Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 41 / Wednesday, March 2, 2011 / Proposed Rules 11417 

1http://www.nhtsa.gov/Driving+Safety/ 

Child+Safety/Keeping+Kids+Safe:+Inside+&+Out. 

already voluntarily equipping their 

‘‘express-up’’ or ‘‘one-touch closing’’ 

power windows with ARS that are 

either ECE compliant or nearly ECE 

compliant. 

We have also considered further 

whether safety would be materially 

improved by adopting the proposed 

alternative that requires ARS for 

express-up windows. Thus far, 

manufacturers have been voluntarily 

providing ARS for all express up 

windows. There is no reason at present 

to believe that vehicle manufacturers 

will discontinue this current practice. 

Moreover, the benefits of specifying the 

ECE R21 test requirement would be 

minimal. Given these considerations, 

adopting the proposed rule would not, 

at present, advance the child safety goal 

of the K. T. Safety Act. We do not read 

the statutory language to require 

issuance of such a rule, and we have 

accordingly decided not to issue a rule 

in this proceeding. 

We plan to monitor power window 

designs on new vehicles and data 

relevant to power window injuries. If a 

new entrant in the U.S. market began 

importing vehicles with express up 

windows lacking ARS or if a 

manufacturer discontinued its current 

voluntary practice of providing ARS, we 

would reexamine our options. 

The K. T. Safety Act specifies that if 

the Department does not issue a rule 

requiring ARS for power windows, it 

must make available to the public 

through the Internet and other means 

information indicating which vehicles 

with power windows and/or panels are 

or are not equipped with ARS. The 

Department has been or will be using 

several methods to provide this 

information since October 2009. We 

have been using our Five-Star safety 

rating program at http:// 

www.safercar.gov to indicate whether 

particular make-models have ARS. To 

improve this program and help ensure 

that vehicles that are listed have 

effective ARS, we plan to list vehicles 

as having ARS only if they have ECE 

compliant ARS (as determined in a test 

procedure that in the near future we 

will place in Docket number NHTSA— 

2006–26555—accessible at http:// 

www.regulations.gov) or the slightly 

more stringent ARS test requirement 

that we developed for power windows 

systems that operate when the key is not 

in the ignition. 

We are also including general 

information about power window safety 

in our ‘‘Buying a Safer Car for Child 

Passengers’’ brochure and at our new 

Web site ‘‘Keeping Kids Safe: Inside and 

Out’’.1

Based on the foregoing discussion, we 

are withdrawing our 2009 notice of 

proposed rulemaking published at 74 

FR 45143 on September 1, 2009, and 

terminating rulemaking. 

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 322, 30111, 30115, 

30117, and 30166; delegation of authority at 

49 CFR 1.50 and 501.8. 

Issued on: February 25, 2011. 

Joseph S. Carra, 

Acting Associate Administrator for 

Rulemaking. 

[FR Doc. 2011–4734 Filed 2–28–11; 11:15 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–59–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

National Highway Traffic Safety 

Administration 

49 CFR Part 571 

[Docket No. NHTSA–2010–0162] 

RIN 2127–AK43 

Public Workshop and Hearing for Rear 

Visibility; Federal Motor Vehicle Safety 

Standard, Rearview Mirrors, Federal 

Motor Vehicle Safety Standard, LowSpeed Vehicles; Phase-in Reporting 

Requirements 

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic 

Safety Administration (NHTSA), 

Department of Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking: 

Announcement of a public technical 

workshop, a public hearing and reopening of public comment period. 

SUMMARY: On December 7, 2010, 

NHTSA published a notice of proposed 

rulemaking proposing to amend the 

agency’s Federal motor vehicle safety 

standard on rearview mirrors to improve 

the ability of a driver of a vehicle to 

detect pedestrians in the area 

immediately behind the vehicle and 

thereby minimize the likelihood of the 

vehicle striking a pedestrian while the 

vehicle is moving backward. NHTSA is 

announcing two separate public events 

relating to this proposal. The first event, 

a public technical workshop, will be 

held on March 11, 2011, to discuss 

technical issues relevant to the test 

procedure described in the proposed 

rule. The second event, a public 

hearing, will be held on March 23, 2011 

to provide an opportunity for the public 

to present oral testimony regarding the 

proposal. The dates, times, locations, 

and framework for these public events 

are announced in this notice. In order to 

facilitate the submission of written 

comments in connection with these two 

events, the comment period for the 

proposed rule will be reopened for a 

period of 45 days. In a separate 

document appearing in today’s edition 

of the Federal Register, the agency is 

correcting various minor errors 

regarding metric conversions, section 

cross references and other matters. 

