15 March 2012
Driver Distraction In-Vehicle Electronic Devices Workshop
[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 51 (Thursday, March 15, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15452-15453]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-6266]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. NHTSA-2010-0053]
Visual-Manual NHTSA Driver Distraction Guidelines for In-Vehicle
Electronic Devices
AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),
Department of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Announcement of technical workshop.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: On February 24, 2012, NHTSA published proposed Visual-Manual
Driver Distraction Guidelines for In-Vehicle Electronic Devices. NHTSA
is announcing a public workshop to discuss technical issues relevant to
these proposed Guidelines. The workshop will include brief NHTSA
presentations outlining the content of and basis for the Guidelines and
will provide opportunities for the public to ask questions and present
information on the technical aspects of the proposed Guidelines.
DATES: Technical Workshop. The technical workshop will be held on March
23, 2012, at the location indicated in the ADDRESSES section below. The
workshop will start at 9 a.m. and is scheduled to continue until 12
p.m., local time. However, the workshop will continue beyond 12 p.m. if
there are presenters who have not yet had a chance to make their
presentation or if the presiding official believes that allowing the
discussion to extend beyond that time would be beneficial. If you would
like to attend the technical workshop and either make a presentation or
participate in the discussion, please contact the person identified
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT no later than March 16, 2012.
Written comments. As announced in the proposal, to be assured of
consideration, written comments on the proposed NHTSA Guidelines must
be received by April 24, 2012 (77 FR 11200).
ADDRESSES: The March 23, 2012 technical workshop will be held at the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle and Research
Test Center, 10820 State Route 347--Bldg. 60, East Liberty, Ohio 43319.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you would like to attend the
technical workshop and either make a presentation or participate in the
discussion, please contact Elizabeth Mazzae, by the date specified
under DATES section above, at: Applied Crash Avoidance Research
Division, Vehicle Research and Test Center, NHTSA, 10820 State Route
347--Bldg. 60, East Liberty, Ohio 43319; Telephone (937) 666-4511;
Facsimile: (937) 666-3590; email address: elizabeth.mazzae@dot.gov.
Please provide her with the following information: Name,
affiliation, address, email address, telephone and fax numbers, and
indicate whether you require accommodations such as a sign language
interpreter or translator or whether you plan to use technological aids
(e.g., audio-visuals, computer slideshows).
You may learn more about the proposed NHTSA Guidelines by visiting
the Department of Transportation's Web site on distracted driving,
Distraction.gov, NHTSA's Web site, www.nhtsa.gov, or by searching the
public docket (NHTSA-2010-0053) at www.regulations.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The proposed NHTSA Guidelines are meant to
promote safety by discouraging the introduction of excessively
distracting devices in vehicles. These NHTSA Guidelines, which are
voluntary, apply to communications, entertainment, information
gathering, and navigation devices or functions that are not required to
operate the vehicle safely and that are operated by the driver through
visual-manual means (meaning
[[Page 15453]]
the driver looking at a device, manipulating a device-related control
with the driver's hand, and watching for visual feedback).
The proposed NHTSA Guidelines list certain secondary, non-driving
related tasks that, based on NHTSA's research, are believed by the
agency to interfere inherently with a driver's ability to safely
control the vehicle. The Guidelines recommend that those in-vehicle
devices be designed so that they cannot be used by the driver to
perform such tasks while the driver is driving. For all other
secondary, non-driving-related visual-manual tasks, the NHTSA
Guidelines specify a test method for measuring the impact of performing
those tasks on driving safety and time-based acceptance criteria for
assessing whether a task interferes too much with driver attention to
be suitable to be performed while driving. If a task does not meet the
acceptance criteria, the NHTSA Guidelines recommend that in-vehicle
devices be designed so that the task cannot be performed by the driver
while driving.
In addition to identifying inherently distracting tasks and
providing a means for measuring and evaluating the level of distraction
associated with other non-driving-related tasks, the NHTSA Guidelines
set forth several design recommendations for in-vehicle devices in
order to minimize their potential for distraction.
The proposed NHTSA Guidelines were published in the Federal
Register on February 24, 2012 (77 FR 11200) and are available on the
Web pages listed above under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT and also
in the rulemaking docket. The notice is also available at
http://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/rulemaking/pdf/Distraction_NPFG-02162012.pdf.
Background information concerning the proposal in particular and
the problem of distracted driving in general is available at http://
www.nhtsa.gov/About+NHTSA/Press+Releases/2012/
U.S.+Department+of+Transportation+Proposes+'Distraction'+Guidelines+for+
Automakers and at http://www.distraction.gov/.
The purpose of the public technical workshop is to provide
interested parties with an opportunity to discuss issues relevant to
the technical aspects of NHTSA's Visual-Manual Driver Distraction
Guidelines. The workshop will include brief NHTSA presentations
outlining the content and basis of the proposed Guidelines. The
workshop will be held in a lab environment.
Technical Workshop Procedures. Because the technical workshop will
be located in a lab environment, NHTSA requests that the number of
those attending from each affiliation be held to a minimum. For
security purposes, photo identification is required to enter NHTSA's
Vehicle Research and Test Center.
NHTSA will conduct the workshop informally. Thus, technical rules
of evidence will not apply. There will be an opportunity for attendees
to make presentations and ask NHTSA staff questions related to the
technical aspects of the proposed Guidelines.
Once NHTSA establishes how many people have registered to make
presentations at the workshop, we will allocate an appropriate amount
of time to each participant, allowing time for necessary breaks. In
addition, we will reserve a block of time for anyone else in the
audience who wants to make a presentation.
For planning purposes, each speaker should anticipate speaking for
approximately 15-20 minutes, although we may need to shorten that time
if there is a large turnout. We will accommodate your requested
presentation time to the extent we can, consistent with the other
requests we receive. We request that you bring three copies of your
statement or other material (e.g., film clips and slides) so that it
can be placed into the docket.
If you plan to use technological aids (e.g., audio-visuals,
computer slideshows), you must notify the contact person in the FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section above in advance of the meeting and
make advance arrangements with that person regarding the use of any
aids in order to facilitate set-up.
Presenters wishing to provide supplementary information should
submit it by the April 24th deadline for written comments. Written
statements and supporting information submitted during the comment
period will be considered with the same weight as oral comments and
supporting information presented at the technical workshop.
Issued on March 9, 2012.
David L. Strickland,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2012-6266 Filed 3-12-12; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P
|