On May 19, 2005 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Docket No. NHTSA 2005-21244) that would amend Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 208 "Occupant Crash Protection." This proposed rule would specify certain test methods that NHTSA would use for verifying compliance that front passenger seat air bags will be suppressed when a child restraint system (CRS), that uses the "LATCH" anchorage system(s), is installed in a front passenger seating position.
Under the Advanced Air Bag rule, manufacturers are provided several compliance options in order to minimize the risks to infants and children from deploying air bags, including an option to suppress an air bag in the presence of a CRS. NHTSA says that the new test method incorporated in this NPRM proposes a specific procedure which they have tentatively determined to provide a repeatable and reproducible installation of LATCH-equipped CRS's.
There are two types of LATCH equipped CRSs. One type is composed of flexible belt webbing that latches the CRS to the anchor bars in the vehicle. This is defined as a "flexible LATCH CRS." The other type is composed of a rigid ratchet mechanism built into the CRS which also latches to these same vehicle anchor bars. This is defined as a "rigid LATCH CRS". The proposed test procedures incorporated in this NPRM can be used for attaching either of these CRS types.
NHTSA is not requiring manufacturers to use these test devices or procedures, but says that this is how NHTSA is proposing to conduct their tests to verify compliance for suppression of air bags.
If this rule is made final, NHTSA says that this rule would become effective 60 days following its publication in the Federal Register. However compliance testing based on these procedures would not apply to vehicles manufactured before September 1, 2006.
NHTSA is soliciting your comments on these proposed test procedures. If you wish to comment on this rulemaking action, comments should be forwarded to the NHTSA Docket Management System (DMS) not later than July 18, 2005.