[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 44 (Tuesday, March 6, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Page 13624]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-5294]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA 00-6985]


Insurance Cost Information Regulation

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces publication by NHTSA of the 2001 text 
and data that all car dealers must include in an insurance cost 
information booklet that they must make available to prospective 
purchasers, pursuant to 49 CFR 582.4. This information may assist 
prospective purchasers in comparing differences in passenger vehicle 
collision loss experience that could affect auto insurance costs.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons may obtain a copy of this booklet by 
contacting the U.S. Department of Transportation, Docket Management, 
Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590. (Docket 
hours are from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.)

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Rosalind Proctor, Chief, Consumer 
Programs Division, NHTSA, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC 20590 
(202-366-0846).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to section 201(e) of the Motor 
Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act, 15 U.S.C. 1941(e), on March 
5, 1993, 58 FR 12545, the National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration (NHTSA) amended 49 CFR Part 582, Insurance Cost 
Information Regulation, to require all dealers of automobiles to 
distribute to prospective customers information that compares 
differences in insurance costs of different makes and models of 
passenger cars based on differences in damage susceptibility. On March 
17, 1994, NHTSA denied a petition submitted by the National Automobile 
Dealers Association (NADA) for NHTSA to reconsider Part 582 insofar as 
it requires all automobile dealers to prepare the requisite number of 
copies for distribution of the insurance cost information to 
prospective purchasers. 59 FR 13630.
    On March 24, 1995, NHTSA published a Final Rule to amend Part 582 
in a number of respects. 60 FR 15509. These changes included wording 
clarifications and a change in the availability date of the booklet.
    Pursuant to 49 CFR Sec. 582.4, all automobile dealers are required 
to make available to prospective purchasers booklets that include this 
comparative information as well as certain mandatory explanatory text 
that is set out in section 582.5. Early each year, NHTSA publishes the 
annual Federal Register document updating the Highway Loss Data 
Institute's (HLDI) December Insurance Collision Report. Booklets 
reflecting the updated data must be available for distribution to 
prospective purchasers without charge within 30 days from the date of 
the Federal Register.
    NHTSA is mailing a copy of the 2001 booklet to each dealer on the 
mailing list that the Department of Energy uses to distribute the ``Gas 
Mileage Guide.'' Dealers will have the responsibility of reproducing a 
sufficient number of copies of the booklet to assure that they are 
available for retention by prospective purchasers by April 6, 2001. 
Dealers who do not receive a copy of the booklet within 15 days of the 
date of this notice should contact Ms. Rosalind Proctor of NHTSA's 
Office of Planning and Consumer Programs (202) 366-0846 to receive a 
copy of the booklet and to be added to the mailing list. Dealers may 
also obtain a copy of the booklet through the NHTSA web page at: 
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/studies/InsCost.

    Authority: (49 U.S.C. 32302; delegation of authority at 49 CFR 
1.50(f).)

    Issued on: February 28, 2001.
Stephen R. Kratzke,
Associate Administrator for Safety, Performance Standards.
[FR Doc. 01-5294 Filed 3-5-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P