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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 148 / Thursday, August 5, 2021 / Proposed Rules Notice of proposed rulemaking NPRM.

ACTION:

This document proposes amendments to several Federal motor vehicle safety standards and consumer information regulations to update the standard reference test tire SRTT used therein. The SRTT is used in those standards and regulations as a baseline tire to rate tire treadwear, define snow tires based on traction performance, and evaluate pavement surface friction. This proposed rule is necessary because the only manufacturer of the currently referenced SRTT ceased production of the tire. Referencing a new SRTT
ensures the availability of a test tire for testing purposes.
DATES: Submit comments on or before September 7, 2021.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments electronically to the docket identified in the heading of this document by visiting the following website:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
Alternatively, you can file comments using the following methods:
Mail: Docket Management Facility:
U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200
New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12140, Washington, DC 205900001.
Hand Delivery or Courier: West Building Ground Floor, Room W12140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, between 9
a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. To be sure someone is there to help you, please call 202 3669826 before coming.
Fax: 202 4932251.
Regardless of how you submit your comments, you should mention the docket number identified in the heading of this document.
Instructions: For detailed instructions on submitting comments and additional information on the rulemaking process, see the Public Participation heading of the Supplementary Information section of this document. Note that all comments received will be posted without change to http
www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided. Please see the Privacy Act heading below.
Privacy Act: In accordance with 5
U.S.C. 553c, DOT solicits comments from the public to better inform its rulemaking process. DOT posts these comments, without edit, to www.regulations.gov, as described in the system of records notice, DOT/ALL
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www.dot.gov/privacy. In order to facilitate comment tracking and response, we encourage commenters to provide their name, or the name of their organization; however, submission of names is completely optional. Whether or not commenters identify themselves, all timely comments will be fully considered. If you wish to provide comments containing proprietary or confidential information, please contact the agency for alternate submission instructions.
Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or comments received, go to http
www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for accessing the dockets.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: You may contact Hisham Mohamed, Office of Crash Avoidance Standards, by telephone at 202 3660307 or David Jasinski, Office of the Chief Counsel, by telephone at 202 3662992. The mailing address of both of these officials is: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background This rulemaking addresses the standard reference test tire SRTT
manufactured according to specifications set forth in an ASTM
International standard, E1136, Standard Specification for P195/75R14
Radial Standard Reference Test Tire 14-inch SRTT. The 14-inch SRTT is a size P195/75R14 all-season steel-belted radial tire. The dimensions, weight, materials, and other physical properties of the tire are specified in E1136. The tire is not intended for general use, but as the name indicates, is used for testing.
The 14-inch SRTT was first introduced in the 1980s. The 14-inch SRTT was manufactured by one company, Michelin North America, Inc Michelin and was sold under its Uniroyal brand. NHTSA uses the 14inch SRTT to evaluate tire treadwear performance 1 by comparing a candidate tires performance to the performance of the SRTT in a particular performance test. NHTSA also uses the 14-inch SRTT
to evaluate test surface friction 2 for safety standards relating to braking because the narrow specifications for the tire size, component materials, etc.
ensure consistent, repeatable performance.
NHTSA first incorporated the 14-inch SRTT into the Federal Motor Vehicle 1 49

CFR 575.104.
CFR 571.105, 571.121, 571.122, 571.126, 571.135, 571.136, 571.139, 571.500.
2 49

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Safety Standards FMVSSs in a 1995
rule adopting FMVSS No. 135, the light vehicle braking standard.3 Previously, NHTSA had used skid number to define the road test surface in the light vehicle braking test. Testing a surface to determine skid number involved using a locked wheel. However, modern antilock brake systems ABS are designed to achieve maximum friction prior to a wheel becoming locked and the tire skidding. An anti-lock brake system prevents wheel lockup by modulating a vehicles brakes at a point just before the wheels would lock up. Consequently, in the 1995 final rule, NHTSA adopted ASTM method E1337, Standard Test Method for Determining Longitudinal Peak Braking Coefficient PBC of Paved Surfaces Using Standard Reference Test Tire, as the means for evaluating test surfaces.4 ASTM E1337 measures the peak braking force prior to wheel lockup, which corresponds to the behavior of an anti-lock brake system.
ASTM E1337 specifies the use of the E1136 SRTT in order to ensure that variability in tire size, material, or construction does not affect the evaluation of test surfaces.
Over time, the evaluation of a test surface using the ASTM E1337 test method and the E1136 SRTT was incorporated into the heavy vehicle braking standards FMVSS Nos. 105 and 121, the light and heavy vehicle electronic stability control standards FMVSS Nos. 126 and 136, the motorcycle braking standard FMVSS
No. 122, and the low-speed vehicle standard FMVSS No. 500.5
The use of the 14-inch SRTT is also incorporated into the definition of a snow tire in FMVSS No. 139.
Specifically, a snow tire is defined as a tire that attains a traction index greater than or equal to 110 compared to the 14inch SRTT when using the ASTM F1805
snow traction test. The ASTM F1805
snow traction test measures the driving traction of tires while traveling in a 3 60

FR 6411, 641517 Feb. 2, 1995.
reason for adopting the peak braking force related to the variability associated with determining skid number. That matter was discussed in more detail in NHTSAs earlier proposals to require heavy vehicles to be equipped with anti-lock brake systems. See 49 FR 20465 May 14, 1984; 49 FR 28962 July 17, 1984.
5 ASTM E1337 is also incorporated by reference into 49 CFR 575.106, which are the provisions related to a new tire consumer information program. However, the test procedures in 49 CFR
575.106 are not currently used pending publication of a proposed and final rule establishing the remaining aspects of the consumer information program. See 75 FR 15893 Mar. 30, 2010.
Therefore, this proposal does not address 49 CFR
575.106. In a proposal implementing the remaining aspects of that tire consumer information program, NHTSA would address the issues discussed in this proposal.
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