Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Roof Crush Resistance

Résumé

As part of a comprehensive plan for reducing the serious risk of rollover crashes and the risk of death and serious injury in those crashes, this document proposes to upgrade the agency's safety standard on roof crush resistance in several ways. First, we are proposing to extend the application of the standard to vehicles with a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) of 4,536 kilograms (10,000 pounds) or less. Second, we are proposing to increase the applied force to 2.5 times each vehicle's unloaded weight, and to eliminate an existing limit on the force applied to passenger cars. Third, we are proposing to replace the current limit on the amount of roof crush with a new requirement for maintenance of enough headroom to accommodate a mid-size adult male occupant. Because the impacts of this rulemaking would affect and be affected by other aspects of the comprehensive effort to reduce rollover-related injuries and fatalities, we are also seeking comments on some of those other aspects.