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Monday,
July 21, 2003
Contact: Tim Hurd
Tel. No.: (202) 366-9550
NHTSA 33-03
NHTSA
Publishes Priority Plan For Vehicle Safety Rulemaking
The U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA) today published its plan for vehicle safety rulemaking
priorities, NHTSA Vehicle Safety Rulemaking Priorities and Supporting Research:
2003-2006. The plan highlights the
agency's highest priority rulemaking actions to help address the most
significant vehicle safety needs.
"It
is time to acknowledge that history is calling us to another important task.
It is the battle to stop the deaths and injuries on our roads and
highways," U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta said.
"The Bush Administration is committed to improving safety on our
highways - safety is our highest transportation priority.
This priority plan and the initiatives we proposed in our surface
transportation reauthorization legislation respond to that call."
"Our
resources and precious dollars must be focused on measures that will save the
most lives and prevent the most injuries," said Dr. Jeffrey W. Runge, NHTSA
Administrator. "Our safety data make our priorities very clear."
For
the near term (2003-2004), NHTSA's priority regulatory issues include side crash
protection, occupant ejection prevention in rollover crashes, roof crush
resistance, glare from headlamps, rear seat center position safety belts,
improved crash test dummies, head restraints, and fuel system integrity.
Longer
term (2005-2006) testing, analysis, and potential rulemaking will address
incompatibility in crashes between passenger cars and light trucks, electronic
stability control, roadway departure collision avoidance systems, and driver
distraction.
The
plan is organized along several broad categories: light vehicle crash prevention
and occupant protection, incompatibility between passenger cars and light
trucks, heavy truck safety, and special populations protection.
The last category includes safety for children, people with disabilities,
and older people. NHTSA has well over 100 rulemakings underway at any point in
time.
The
plan can be found on NHTSA's web site at http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/rulings
or obtained from the Department of Transportation's Docket Management System
(website at http://dms.dot.gov), docket number, NHTSA-2003-15505.
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