Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Occupant Crash Protection

This document responds, in part, to petitions for reconsideration of the amendments we made in December 2001 to our May 2000 Federal motor vehicle safety standard (FMVSS) No. 208 advanced air bag final rule. Because of the time constraints faced by vehicle manufacturers in certifying a portion of their fleet to the advanced air bag requirements, we are bifurcating our response. This document addresses those portions of the petitions that we believe are the most time sensitive or that address minor, easily resolved technical issues. In particular, we are responding to those portions regarding the length of time during which data will be collected during low risk deployment tests, a change in dummy positioning procedure for one of the driver position low risk deployment tests, and issues related to the air bag warning label and the telltale that indicates when the passenger air bag has been automatically suppressed. A second document addressing the remaining issues raised by the petitioners will be issued at a later date.