Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Stopping Distance Requirements for Vehicles Equipped With Air Brake Systems

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This notice reinstates stopping distance performance requirements in Standard No. 121, Air Brake Systems, for medium and heavy vehicles that are equipped with air brake systems. The requirements specify distances in which different types of medium and heavy vehicle configurations must come to a complete stop from 60 mph on a high coefficient of friction surface. The requirements are designed to reduce the number and severity of crashes. This notice is one part of the agency's comprehensive effort to improve the braking ability of heavy vehicles. In another final rule published elsewhere in today's Federal Register, the agency is adopting identical stopping distance requirements for medium and heavy vehicles that are equipped with hydraulic brake systems. In a third final rule that responds to the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) of 1991, the agency is requiring medium and heavy vehicles to be equipped with an antilock brake system (ABS) to improve the lateral stability and control of these vehicles during braking.