Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Lamps, Reflective Devices and Associated Equipment

The Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard on lamps, reflective devices, and associated equipment includes a provision regulating headlamp concealment devices. In this document, NHTSA amends that Standard so that manufacturers of motor vehicles with headlamp concealment devices may choose between complying with that existing provision, or with a new provision incorporating by reference the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe's standard (ECE standard) on those devices. This rulemaking was initiated in response to a petition from the domestic and foreign motor vehicle industry. Our notice of proposed rulemaking was based on our tentative conclusion, after reviewing the U.S. and UN/ECE requirements, that the UN/ECE requirements were essentially identical to the U.S. requirements and thus would yield at least as much safety benefit as the U.S. requirements. Since NHTSA did not receive any response to its request for public comments, the agency reaffirms that conclusion and adopts the proposed amendment as final.