On November 12, 2008, NHTSA published a Final Rule in Docket No. NHTSA-08-0168 amending FMVSS No. 208, "Occupant Crash Protection". These amendments update many of the child restraint systems (CRSs) currently listed in Appendix A of this standard and replaces these CRSs with those that are more available and more representative of the CRS fleet currently on the market.
FMVSS No. 208 requires passenger cars and trucks, buses, and multipurpose passenger vehicles with a GVWR of 8,500 lb or less and an unloaded vehicle weight of 5,500 lb or less to be equipped with seat belts and frontal air bags for the protection of vehicle occupants in crashes. Under the Advanced Air Bag Rule, manufacturers may suppress an air bag in the presence of a CRS or provide a low risk deployment (LRD) system to minimize the risk to infants and small children from deploying air bags.
This final rule adopts a one-year phase-in of the requirement to test with the child restraints in the revised Appendix A. Under the phase-in, 50 percent of vehicles manufactured on or after September 1, 2009 must be certified as meeting FMVSS No. 208 when tested with the CRSs on the revised Appendix A, and all vehicles manufactured on or after September 1, 2010 must be so certified.
To improve the clarity of Appendix A, NHTSA has reformatted the tables and has developed Appendix A-1 which incorporates the revisions adopted by this final rule.
Under the phase-in, 50 percent of vehicles manufactured on or after September 1, 2009 must be certified as meeting FMVSS No. 208 when tested with the CRSs on the revised Appendix A-1. In addition, all vehicles manufactured on or after September 1, 2010 must be certified as meeting FMVSS No. 208 when tested with the Appendix A-1 child restraints.
NHTSA says that the September 1, 2009 date ensures that air bag suppression and LRD systems will be tested with representative child restraints in an expeditious manner thus maintaining the robustness of the FMVSS No. 208 test and the soundness of the child protection systems, while the phase-in addresses the vehicle manufacturers' certification burdens.
In addition, there are reporting requirements that accompany this final rule.
Accompanying this final rule, NHTSA has published an updated Technical Assessment of Child Restraint Systems that has been placed in the docket for this final rule ("2008 Technical Assessment"). This assessment contains dimensional information and pictures of the CRSs adopted into Appendix A by this final rule, and statistical data of past "Ease Of Use" (EOU) data.