Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 182 / Thursday, September 21, 2023 / Proposed Rules 65149 

1The petition states that the Parent Advocacy 

Group is a group of members dedicated to ending 

heatstroke deaths of children in vehicles. 

2Fray, Eddie L., Petition to the Secretary of 

Transportation to Mandate a Number of Higher 

Safety Standards to the Automobile Industry (‘‘Fray 

Petition’’), November 27, 2015, page 1. 

3 Id. 

4Fray Petition at page 9. 

5Fray Petition, pages 9–12. The petitioner has 

filed copyrights for some of these concepts with the 

U.S. Copyright Office in 2014 and 2015. (Guardian 

Car Cam: TXu001931485; Accessory: 

TXu001999496; S2S Hot Car System: 

TXu001982523). 

6Mr. Fray’s petition did not request that NHTSA 

initiate rulemaking to require vehicles to be able to 

detect and respond to the presence of unattended 

children in seats, nor did it provide supporting 

information demonstrating the practicability and 

safety benefits of such a requirement. Such a 

request would have fallen within the scope of a 

petition for rulemaking under 49 CFR part 552. 

7The RIN for this planned rulemaking is 2127– 

AM49. For more information see https://

www.reginfo.gov/public/do/ 

Continued 

Issued in Washington, DC, on September 

15, 2023, under authority delegated in 49 

CFR part 1.97. 

William S. Schoonover, 

Associate Administrator of Hazardous 

Materials Safety, Pipeline and Hazardous 

Materials Safety Administration. 

[FR Doc. 2023–20440 Filed 9–20–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–60–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

National Highway Traffic Safety 

Administration 

49 CFR Part 571 

[Docket No. NHTSA–2022–0097] 

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety 

Standards 

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic 

Safety Administration (NHTSA), 

Department of Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Denial of petition for 

rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: This document denies a 

petition for rulemaking submitted by 

Mr. Eddie L. Fray on behalf of the 

Parent Advocacy Group on November 

27, 2015. The petitioner requested that 

the Secretary of Transportation mandate 

installation of specific products and 

systems as well other complementary 

safety features intended to prevent 

pediatric heatstroke in vehicles. NHTSA 

is denying the petition because the 

Agency does not initiate rulemaking to 

require installation of specific products. 

DATES: September 21, 2023. 

ADDRESSES: National Highway Traffic 

Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE, West Building, Washington, 

DC 20590. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Susan Riddoch, Office of Crash 

Avoidance Standards, National 

Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 

1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, 

Washington, DC 20590, Telephone: 

(202) 366–2367, or Mr. Eli Wachtel, 

Telephone: 202–366–3065, Office of 

Chief Counsel. Address: National 

Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 

1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, 

Washington, DC 20590. 

I. Background 

The National Traffic and Motor 

Vehicle Safety Act (‘‘Safety Act’’) (49 

U.S.C. 30101 et seq.) authorizes NHTSA 

to issue safety standards for new motor 

vehicles and new items of motor vehicle 

equipment. Each Federal Motor Vehicle 

Safety Standard (FMVSS) must be 

practicable, meet the need for motor 

vehicle safety, and be stated in objective 

terms. NHTSA does not endorse any 

vehicles or items of equipment. Further, 

NHTSA does not approve or certify 

vehicles or equipment. Instead, the 

Safety Act establishes a ‘‘selfcertification’’ framework under which 

each manufacturer is responsible for 

certifying that its products meet all 

applicable safety standards. 

Petitions for rulemaking are governed 

by 49 CFR 552. Pursuant to Part 552, the 

agency conducts a technical review of 

the petition, which may consist of an 

analysis of the material submitted, 

together with information already in 

possession of the agency. In deciding 

whether to grant or deny a petition, the 

agency considers this technical review 

as well as appropriate factors, which 

include, among others, allocation of 

agency resources and agency priorities. 

II. Petition 

On November 27, 2015, Mr. Fray 

submitted a petition on behalf of the 

Parent Advocacy Group 1 asking that the 

Secretary of Transportation mandate 

lifesaving features and systems intended 

to reduce heatstroke deaths of children 

in vehicles.2 The petitioner states that 

the mandate is necessary to save lives 

and requests that the Secretary issue the 

mandate within 30 days.3 A copy of the 

petition is available in the docket 

identified at the beginning of this 

document. 