DATES: Workshop: NHTSA will hold the 

public technical workshop on March 11, 

2011, beginning at 9 a.m. and 

continuing until 12 p.m., local time, at 

the location indicated in the ADDRESSES

section below. 

Public hearing: The public hearing 

will be held on March 23, 2011, 

beginning at 9 a.m. and continuing until 

3 p.m. at the location indicated in the 

ADDRESSES section below. If you would 

like to present oral testimony at either 

of these public events, please contact 

the person identified under FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT, at least 5 days 

before the meeting. 

Comments: The comment period for 

the proposed rule published December 

7, 2010, at 75 FR 76186 is reopened. 

Comments will be accepted until April 

18, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: The March 11 public 

technical workshop will be held at the 

National Highway Traffic Safety 

Administration Vehicle and Research 

Test Center, 10820 State Route 347— 

Bldg. 60, East Liberty, Ohio 43319. 

The March 23 public hearing will be 

held in the media center at the 

Department of Transportation West 

Building, 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE., 

Washington, DC 20590. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If 

you would like to present oral testimony 

at either of these public events, please 

contact Mr. Markus Price at DOT by the 

date specified under DATES, at: Office of 

Crash Avoidance, Visibility and Injury 

Prevention Division, NHTSA, 1200 New 

Jersey Ave., SE., Washington, DC 20590; 

telephone number: (202) 366–0098; fax 

number: (202) 493–2990; e-mail 

address: markus.price@dot.gov 

(preferred method of registration). 

Please provide the following 

information: The event at which you 

would like to speak; the time you wish 

to speak (morning or afternoon) at the 

hearing; your name and affiliation and 

the number of the individuals from your 

affiliation who are planning to attend; 

your address, e-mail address, telephone 

and fax numbers; and any 

accommodations you may need, such as 

a sign language interpreter. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

proposed rule would expand the 


emcdonald on DSK2BSOYB1PROD with PROPOSALS
11418 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 41 / Wednesday, March 2, 2011 / Proposed Rules 

required field of view for all passenger 

cars, trucks, multipurpose passenger 

vehicles, buses, and low-speed vehicles 

rated at 10,000 pounds or less, gross 

vehicle weight, as specified in the 

Cameron Gulbransen Kids 

Transportation Safety Act of 2007 (75 

FR 76186). NHTSA’s proposal would 

specify an area immediately behind 

each vehicle and require that the driver 

must be able to see that area when the 

vehicle’s transmission is in reverse, 

thereby minimizing the likelihood of a 

vehicle striking a pedestrian while 

performing a backing maneuver. The 

agency is announcing two separate 

public events to obtain additional 

public input related to this proposal. In 

a separate document appearing 

elsewhere in today’s edition of the 

Federal Register, the agency is 

correcting various minor errors 

regarding metric conversions, section 

cross references and other matters. 

The purpose of the first public event, 

a public technical workshop, is to 

provide interested parties an 

opportunity to discuss technical issues 

relevant to the test procedure. We are 

holding the workshop after our 

preliminary evaluation of comments 

suggests that various test procedure 

comments could be better presented 

using a ‘‘hands-on’’ approach. The 

workshop will be held in a lab 

environment. The agency will provide a 

vehicle and various test equipment to 

aid parties in demonstrating compliance 

testing concerns relevant to the 

proposed rule. 

The purpose of the second meeting, a 

public hearing, is to provide the public 

with an opportunity to present oral 

comments regarding NHTSA’s proposal. 

The agency wants to give the public this 

additional opportunity to express their 

views on effective ways of meeting the 

mandate in the Cameron Gulbransen 

Kids Transportation Safety Act. 

