Meetings: Research and development programs,

[Federal Register: August 11, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 154)]

[Notices]

[Page 43811-43812]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr11au99-166]

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Research and Development Programs Meeting

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: This notice announces a public meeting at which NHTSA will describe and discuss specific research and development projects. Further, the notice requests suggestions for topics to be presented by the agency.

Dates and Times

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will hold a public meeting devoted primarily to presentations of specific research and development projects on September 16, 1999, beginning at 1:30 p.m. and ending at approximately 5:00 p.m. The deadline for interested parties to suggest agenda topics is 5:00 p.m. on August 31, 1999. Questions may be submitted in advance regarding the agency's research and development projects. They must be submitted in writing by September 3, 1999, to the address given below. If sufficient time is available, questions received after the September 3 date will be answered at the meeting during the discussion period. The individual, group, or company asking a question does not have to be present for the question to be answered. A consolidated list of answers to questions submitted by September 3 will be available at the meeting and will be mailed to requesters after the meeting.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Tysons Westpark Hotel, 8401 Westpark Drive, McLean, Virginia. Suggestions for specific research and development topics as described below and questions for the September 16, 1999, meeting relating to the agency's research and development programs should be submitted to the Office of the Associate Administrator for Research and Development, NRD-01, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Room 6206, 400 Seventh St., SW, Washington, DC 20590. The fax number is (202) 366-5930.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In recent years, since April 1993, NHTSA has provided detailed information about its research and development programs in presentations at a series of public meetings. The purpose is to make available more complete and timely information regarding the agency's research and development programs. This is the twenty-fourth meeting in that series, and it will be held on September 16, 1999, at the Tysons Westpark Hotel, 8401 Westpark Drive, McLean, Virginia.

Based on the suggestions received in previous meetings, NHTSA intends to limit its presentation at the September 16, 1999, meeting to a single research topic. NHTSA requests suggestions from interested parties on the specific agenda topic to be presented at this meeting. NHTSA will base its decisions about the agenda, in part, on the suggestions it receives by 5:00 p.m. on August 31, 1999. Before the meeting, NHTSA will publish a notice with an agenda listing the research and development topic to be discussed. The agenda can also be obtained by calling or faxing the request to the telephone numbers listed in this notice, through the E-mail address listed in this notice, or from NHTSA's Web site under Announcements/Public Meetings at URL http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/nhtsa/announce/meetings/.

NHTSA asks that the suggestions be limited to three, in priority order, so that the presentation at the September 16, 1999, meeting can be most useful to the audience. Specific research and development topics are listed below. Many of these topics have been discussed at previous meetings. Suggestions for agenda topics are not restricted to this listing, and interested parties are invited to suggest other research and development topics of specific interest to their organizations. Additionally, if any interested parties would like to make a presentation regarding technical issues concerning any of NHTSA's research programs, information concerning the proposed topic and speaker should be submitted in writing by 5:00 p.m. on August 31, 1999.

Specific R&D topics are: Fiscal Year 1999 R&D Research Efforts, International Harmonized Research Activities (IHRA), On-line tracking system for NHTSA's research projects, and Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network (CIREN).

Specific Crashworthiness R&D topics are:

Status of advanced air bag research and up-to-date results, Demonstration of CD ROM for child restraint/vehicle compatibility, Preparation of new dummies for assessment of advanced air bag technology, Improved frontal crash protection (program status, problem identification, offset testing), Upgrade side crash protection, Child restraint/air bag interaction (CRABI) dummy testing,

[[Page 43812]]

Head and neck injury research,

Lower extremity injury research, and Thorax injury research.

Specific Crash Avoidance R&D topics are:

National Advanced Driving Simulator (NADS), Intelligent vehicle initiative (the rear-end collision avoidance system operational test), Drowsy driver monitoring, Driver workload assessment, and Lane change/merge collision avoidance system guidelines.

Specific National Center for Statistics and Analysis (NCSA) topics are:

NCSA Overview, Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), and Special crash investigation studies of air bag cases.

Separately, questions regarding research projects that have been submitted in writing not later than 5:00 p.m. on September 3, 1999, will be answered. The summary minutes of the meeting, copies of materials handed out at the meeting, and answers to the questions submitted for response at the meeting will be available for public inspection in the DOT Docket in Washington, DC, within 3 weeks after the meeting. Copies of this material will then be available at ten cents a page upon request to DOT Docket, Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590. The DOT Docket is open to the public from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The summary minutes, handouts, and answers to the questions will also be available on NHTSA's Web site at Announcements/Public Meetings at URL http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/nhtsa/ announce/meetings/.

NHTSA will provide technical aids to participants as necessary, during the Research and Development Programs Meeting. Thus, any person desiring the assistance of ``auxiliary aids'' (e.g., sign-language interpreter, telecommunication devices for deaf persons (TTDs), readers, taped texts, braille materials, or large print materials and/ or a magnifying device), please contact Rita Gibbons by telephone on (202) 366-4862, by telefax on (202) 366-5930, or by E-mail at rgibbons@nhtsa.dot.gov by 5:00 p.m. September 7, 1999.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rita Gibbons, Staff Assistant, Office of Research and Development, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590. Telephone: (202) 366-4862. Fax number: (202) 366-5930. E-mail: rgibbons@nhtsa.dot.gov.

Issued: August 6, 1999. Raymond P. Owings, Associate Administrator for Research and Development.

[FR Doc. 99-20710Filed8-10-99; 8:45 am]

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