[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 138 (Wednesday, July 19, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 37042-37043]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-17772]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
49 CFR Part 571
Denial of Petition for Rulemaking; Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standards
AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),
Department of Transportation.
ACTION: Denial of petition for rulemaking.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This document denies Mr. John Chevedden's petition for
rulemaking to specify the rear license plate mounting location of
certain trucks. NHTSA's analysis of the petition concludes that this
action would have a negligible effect on reducing crashes or fatalities
and that to conduct any more than a cursory technical review would use
public resources inappropriately.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Richard Van Iderstine, Office of
Rulemaking, NHTSA, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590. Mr.
Van Iderstine's telephone number is: (202) 366-5275. His facsimile
number is (202) 366-4329.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: By letter dated May 31, 1995, Mr. John
Chevedden petitioned the agency to issue a rule applicable to new
trucks with off-center rear license plates. Mr. Chevedden asked NHTSA
to mandate that those license plates be positioned on the driver's
side. Mr. Chevedden stated that the rulemaking was needed because it is
a safety enhancement that will prevent death, injury and property
damage. Mr. Chevedden speculates that a reflectorized license plate
mounted on the driver's side, instead of the passenger side, will serve
as a back-up reflector and safety warning in many cases where the
vehicle's rear lights are not operating. He stated that the driver's
side mounting would be more useful than the passenger side location in
[[Page 37043]]
marking the edge of the vehicle closest to the roadway.
In a recent denial of a petition from Mr. Chevedden requesting a
similar requirement for front license plates (60 FR 19716) the agency
estimated that if it were to specify that those vehicles with off-
center front license plates have their front plates located on the
driver's side, the number of lives saved would not exceed one life for
every 588 years.
This petition applies only to light trucks which are about half of
the new vehicle population, making the possibility of benefit about
half that of the previous petition. Additionally, while all vehicles
have rear license plates and not all have front plates, all vehicles
also have two rear red reflex reflectors. Thus, any benefit associated
with the possibility of having more vehicles with driver-side plates,
would be overshadowed because the effectiveness of such a treatment is
dwarfed by the effectiveness of the reflectors already present on the
vehicles.
Based on that recent analysis and these facts, the agency believes
that the benefit from Mr. Chevedden's new petition would be smaller
than his previous petition.
In accordance with 49 CFR part 552, this completes the agency's
technical review of the petition. The agency has concluded that there
is no reasonable possibility that the amendment requested by the
petitioner would be issued at the conclusion of a rulemaking
proceeding. The agency notes that the petition is basically repetitive
of an earlier petition. After considering all relevant factors,
including the need to allocate and prioritize limited agency resources
to best accomplish the agency's safety mission, the agency has decided
to deny the petition.
Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30103, 30162; delegation of authority at 49
CFR 1.50 and 501.8.
Issued on: July 13, 1995.
Barry Felrice,
Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.
[FR Doc. 95-17772 Filed 7-18-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P