Technical Report Evaluating Lives Saved by Vehicle Safety Technologies |
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Terry Shelton
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
February 9, 2015
[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 26 (Monday, February 9, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7074-7075]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-02547]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. NHTSA-2014-0103]
Technical Report Evaluating Lives Saved by Vehicle Safety
Technologies
AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),
Department of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Request for comments on technical report.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces NHTSA's publication of a technical
report estimating the lives saved in 2012 and also cumulatively from
1960 through 2012 by vehicle safety technologies in passenger cars and
LTVs. The report's title is: Lives Saved by Vehicle Safety Technologies
and Associated Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, 1960 to 2012.
DATES: Comments must be received no later than June 9, 2015.
ADDRESSES: Report: The technical report is available on the Internet
for viewing in PDF format at http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/812069.pdf.
Comments: You may submit comments [identified by Docket Number
NHTSA-2014-0103] by any of the following methods:
Internet: To submit comments electronically, go to the
U.S. Government regulations Web site at http://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
Fax: Written comments may be faxed to 202-493-2251.
Mail: Send comments to Docket Management Facility, U.S.
Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., West Building
Ground Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590.
Hand Delivery: If you plan to submit written comments by
hand or courier, please do so at 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., West
Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC between 9 a.m. and
5 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, except federal holidays.
You may call Docket Management at 1-800-647-5527.
Instructions: For detailed instructions on submitting comments and
additional information see the Comments heading of the Supplementary
Information section of this document. Note that all comments received
will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including
any personal information provided. Please see the Privacy Act heading
in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Kindelberger, 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: 202-366-4696.
Email: john.kindelberger@dot.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NHTSA began in 1975 to evaluate the
effectiveness of vehicle safety technologies associated with the
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. By June 2014, NHTSA had
evaluated the effectiveness of virtually all the life-saving
technologies introduced in passenger cars, pickup trucks, SUVs, and
vans from about 1960 up through about 2010. A statistical model
estimates the number of lives saved from 1960 to 2012 by the
combination of these life-saving technologies. Fatality Analysis
Reporting System (FARS) data for 1975 to 2012 documents the actual
crash fatalities in vehicles
[[Page 7075]]
that, especially in recent years, include many safety technologies.
Using NHTSA's published effectiveness estimates, the model estimates
how many people would have died if the vehicles had not been equipped
with any of the safety technologies. In addition to equipment compliant
with specific FMVSS in effect at that time, the model tallies lives
saved by installations in advance of the FMVSS, back to 1960, and by
non-compulsory improvements, such as pretensioners and load limiters
for seat belts. FARS data has been available since 1975, but an
extension of the model allows estimates of lives saved in 1960 to 1974.
A previous NHTSA study (70 FR 3975) using the same methods
estimated that vehicle safety technologies had saved 328,551 lives from
1960 through 2002. The agency now estimates 613,501 lives saved from
1960 through 2012. The annual number of lives saved grew from 115 in
1960, when a small number of people used lap belts, to 27,621 in 2012,
when most cars and LTVs were equipped with numerous modern safety
technologies and belt use on the road achieved 86 percent.
Comments
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-2014-0109) 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.
Please submit one copy of your comments, including the attachments,
to Docket Management at the address given above under ADDRESSES.
Please note that pursuant to the Data Quality Act, in order for
substantive data to be relied upon and used by the agency, it must meet
the information quality standards set forth in the OMB and DOT Data
Quality Act guidelines. Accordingly, we encourage you to consult the
guidelines in preparing your comments. OMB's guidelines may be accessed
at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/fedreg_reproducible. DOT's guidelines
may be accessed at http://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/subject_areas/statistical_policy_and_research/data_quality_guidelines/index.html.
Privacy Act: 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 19477-78) or you may visit http://www.regulations.gov.
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. You may also periodically
access http://www.regulations.gov and enter the number for this docket
(NHTSA-2014-0103) to see if your comments are online.
How do I submit confidential business information?
If you wish to submit any information under a claim of
confidentiality, you should submit three copies of your complete
submission, including the information you claim to be confidential
business information, to the Chief Counsel, NHTSA, U.S. Department of
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590. In
addition, you should submit a copy, from which you have deleted the
claimed confidential business information, to Docket Management at the
address given above under ADDRESSES. When you send a comment containing
information claimed to be confidential business information, you should
include a cover letter setting forth the information specified in our
confidential business information regulation. (49 CFR part 512.)
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.
How can I read the comments submitted by other people?
You may read the comments received by Docket Management at the
address given above under ADDRESSES. The hours of the Docket are
indicated above in the same location.
You may also see the comments on the Internet. To read the comments
on the Internet, take the following steps:
(1) Go to the Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) at http://www.regulations.gov.
(2) FDMS provides two basic methods of searching to retrieve
dockets and docket materials that are available in the system: (a)
``Quick Search'' to search using a full-text search engine, or (b)
``Advanced Search,'' which displays various indexed fields such as the
docket name, docket identification number, phase of the action,
initiating office, date of issuance, document title, document
identification number, type of document, Federal Register reference,
CFR citation, etc. Each data field in the advanced search may be
searched independently or in combination with other fields, as desired.
Each search yields a simultaneous display of all available information
found in FDMS that is relevant to the requested subject or topic.
(3) You may download the comments. However, since the comments are
imaged documents, instead of word processing documents, the ``pdf''
versions of the documents are word searchable.
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.
Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30111, 30181-83 delegation of authority at
49 CFR 1.95 and 501.8.
Issued in Washington, DC, on February 4, 2015.
Terry Shelton,
Associate Administrator for the National Center for Statistics and
Analysis.
[FR Doc. 2015-02547 Filed 2-6-15; 8:45 am]
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