Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Air Brake Systems:
Federal Register: August 20, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 161)
Notices
Page 51521-51523
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
DOCID:fr20au10-105
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Docket No. NHTSA-2010-0116
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Air Brake Systems;
Technical Report on the Effectiveness of Antilock Braking Systems in
Heavy Truck Tractors and Trailers
AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),
Department of Transportation.
ACTION: Request for comments on technical report.
SUMMARY: This notice announces NHTSA's publication of a Technical
Report its existing Safety Standard 121, Air Brake Systems. The report's title is: The Effectiveness of ABS [Antilock Braking Systems] in Heavy Truck Tractors and Trailers.
DATES: Comments must be received no later than December 20, 2010.
ADDRESSES: Report: The technical report is available on the Internet for viewing in PDF format at http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/ 811339.pdf. You may obtain a copy of the report free of charge by sending a self-addressed mailing label to Charles J. Kahane (NVS-431),
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Room W53-312, 1200 New
Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590.
Comments: You may submit comments [identified by Docket Number
NHTSA-2010-0116] by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http:// www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
Mail: Docket Management Facility, M-30, U.S. Department of
Transportation, West Building, Ground Floor, Rm. W12-140, 1200 New
Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590.
Hand Delivery: West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern Time,
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
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You may call Docket Management at 202-366-9826.
Instructions: For detailed instructions on submitting comments, see the Procedural Matters section of this document. Note that all comments received will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Charles J. Kahane, Chief, Evaluation
Division, NVS-431, National Center for Statistics and Analysis,
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Room W53-312, 1200 New
Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590. Telephone: 202-366-2560. E- mail: chuck.kahane@dot.gov.
For information about NHTSA's evaluations of the effectiveness of existing regulations and programs: You may see a list of published evaluation reports at http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/cats/ listpublications.aspx?Id=226&ShowBy=Category and if you click on any report you will be able to view it in PDF format.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Safety Standard 121 (49 CFR 571.121) mandates antilock braking systems (ABS) on all new air-braked vehicles with a GVWR of 10,000 pounds or greater. ABS is required on tractors manufactured on or after March 1, 1997, and air-braked semi-trailers and single-unit trucks manufactured on or after March 1, 1998. The primary findings of this report are the following:
The best estimate of a reduction by ABS on the tractor unit in all levels of police-reported crashes for air-braked tractor- trailers is 3 percent. This is based on data from seven States and controls for the age of the tractor at the time of the crash. This represents a statistically significant 6-percent reduction in the crashes where ABS is assumed to be potentially influential, relative to a control group, of about the same number of crashes, where ABS is likely to be irrelevant.
In fatal crashes, there is a non-significant 2-percent reduction in crash involvement, resulting from a 4-percent reduction in crashes where ABS should be potentially influential. The age of the tractor at the time of the crash is not important. Rather, external factors of urbanization, road speed, and ambient lighting are influential and are accounted for in the final estimate.
Among the types of crashes that ABS influences, there is large reduction in jack-knives, off-road over-turns, and at-fault involvements in collisions with other vehicles (except front-to-rear collisions). Counteracting are an increase in the number of involvements of hitting animals, pedestrians, or bicycles and, only in fatal crashes, rear-ending lead vehicles in two-vehicle crashes.
In April 2009, NHTSA issued An In-Service Analysis of Maintenance and
Repair Expenses for the Anti-Lock Brake System and Underride Guard for
Tractors and Trailers (74 FR 18803).
Procedural Matters
How can I influence NHTSA's thinking on this subject?
NHTSA welcomes public review of the technical report. NHTSA will submit to the Docket a response to the comments and, if appropriate, will supplement or revise the report.
How do I prepare and submit comments?
Your comments must be written and in English. To ensure that your comments are correctly filed in the Docket, please include the Docket number of this document (NHTSA-2010-0116) in your comments.
Your primary comments must not be more than 15 pages long (49 CFR 553.21). However, you may attach additional documents to your primary comments. There is no limit on the length of the attachments.
Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all comments received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register published on
April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477) or you may visit http:// www.regulations.gov.
Please send two paper copies of your comments to Docket Management, fax them, or use the Federal eRulemaking Portal. The mailing address is
U.S. Department of Transportation, Docket Management Facility, M-30,
West Building, Ground Floor, Rm. W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE.,
Washington, DC 20590. The fax number is 1-202-493-2251. To use the
Federal eRulemaking Portal, go to http://www.regulations.gov and follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
We also request, but do not require you to send a copy to Charles
J. Kahane, Chief, Evaluation Division, NVS-431, National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration, Room W53-312, 1200 New Jersey Avenue,
SE., Washington, DC 20590 (or e-mail them to chuck.kahane@dot.gov). He can check if your comments have been received at the Docket and he can expedite their review by NHTSA.
How can I be sure that my comments were received?
If you wish Docket Management to notify you upon its receipt of your comments, enclose a self-addressed, stamped postcard in the envelope containing your comments. Upon receiving your comments, Docket
Management will return the postcard by mail.
How do I submit confidential business information?
If you wish to submit any information under a claim of confidentiality, send three copies of your complete submission, including the information you claim to be confidential business information, to the Chief Counsel, National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590.
Include a cover letter supplying the information specified in our confidential business information regulation (49 CFR part 512).
In addition, send two copies from which you have deleted the claimed confidential business information to U.S. Department of
Transportation, Docket Management Facility, M-30, West Building, Ground
Floor, Rm. W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590, or submit them via the Federal eRulemaking Portal.
Will the agency consider late comments?
In our response, we will consider all comments that Docket
Management receives before the close of business on the comment closing date indicated above under DATES. To the extent possible, we will also consider comments that Docket Management receives after that date.
Please note that even after the comment closing date, we will continue to file relevant information in the Docket as it becomes available. Further, some people may submit late comments. Accordingly, we recommend that you periodically check the Docket for new material.
How can I read the comments submitted by other people?
You may read the materials placed in the docket for this document
(e.g., the comments submitted in response to this document by other interested persons) at any time by going to http://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the online instructions for accessing the dockets. You may also read the materials at the Docket Management Facility by going to
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the street address given above under ADDRESSES. The Docket Management
Facility is open between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through
Friday, except Federal holidays.
Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30111, 30168; delegation of authority at 49
CFR 1.50 and 501.8.
James F. Simons,
Director, Office of Regulatory Analysis and Evaluation.
FR Doc. 2010-20644 Filed 8-19-10; 8:45 am
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P
