Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 94 / Tuesday, May 15, 2001 / Notices 26911

5NHTSA Website at http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/

people/injury/childps/.

6NHTSA Hotline at 1–888-DASH–2-DOT (1–888–

327–4236).

instruction manual to determine where

to properly place and how to properly

secure child safety seats.

NHTSA has published numerous

other brochures on how to safely

transport children. They describe other

important vehicle-to-CSS interface

issues and factors that need to be

considered by parents and caregivers.

The brochures are available on our

NHTSA website 5 or can be obtained by

contacting the NHTSA Hotline.6

NHTSA agrees that the design of the

lap belt assembly for the center seating

position in the subject vehicles may

make it difficult for CSSs similar to the

Cosco Touriva to be installed securely

and that children riding in an

inadequately-secured CSS might not be

properly protected in the event of a

crash. However, these CSSs can be

installed securely in the outboard

passenger seating position as described

in the vehicle owner’s manual. (We note

that the subject vehicles, when

equipped with the optional passenger

air bag, are equipped with switches that

allow the driver to temporarily disable

the passenger air bag when a child is

present to assure that a deploying air

bag will not injure the child.) In

addition, there have been no consumer

complaints regarding this alleged

problem in the subject vehicles. For

these reasons, NHTSA has no basis on

which to conclude that this condition

constitutes a safety-related defect. It is

unlikely that NHTSA would issue an

order concerning the notification and

remedy of a safety-related defect at the

conclusion of an investigation into this

matter.

With respect to the petitioner’s

request that a rulemaking be

commenced to consider prohibiting this

type of lap belt assembly from being

used in any passenger motor vehicles in

the future due to its inability to securely

hold certain models/sizes of CSSs,

NHTSA has recently amended Federal

Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS)

No. 213 and adopted a new FMVSS No.

225 to establish new anchorage and

mounting requirements for vehicles and

CSSs. FMVSS No. 225 was adopted in

March 1999 and, when fully effective,

will require passenger cars, SUVs, lightduty trucks, buses, and vans to be

equipped with easy-to-use anchorage

systems consisting of an upper tether

anchorage and two lower anchorages

designed to be used exclusively for

securing CSSs. By requiring an

independent child restraint anchorage

system, this standard will significantly

improve the compatibility of vehicle

seats and CSSs. As of September 1,

2000, 80% of new vehicles were

required to be equipped with the userfriendly upper tether anchorages and by

September 1, 2001, 80% of new vehicles

will also be equipped with the lower

restraint anchorages. All passenger cars

manufactured after September 1, 2002,

will be equipped with both the upper

tether and lower restraint anchorages.

All CSSs manufactured after September

1, 2002 will be required to have

hardware to attach to these standardized

anchorages, and will also be required to

be attachable to the vehicle via the

vehicle’s seat belt system, as is currently

done, since the pre-existing fleet will

not have the new anchorages. We note,

however, that FMVSS No. 225 only

requires the new, standardized

anchorages at certain seating positions,

which vary depending on the type of

vehicle, so it is crucial that consumers

consult their vehicle owner’s manual

and their child restraint instruction

manual to determine where and how to

properly install their CSS. In view of

these recent amendments, the

compatibility problems noted by the

petitioner will not occur in future

vehicles, so there is no need for further

regulatory action.

For the foregoing reasons, and in view

of the need to allocate and prioritize

NHTSA’s limited resources to best

accomplish the agency’s safety mission,

the petition for a defect investigation

and for rulemaking is denied.

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30162(d); delegations

of authority at CFR 1.50 and 501.8.

Issued on: May 8, 2001.

Stephen R. Kratzke,

Associate Administrator for Safety

Performance Standards.

Kenneth N. Weinstein,

Associate Administrator for Safety

Assurance.

[FR Doc. 01–12193 Filed 5–14–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–59–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Bureau of Transportation Statistics

Advisory Council on Transportation

Statistics

AGENCY: Bureau of Transportation

Statistics, Transportation.

ACTION: Notice of Meeting.

SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 10(A)(2)

of the Federal Advisory Committee Act

(Public law 72–363; 5 U.S.C. App.2)

notice is hereby given of a meeting of

the Bureau of Transportation Statistics

(BTS) Advisory Council on

Transportation Statistics (ACTS) to be

held Friday, June 1, 2001, 10 a.m. to 4

p.m. The meeting will take place at the

U.S. Department of Transportation, 400

Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC, in

conference room 3200–3202 of the

Nassif Building.

The Advisory Council, called for

under Section 6007 of Public law 102–

240, Intermodal Surface Transportation

Efficiency Act of 1991, December 18,

1991, and chartered on June 19, 1995,

was created to advise the Director of

BTS on transportation statistics and

analyses, including whether or not the

statistics and analysis disseminated by

the Bureau are of high quality and are

based upon the best available objective

information.

The agenda for this meeting will

include, Director’s programs update,

indicators, outreach, performance

measures, confidentiality, identification

of substantive issues, review of plans

and schedule, other items of interest,

discussion and agreement of date(s) for

subsequent meetings, and comments

from the floor.

Since access to the DOT building is

controlled, all persons who plan to

attend the meeting must notify Ms.

Lillian ‘‘Pidge’’ Chapman, Council

Liaison, on (202) 366–1270 prior to May

25, 2001. Attendance is open to the

interested public but limited to space

available. With the approval of the

Chair, members of the public may

present oral statements at the meeting.

Noncommittee members wishing to

present oral statements, obtain

information, or who plan to access the

building to attend the meeting should

also contact Ms. Chapman.

Members of the public may present a

written statement to the Council at any

time.

Persons with a disability requiring

special services, such as an interpreter

for the hearing impaired, should contact

Ms. Chapman (202) 366–1270 at least

seven days prior to the meeting.

Issued in Washington, DC, on May 8, 2001.

Ashish Sen,

Director.

[FR Doc. 01–12194 Filed 5–14–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–FE–P