Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards Rear Impact Guards; Rear Impact Protection

On January 24, 1996, NHTSA published a final rule establishing an equipment standard for underride guards and a vehicle standard which requires the installation of guards meeting the equipment standard on the rear end of heavy trailers and semitrailers. In response to petitions for reconsideration, NHTSA is amending that final rule to: clarify the 100 mm (4 inch) height requirement for the horizontal member of an underride guard, explicitly exclude from having to meet the energy absorption requirements all cargo tank motor vehicles manufactured with rear end protection complying with the high strength requirements of 49 CFR part 178 (to protect hazardous material) that occupies the area specified for NHTSA's underride guard, and increase the acceptable range of force application rates during testing. The agency is also excluding pulpwood trailers from the application of the vehicle standard and denying a petition from the Truck Trailer Manufacturer's Association (TTMA) for an extension of the effective date of the final rule.