The U.S. Spring 2023 Regulatory Agenda is Released
The United States Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs has released the Spring 2023 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions, which reports on the actions of Federal Agencies and provides important public notices about proposed regulatory and deregulatory activities. Among those notices is vital information within the transportation regulatory sector and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) active and passive safety initiatives.
The 2023 spring agenda signals NHTSA's continued commitment to move forward with its updates in automotive safety and provide the latest advanced crash test dummies for use in evaluations. Included are updated timeframes for the Federalization and Regulatory inclusion of the THOR-50M, THOR-5F, WorldSID-50M, and Pedestrian Safety. These particular new dates are specific to the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) rulemaking but are precursors to the upcoming US NCAP inclusions of these advanced safety devices.
The new NPRM dates proposed for 2023 include:
- THOR 50M into Part 572 definition in June 2023 (2127-AM20)
- THOR 50M as compliance option in FMVSS 208 in August 2023 (2127-AM21)
- THOR 5F into Part 572 in December 2023 (2127-AM56)
- WorldSID 50M into Part 572 in August 2023 (2127-AM22)
- WorldSID 50M as compliance option in FMVSS 214 in November 2023 (2127-AM23)
- AEB (with Pedestrian) in June 2023 (2127-AM37)
- Pedestrian Impact (Head Impact only) in August 2023 (2127-AK98)
The FMVSS No. 208 THOR-50M Compliance Option will allow the THOR-50M to be used in place of the Hybrid III 50th and the FMVSS No. 214 WorldSlD-50M Compliance Option will allow the WorldSID-50M to be used in place of the EuroSID-2re.
A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) is published in the Federal Register, the official journal of the U.S. federal government, which allows for public notice and comment. The notice includes a period during which interested parties can provide feedback, suggestions, data, and arguments related to the proposed rule. Once NHTSA reviews and analyzes all the public comments received and conducts any necessary revisions, NHTSA finalizes the rule. The final rule is then published in the Federal Register, along with a detailed response to the public comments received, the effective date of the rule, and provides a timeline for compliance.
The 2023 spring agenda signals NHTSA's continued commitment to move forward with its updates in automotive safety and provide the latest advanced crash test dummies for use in evaluations.
Currently, the THOR-50M ATD is employed in Euro NCAP and ANCAP rules, but it deviates in lower leg assessments with the incorporation of Hybrid III components. The U.S. specified THOR ATD’s include the advanced legs that detect ankle, leg and knee impacts – which are common injuries with debilitating effects and long-term consequences.
Other passive safety targets announced in the Spring 2023 agenda include Final Rule stage amendments to the Hybrid III 5th Percentile Female Test Dummy and to FMVSS No. 210 to Incorporate the use of a new Force Application Device (FAD).
* Final Rule for incorporating new FAD in December 2023 (2127-AL05)
* Final Rule for Hybrid III 5th specification updates in September 2023 (2127-AM13
Learn how newer advanced crash test dummies can help Raise The Bar For Injury Prevention.
Mark Brown
Mark is the Product Marketing Manager at Humanetics Safety and works closely with Engineering and Sales to develop and refine content that is both useful and informative for our industry. With over two decades of experience in crash test dummy product Quality, Technical, Sales, and Marketing, Mark produces a wide range of media and publications including our service bulletins, webinars, editorial articles, and contributes to our marketing collateral.