Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 94 / Tuesday, May 15, 2001 / Notices 26909

15000 Aviation Blvd., Lawndale, CA

90261.

Issued in Hawthorne, California, on April

26, 2001.

Ellsworth L. Chan,

Acting Manager, Airports Division, WesternPacific Region.

[FR Doc. 01–12110 Filed 5–14–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–13–M

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Highway Administration

Intelligent Transportation Society of

America; Public Meeting

AGENCY: Federal Highway

Administration (FHWA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of Public Meeting.

SUMMARY: The Intelligent Transportation

Society of America (ITS AMERICA) will

hold a meeting of its Coordinating

Council on Sunday, June 3, 2001. The

meeting begins at 1:30 p.m. The letter

designations that follow each item mean

the following: (I) is an information item;

(A) is an action item; (D) is a discussion

item. The General Session includes the

following items: (1) Housekeeping

items—introductions, antitrust,

previous minutes, etc.; (2) Federal

Report (I/D); (3) President’s Report (I/D);

(4) 10-Year Program Plan & Research

Agenda Update (I/D); (5) Break; (6) 511

Update (I/D); (7) Driver Focus Update (I/

D); (8) Expedited Standards Update (I/

D); (9) Closing Housekeeping—next

meeting dates/locations, adjourn.

ITS AMERICA provides a forum for

national discussion and

recommendations on ITS activities

including programs, research needs,

strategic planning, standards,

international liaison, and priorities.

The charter for the utilization of ITS

AMERICA establishes this organization

as an advisory committee under the

Federal Advisory Committee Act

(FACA) 5 U.S.C. app. 2, when it

provides advice or recommendations to

DOT officials on ITS policies and

programs. (56 FR 9400, March 6, 1991).

DATES: The Coordinating Council of ITS

AMERICA will meet on Sunday, June 3,

2001 from 1:30 p.m.–4 p.m.

ADDRESSES: Fontainebleau Hilton

Resort, 4441 Collins Avenue, Miami

Beach, Florida 33140. Phone: (305) 538–

2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Materials associated with this meeting

may be examined at the offices of ITS

AMERICA, 400 Virginia Avenue SW.,

Suite 800, Washington, DC 20024.

Persons needing further information or

who request to speak at this meeting

should contact Debbie M. Busch at ITS

AMERICA by telephone at (202) 484–

2904 or by FAX at (202) 484–3483. The

DOT contact is Kristy Frizzell, FHWA,

HOIT, Washington, DC 20590, (202)

366–9536. Office hours are from 8:30

a.m. to 5 p.m., e.t., Monday through

Friday, except for legal holidays.

(23 U.S.C. 315; 49 CFR 1.48)

Issued on: May 10, 2001.

Jeffrey Paniati,

Program Manager, ITS Joint Program Office.

[FR Doc. 01–12171 Filed 5–14–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–22–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration

[Docket NHTSA–99–5087]

Safety Performance Standards

Program Meeting

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic

Safety Administration (DOT).

ACTION: Notice of NHTSA rulemaking

status meeting.

SUMMARY: This notice announces a

public meeting at which NHTSA will

answer questions from the public and

the automobile industry regarding the

agency’s vehicle regulatory program.

DATES: The Agency’s regular public

meeting relating to its vehicle regulatory

program will be held on Thursday, July

26, 2001, beginning at 9:45 a.m. and

ending at approximately 12 p.m. at the

BWI Airport Marriott Hotel in

Baltimore, Maryland. Questions relating

to the vehicle regulatory program must

be submitted in writing with a diskette

(Microsoft Word) by Monday, July 2,

2001, to the address shown below or by

e-mail. If sufficient time is available,

questions received after July 2, may be

answered at the meeting. The

individual, group or company

submitting a question(s) does not have

to be present for the question(s) to be

answered. A consolidated list of the

questions submitted by July 2, 2001, and

the issues to be discussed, will be

posted on NHTSA’s web site

www.nhtsa.dot.gov) by Monday, July

23, 2001, and also will be available at

the meeting. The agency will hold a

second public meeting on July 26,

devoted exclusively to a presentation of

research and development programs.

This meeting will begin at 1:30 p.m. and

end at approximately 5 p.m. This

meeting is described more fully in a

separate announcement. The next

NHTSA Public Meeting will take place

on Thursday, November 15, 2001, at the

Best Western Gateway International

Hotel, Romulus, Michigan.

ADDRESSES: Questions for the July 26,

NHTSA Rulemaking Status Meeting,

relating to the agency’s vehicle

regulatory program, should be

submitted to Delia Lopez, NPS–01,

National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration, Room 5401, 400

Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC

20590, Fax Number 202–366–4329, email dlopez@nhtsa.dot.gov. The meeting

will be held at the BWI Airport Marriott

Hotel, 1743 West Nursery Road,

Baltimore, MD 21240. The telephone

number for the BWI Airport Marriott

Hotel is 410–859–8300.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Delia Lopez, (202) 366–1810.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NHTSA

holds regular public meetings to answer

questions from the public and the

regulated industries regarding the

agency’s vehicle regulatory program.

Questions on aspects of the agency’s

research and development activities that

relate directly to ongoing regulatory

actions should be submitted, as in the

past, to the agency’s Safety Performance

Standards Office. Transcripts of these

meetings will be available for public

inspection in the DOT Docket in

Washington, DC, within four weeks after

the meeting. Copies of the transcript

will then be available at ten cents a

page, (length has varied from 80 to 150

pages) upon request to DOT Docket,

Room PL–401, 400 Seventh Street, SW.,

Washington, DC 20590. The DOT

Docket is open to the public from 10

a.m. to 5 p.m. The transcript may also

be accessed electronically at http://

dms.dot.gov, at docket NHTSA–99–

5087. Questions to be answered at the

public meeting should be organized by

categories to help us process the

questions into an agenda form more

efficiently.

Sample Format

I. Rulemaking

A. Crash avoidance

B. Crashworthiness

C. Other Rulemakings

II. Consumer Information

III. Miscellaneous

NHTSA will provide auxiliary aids to

participants as necessary. Any person

desiring assistance of ‘‘auxiliary aids’’

(e.g., sign-language interpreter,

telecommunications devices for deaf

persons (TDDs), readers, taped texts,

brailled materials, or large print

materials and/or a magnifying device),

please contact Delia Lopez on (202)

366–1810, by COB Monday, July 23,

2001.

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