26910 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 94 / Tuesday, May 15, 2001 / Notices

1E.g., MY 1997 Ford Ranger Owner’s Guide, First

Printing, Pages 101–145 and MY 1996 Ford Ranger

Owner’s Guide, First Printing, Pages 9–40.

2Cosco Touriva One-Guard models 02–014/02–

015, Instruction Manual for a MY 1997 CSS, Page

7, Sections ‘‘Do You Have a Manual Belt?’’

3Evenflo/Gerry One-Click Model 691 CSS

Owner’s Manual, Page 11, Section ‘‘Manually

Adjusted Belt and Locking Latch Plates.’’

4NHTSA Publications DOT HS 809 011, ‘‘Buying

a Safer Car for Child Passengers 2000,’’ and DOT

HS 808 302, ‘‘Are You Using It Right?’’

Issued: May 8, 2001.

Stephen R. Kratzke,

Associate Administrator for Safety

Performance Standards.

[FR Doc. 01–12170 Filed 5–14–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–59–U

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration

Denial of a Petition for a Defect

Investigation and for Rulemaking,

DP00–005

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic

Safety Administration (NHTSA),

Department of Transportation.

ACTION: Denial of petition for a defect

investigation and for rulemaking.

SUMMARY: This notice sets forth the

reasons for the denial of a petition

submitted to NHTSA under 49 U.S.C.

30162, requesting that the agency

investigate an alleged safety-related

defect in certain Ford pickup trucks and

to begin a rulemaking proceeding. The

petition is hereinafter identified as

DP00–005.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For

defects issues, Peter C. Ong, Office of

Defects Investigation, NHTSA, 400

Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC

20590. Telephone: (202) 366–0583. For

rulemaking issues, Michael Huntley,

Office of Safety Performance Standards,

Telephone: (202) 366–0029.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Dr. Carl E.

Nash (petitioner) submitted a petition to

NHTSA by letter dated September 1,

2000, requesting, among other things,

that a safety-related defect investigation

be initiated with respect to the

interaction of a vehicle seat belt in the

model year (MY) 1997 Ford Ranger

pickup truck and certain child safety

seats (CSS). Specifically, the petitioner

alleges that the 2-point, manuallyadjusting lap belt design located in the

center seating position of the MY 1997

Ford Ranger is defective because it does

not securely hold certain forward-facing

CSSs, such as the 1997 Cosco Touriva.

Since both the MY 1996 and 1997 Ford

Rangers have the same lap belt design

in the center seating position, they will

be the subject vehicles in this phase of

the analysis. Additionally, the petitioner

requests that a rulemaking be

considered to prohibit this type of lap

belt assembly from being used in any

passenger vehicles in the future.

A review of the agency’s data files,

including information reported to the

DOT Auto Safety Hotline, does not

indicate any complaints about the lap

belt for the center seat on the subject

vehicles, including when that belt is

used with a CSS. Also, a review of the

data for complaints about the Cosco

Touriva CSSs showed no complaints

referring to CSS attachment or

installation problems when used in the

subject vehicles, or in any other

vehicles.

The subject vehicles have a 3-point

combination lap and shoulder belt

assembly and an air bags at the driver

and outboard passenger seating

positions, and a manually-adjusting lap

belt assembly at the center seating

position. The outboard passenger seat

belt assembly has a dual locking mode

belt retractor to help maintain belt

tension for both the occupants and a

CSS. The lap belt assembly for the

center seating position has a built-in

friction locking bar inside the latch

plate assembly to keep the belt tight, but

no retractor.

Instructions are given in the subject

vehicles’ owner’s guides,1 describing

how to install a CSS in a seating

position with a combination lap and

shoulder belt, which is the outboard

seating position. According to those

instructions, the seat belt assembly is to

be engaged in the automatic locking

mode to ensure that the seat belt

remains tight when used to restrain a

CSS. The instructions also recommend

the use of a top tether strap with

forward-facing CSSs. The guide also

states that when using a rear-facing

infant CSS, the passenger air bag must

be turned off. No instructions are given

for the installation of a CSS in the center

seating position, although there is no

specific direction not to do so.

ODI personnel easily installed and

secured a Cosco Touriva CSS in the

outboard passenger seating position of a

subject vehicle following the

instructions provided in the vehicle’s

owner’s guide. It was difficult to install

the Touriva CSS in the center seating

position because the base of the CSS

was wider than the distance between

the seat belt latch plate assembly exit

point and the buckle assembly exit

point in the bench seat. ODI also

observed that when the latch plate end

was inserted into the buckle, the buckle

portion of the lap belt assembly

protruded 5–6 inches out from the seat

and was about the same height as the

height of the slot in the CSS for the seat

belt to pass through.

ODI personnel then checked the CSS

for tightness as prescribed in the

Touriva instruction manual: 2 ‘‘Tilt and

push the child restraint forward and to

both sides.’’ The CSS moved and

loosened from the lap belt when it was

tilted in the side to side direction. It

appeared that the belt webbing could

form a 90° angle to the latch plate

assembly and prevent the engagement of

the friction locking bar in the belt

assembly of the vehicle. This inability of

the Touriva CSS to remain tightly

secured on the center seat was evident.

ODI personnel also installed another

forward-facing CSS, the Gerry One-Click

Model 691, in a subject vehicle. Again,

ODI personnel easily installed and

secured the One-Click CSS in the

outboard passenger seating position.

Due to its narrower base, it was also

easier to install and secure in the center

seating position than the Cosco Touriva

CSS. In the final check for proper fit/

tightness, the One-Click was ‘‘rocked

from side to side’’ as instructed in the

One-Click instruction manual,3 and it

remained tight and secured to the center

seat.

It was noted that even if the Cosco

Touriva CSS could have been securely

attached at the center seating position,

its left side intruded into the driver’s

seating area, and therefore could

interfere with the driver’s ability to

operate the vehicle. In addition, the

driver would not be able to readily

operate the floor-mounted shift lever

because it would be blocked by the leftfront corner of the CSS (approximately

60% of the subject vehicles were sold

with a floor-mounted shift lever).

Proper interaction and fit between a

vehicle and a CSS are very important.

NHTSA’s child passenger safety

brochures advise parents and caregivers

that ‘‘Not all child seats can be installed

in all vehicles and all seating positions.

With numerous models of child seats,

almost 300 models of passenger

vehicles, and the wide range of belt

systems available today, correctly

installing a child seat can be

challenging.’’ These brochures also

caution owners that ‘‘Vehicle seats and

seat belts are built for the comfort of

adults, not to secure a child car seat

correctly. Some child car seats cannot

be used safely in certain seating

positions.’’ 4 It is, therefore, imperative

that consumers check their vehicle

owner’s manual and child restraint

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