. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/N/USA/605 
17 December 2010  
 (10-6792) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
The following notification is being circ ulated in accordance with Article 10.6 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  UNITED STATES
  
If applicable, name of local governme nt involved (Article 3.2 and 7.2):     
2. Agency responsible:  National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), 
Department of Transportation (DOT) (622) 
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers, e-mail and website 
addresses, if available) of agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall be indicated if different from above:     
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X], 2.10.1 [   ], 5.6.2 [   ], 5.7.1 [   ], other:   
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading. 
ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable):  Rearview mirrors, vehicle 
safety (HS 7009.10;  ICS 43.020) 
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:  Federal Motor Vehicle 
Safety Standard, Rearview Mirrors;  Federa l Motor Vehicle Safety Standard, Low–Speed 
Vehicles Phase–In Reporting Requ irements;  Proposed Rule  (66 pages, in English).     
6. Description of content:  Description of Content:  The Cameron Gulbransen Kids 
Transportation Safety Act of 2007 directs NHTSA to issue a final rule amending the agency's 
Federal motor vehicle safety sta ndard on rearview mirrors to improve the ability of a driver to 
detect pedestrians in the area immediately behi nd his or her vehicle a nd thereby minimize the 
likelihood of a vehicle's striking a pedestrian while its driver is backing the vehicle.  Pursuant 
to this mandate, NHTSA is proposing to expand the required field of view for all passenger 
cars, trucks, multipurpose passe nger vehicles, buses, and low-sp eed vehicles rated at 10,000 
pounds or less, gross vehicle weight.  Specific ally, NHTSA is proposing to specify an area 
immediately behind each vehicle that the driver must be able to see when the vehicle's transmission is in reverse.  It appears that, in the near term, the only technology available with 
the ability to comply with this proposal would be a rear visibility system that includes a rear–
mounted video camera and an in–vehicle visual display.  Adoption of this proposal would 
significantly reduce fata lities and injuries caused by b ackover crashes involving children, 
persons with disabilities, the elderly, and other pedestrians.  
In light of the difficulty of effectively a ddressing of the backover safety problem through 
technologies other than camera sy stems and given the differences in the effectiveness and cost 
of the available technologies, we developed several alternatives that, compared to the proposal, offer less, but at least in  one case still substantial, bene fits and do so at reduced cost. 
We seek comment on those alternatives and on other possible ways to achieve the statutory objective and meet the statutory requirements at lower cost. G/TBT/N/USA/605 
Page 2  
 
  7. Objective and rationale, including the na ture of urgent problems where applicable:  
Protection of the environment  
8. Relevant documents:   75 Federal Register (FR) 76185,  7 December 2010;  49 CFR Parts 
571 and 585.   
9. Proposed date of adoption:   
Proposed date of entry into force:   }To be determined 
10. Final date for comments:  7 February 2011 
11. Text available from: National enquiry point [X], or address, telephone and fax numbers, 
e-mail and web-site addresses, if available of the other body:   Internet URLs: 
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-30353.htm  
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-30353.pdf