Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Door Locks and Door Retention Components

This document grants in part and denies in part petitions for reconsideration of a final rule of this agency that extended the performance requirements applicable to vehicle side door latches, hinges, and locks to the back doors of passenger cars and multipurpose passenger vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 4,536 kilograms (10,000 pounds) or less. The agency is granting two of the requests in the petitions. First, the agency is granting a request for a phase-in of the compliance date of the new requirements and establishing the usual reporting and recordkeeping requirements necessary for enforcement of a phase-in. Secondly, the agency is clarifying the definition of ``trunk lid'' with respect to vehicles in which the seatbacks of rear seats fold down to provide additional cargo space. NHTSA is denying the other two requests in the petitions.