[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 182 (Friday, September 19, 1997)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 49190-49191]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-24966]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 571


Denial of Petition for Rulemaking; Federal Motor Vehicle Safety 
Standards

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 
Department of Transportation.

ACTION: Denial of petition for rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: This document denies Mr. Herb Denenberg's petition requesting 
three agency rulemaking actions relating to carbon monoxide detection 
in motor vehicles. In addition, Mr. Denenberg requested that 
information regarding the availability of carbon monoxide detectors be 
published in the agency's press releases and consumer advisories. The 
petition requested that the agency take action on one or more of these 
actions.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Chris Flanigan, Office of Safety 
Performance Standards, NHTSA, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 
20590. Mr. Flanigan's telephone number is: (202) 366-4918. His 
facsimile number is (202) 366-4329.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: By letter received by the agency on March 
13, 1997, Mr. Denenberg requested that: (1) Carbon monoxide detectors 
be required in all motor vehicles, (2) manufacturers be required to 
offer them as an option in all motor vehicles, and (3) manufacturers be 
required to include material in owner's manuals indicating the 
availability and value of installing a carbon monoxide detector. In 
addition, Mr. Denenberg requested that information regarding the 
availability of carbon monoxide detectors be published in the agency's 
press releases and consumer advisories. The petitioner asked that the 
agency take action on one or more of these four requests.

Agency Analysis

    To establish a new vehicle safety specification, the agency must 
decide on the basis of data and analyses, that there is a significant 
safety problem and that the safety problem would likely be reduced by 
adopting that specification. To support his requests, the petitioner 
cites data from NHTSA's Consumer Advisory of December 16, 1996. These 
data (from a National Center for Health Statistics study) showed 353 
fatalities occurred in 1993 as a result of accidental carbon monoxide 
poisoning.

[[Page 49191]]

The petitioner states that ``many if not most of these deaths could be 
prevented by carbon monoxide detectors'' installed in the vehicles. The 
petitioner did not offer any data to support this assertion.
    Of the 353 fatalities, the largest portion, 35 percent, occurred in 
the winter months. In the spring and fall months, which can also be 
cold in some parts of the country, 52 percent of the fatalities 
occurred. Only 13 percent of the fatalities occurred in the summer 
months. Further, in information obtained from the Center for Disease 
Control, in the years 1979 through 1992, the fatality rate (fatalities 
per state population per 100,000 people) for carbon monoxide deaths in 
stationary vehicles is highest in the northern half of the country 
(with fatality rates ranging from 0.29 to 0.72 in most of these 
states). These rates drop (to between 0.00 and 0.16) in the southern 
half of the country.
    We believe the majority of these fatalities occur in cold weather 
for two reasons. First, in cold weather, people may let their vehicles 
warm up in a garage or enclosed area to keep themselves warm. This 
could allow carbon monoxide to build up in these areas to fatal or 
injurious levels. Second, if the area around a vehicle has not been 
adequately cleared of snow, it could block the exhaust pipe. This could 
cause carbon monoxide to build up inside the vehicle and create a 
hazardous situation.
    The first request Mr. Denenberg made was that the agency require 
carbon monoxide detectors in all vehicles. As stated above, we believe 
carbon monoxide poisoning to be primarily a cold weather problem. For 
this reason, we do not think it is justifiable to require that all 
vehicles be equipped with these detectors. A large portion of the 
vehicles sold in this country will rarely, if ever, be driven in cold 
weather. If one assumes that 15 million vehicles are manufactured in 
the country each year, the total cost to the industry to equip all 
vehicles with a detector would be substantially more than $240 million. 
This is based on the estimate of $16 per detector obtained by the 
petitioner from the Quantum Group, a manufacturer of carbon monoxide 
detectors. According to the petitioner, the Quantum Group currently 
sells this type of detector for between $35 and $60, but it estimated a 
cost of $16 per detector based on the increase in production that would 
result from them being required on all vehicles. This cost does not 
include manufacturer installation and other costs such as manufacturer 
and dealer profits. The agency has found in the past that these costs 
generally add about 50 percent onto the original equipment cost. These 
additional factors would raise the initial cost to the consumer 
considerably, and, for a problem which would mainly affect vehicles 
operating in cold climates, the agency cannot justify imposing this 
cost burden on the industry and consumers.
    An additional consumer cost that must be considered is the lifetime 
maintenance of the detectors. With these detectors, the sensors need to 
be replaced approximately every six years. This replacement should be 
done by experienced personnel, so the detectors would most likely have 
to be returned to the manufacturer for such work. Not only would this 
increase the cost of the requirement, but it would reduce the 
effectiveness in averting deaths. Some vehicle owners will undoubtedly 
fail to maintain the detectors properly and will end up with inoperable 
or otherwise less-than-effective detectors. Because the recommended 
maintenance on these detectors should be done every six years, only the 
six newest model years in the national fleet would be assured of having 
fully effective detectors.
    Another factor which leads the agency to believe that a detector 
requirement would not be effective is the age of the vehicles involved 
in carbon monoxide fatalities. Many of these fatalities were caused by 
degradation of the vehicle's interior and/or exhaust system which 
allowed exhaust gases to enter the passenger compartment. We believe it 
fair to assume that, of the vehicles which have developed this type of 
degradation, most will be more than six years old. As stated 
previously, only the six newest model years in the national fleet would 
be assured of having fully-effective detectors. Under this assumption, 
by the time vehicles begin to exhibit this type of degradation, the 
carbon monoxide detectors may be in need of scheduled maintenance.
    Mr. Denenberg's second request was to require manufacturers to 
offer these detectors as an option on all vehicles. As previously 
stated, the agency believes that it would not be cost-effective to 
require carbon monoxide detectors in vehicles. For the same reason, we 
do not believe manufacturers should be required to offer them as an 
option. To require them to be offered as an option would also be costly 
to the industry, as vehicles would have to be redesigned to incorporate 
the detectors. Further, if vehicle owners wish to place a detector in 
their vehicles, they are not precluded from doing so.
    Regarding Mr. Denenberg's request that information on these 
detectors be placed in owner's manuals, we do not believe this will 
effectively reach all the affected parties. If the vehicle changes 
owners, it is possible that the owner's manual will not be included 
with the vehicle. In this case, the new owner would be oblivious to 
this information. To address the problem in a more universal manner and 
reach a larger portion of the affected parties, the agency began to 
issue annual consumer advisories about the hazards of carbon monoxide 
in the Fall of 1996.
    These advisories alert drivers of all vehicles to the dangers of 
letting vehicles idle in enclosed spaces, the importance of maintaining 
the exhaust system, and that snow or other debris must be cleared from 
the exhaust area before starting the vehicle. Mr. Denenberg's final 
request was for NHTSA to include information about the availability and 
value of carbon monoxide detectors in these consumer advisories. 
Regarding this request, the agency will consider adding this 
information to the next consumer advisory on this subject.
    In accordance with 49 CFR part 552, this completes the agency's 
review of the petition. The agency has concluded that there is no 
reasonable possibility that the amendments requested by the petitioner 
would be issued at the conclusion of a rulemaking proceeding. 
Accordingly, it denies Mr. Denenberg's petition.

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30103, 30162; delegation of authority at 49 
CFR 1.50 and 501.8.

    Issued on: September 16, 1997.
L. Robert Shelton,
Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.
[FR Doc. 97-24966 Filed 9-18-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P