In support of his request, the 

petitioner cites heatstroke death 

statistics dating back to 1998 as well as 

information about specific heatstroke 

deaths of children in vehicles. The 

petitioner also includes information 

about actions NHTSA has taken 

regarding child heatstroke deaths in 

vehicles and why he believes those 

actions fall short of what is needed.4

The petition then describes a product 

called ‘‘the Guardian Cam,’’ a heatstroke 

prevention alarm system called 

‘‘Accessory,’’ and a seat belt and 

pressure sensing alert system called 

‘‘seat to seat.’’ 5 In addition to 

descriptions of the concepts, the 

petitioner included exemplar sketches 

of what the concepts would look like 

when installed in a vehicle. The 

petitioner also outlined how the 

concepts are designed to work in 

various scenarios to prevent child 

heatstroke in vehicles. 

It is our understanding that the 

petitioner is requesting that the 

Secretary of Transportation mandate the 

installation of Guardian Cam and other 

complementary systems and features on 

new motor vehicles. The Secretary of 

Transportation has delegated 

responsibility for responding to this 

petition to NHTSA. 

III. NHTSA’s Consideration of the 

Petition and Decision 

NHTSA has conducted an analysis of 

Mr. Fray’s petition and, after careful 

consideration, has decided to deny his 

petition and will not initiate rulemaking 

proposing to require his concept 

countermeasures. NHTSA is denying 

Mr. Fray’s petition because it requests 

that NHTSA mandate specific products 

and accompanying features. Under the 

Safety Act, NHTSA is tasked with 

issuing motor vehicle safety standards 

that set minimum standards for motor 

vehicle or motor vehicle equipment 

performance. In doing so, NHTSA aims 

to establish standards that are 

performance-based and technology 

neutral. Additionally, as stated above, 

NHTSA does not endorse individual 

products. Accordingly, NHTSA finds 

that it would be inappropriate to grant 

a petition to initiate rulemaking to 

require specific products. Mr. Fray also 

asks the Secretary of Transportation to 

‘‘develop, demonstrate, and evaluate’’ 

his proposed countermeasures. This 

request, however, does not fall within 

the scope of a petition for rulemaking 

under 49 CFR part 552.6

Although NHTSA is denying the 

petition, the agency shares Mr. Fray’s 

concerns about the risk of pediatric 

heatstroke in vehicles and is committed 

to taking appropriate steps to address 

this issue. To this end, NHTSA 

continues to issue public messaging 

campaigns with numerous safety 

partners and conduct research. 

Additionally, NHTSA has recently 

initiated a rulemaking to establish new 

requirements to address pediatric 

heatstroke in vehicles.7


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
65150 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 182 / Thursday, September 21, 2023 / Proposed Rules 

eAgendaViewRule?pubId=202304&RIN=2127- 

AM49. 8 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Public 

Law 117–58, 135 Stat. 429 § 24222 (2021). 

Section 24222 of the Infrastructure, 

Investment and Jobs Act (commonly 

referred to as the Bipartisan 

Infrastructure Law or BIL) directs the 

Secretary of Transportation to issue a 

final rule requiring that passenger motor 

vehicles be equipped with a system to 

alert the operator to check reardesignated seating positions after the 

vehicle engine or motor is deactivated 

by the operator that shall include a 

distinct auditory and visual alert that 

may be combined with a haptic alert.8

The BIL further directs the Agency to 

conduct studies on the potential 

retrofitting of existing passenger motor 

vehicles with rear-seat alert systems, as 

well as the potential benefits and 

economic burdens associated with those 

technologies. These technologies are 

intended to reduce the risk of children 

being left in rear-designated seating 

positions when the vehicle motor is 

deactivated. 

NHTSA is also conducting research 

regarding the practicability of issuing 

performance standards that would 

require detection of unattended 

occupants in rear seats. Such 

requirements would provide safety 

benefits beyond the mandated 

minimum. 

IV. Conclusion

NHTSA has reviewed the petition for

rulemaking submitted by Mr. Eddie L. 

Fray requesting that the Secretary of 

Transportation mandate installation of 

specific products intended to prevent 

the pediatric heatstroke in vehicles. 

NHTSA is denying the request because 

the agency does not initiate rulemakings 

to mandate specific products. 

In accordance with 49 U.S.C. 30162 

and 49 CFR part 552, the petition for 

rulemaking from Mr. Eddie Fray is 

denied. 

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

30117 and 30166; delegations of authority at 

49 CFR 1.95 and 501.8. 

Issued in Washington, DC. 

Milton E. Cooper, 

Director of Rulemaking Operations. 

[FR Doc. 2023–20393 Filed 9–20–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–59–P 


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