (the U.S.-certified version of the 1999 to 2006 Toyota Land Cruiser IFS 100 Series MPV manufactured prior to September 1, 2006) and they are capable of being readily altered to conform to the standards.