Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard; Convex Cross View Mirrors on School Buses

In this final rule, NHTSA amends the safety standard on rearview mirrors to reduce the duplication of the views provided by System B mirrors, which provide a view of test cylinders in the area around the front of a school bus and near the rear wheels, and System A mirrors, which provide a view of the area beneath the System A mirrors, along both sides of the bus and to the rear of the bus. The System B mirrors must also provide a view of the ground that overlaps with the view of the ground provided by System A mirrors. As a result of this final rule, the System A mirrors will no longer be required to provide a view of the ground forward of the rear wheels. The effect of this final rule is that manufacturers will no longer have to install either an additional convex mirror, which creates a larger blind spot for the driver, or replace the existing convex mirror with a highly curved convex mirror that produces more distorted images. This final rule is issued in response to a petition for rulemaking from Blue Bird Body Company.