Technical Workshop Procedures 

To ensure that all interested persons 

have the benefit of the discussions at the 

workshop, we will arrange for a written 

transcript of the workshop. It will be 

placed in the public docket for this 

rulemaking. You may make 

arrangements for copies of the transcript 

directly with the court reporter. 

Because the technical workshop will 

be located in a lab environment, NHTSA 

requests that the number of those 

attending from each affiliation be held 

to a minimum. For security purposes, 

photo identification is required to enter 

NHTSA’s vehicle research test center. 

Public Hearing Procedures 

Once NHTSA establishes how many 

people have registered to speak at the 

public hearing, it will allocate an 

appropriate amount of time to each 

participant, allowing time for necessary 

breaks. In addition, we will reserve a 

block of time for anyone else in the 

audience who wants to give testimony. 

For planning purposes, each speaker 

should anticipate speaking for 

approximately ten minutes, although we 

may need to shorten that time if there 

is a large turnout. We will accommodate 

your requested presentation time to the 

extent we can, consistent with the other 

requests we receive. We request that you 

bring three copies of your statement or 

other material so that it can be placed 

into the docket. 

To accommodate as many speakers as 

possible, we prefer that speakers not use 

technological aids (e.g., audio-visuals, 

computer slideshows). However, if you 

plan to do so, you must notify the 

contact person in the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section above in 

advance of the meeting and make 

advance arrangements with that person 

regarding the use of any aids in order to 

facilitate set-up. 

NHTSA will conduct the public 

hearing informally; thus, technical rules 

of evidence will not apply. Panel 

members may ask clarifying questions 

during the oral presentations, but will 

not respond to presentations at that 

time. We will arrange for a written 

transcript of the meeting. You may make 

arrangements for copies of the 

transcripts directly with the court 

reporter. 

This meeting will be held in the 

media room at the Department of 

Transportation West Building. 

Therefore, each participant must register 

with building security personnel and be 

escorted to the meeting room by the 

contact person in the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section, or 

someone delegated by him for this 

purpose. Please arrive at the security 

desk sufficiently in advance of the 

expected time of your presentation to 

allow for the time necessary to obtain 

security clearance. The length of time 

will depend on the size of the audience 

seeking to attend the meeting. 

Public Comments 

Persons wishing to submit written 

comments related to the proposal or 

either public event may do so on or 

before the new comment closing date 

announced in this document. The 

agency will consider all comments 

received before the close of business on 

the new comment closing date 

announced in the DATES section of this 

preamble. The comments will be 

available for examination in the docket 

at the above address both before and 

after that date. 

To minimize the interval between the 

issuance of the final rule and the 

original statutory deadline, the agency 

does not expect to be able to consider 

any late comments. Rulemaking action 

may proceed at any time after the 

comment due date. Any comments 

received after the closing date and too 

late for consideration in regard to the 

action will be treated as suggestions for 

future rulemaking. 

The NHTSA will continue to file 

relevant material as it becomes available 

in the docket after the closing date. It is 

recommended that interested persons 

continue to examine the docket for new 

material. 

Those persons desiring to be notified 

upon receipt of their comments in the 

public docket should enclose, in the 

envelope with their comments, a selfaddressed stamped postcard. Upon 

receiving the comments, the docket 

supervisor will return the postcard by 

mail. 

Issued on: February 24, 2011. 

Joseph S. Carra, 

Acting Associate Administrator for 

Rulemaking. 

[FR Doc. 2011–4736 Filed 2–28–11; 11:15 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–59–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

National Highway Traffic Safety 

Administration 

49 CFR Parts 571 and 585 

[Docket No. NHTSA–2010–0162] 

RIN 2127–AK43 

Rear Visibility; Federal Motor Vehicle 

Safety Standard, Rearview Mirrors; 

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard, 

Low-Speed Vehicles; Phase-in 

Reporting Requirements 

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic 

Safety Administration (NHTSA), 

Department of Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking; 

corrections. 

SUMMARY: In December 2010, we 

published a notice of proposed 

rulemaking proposing to amend the 

agency’s Federal motor vehicle safety 

standard on rearview mirrors to improve 

the ability of a driver of a vehicle to 

detect pedestrians in the area 

immediately behind the vehicle and 

thereby minimize the likelihood of the 


emcdonald on DSK2BSOYB1PROD with PROPOSALS