Legacy Limousines and Luxury Coaches; Grant of Petition for Temporary Exemption From Shoulder Belt Requirement for Side-Facing Seats on Motorcoaches

<NOTICE> DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION <SUBAGY>National Highway Traffic Safety Administration</SUBAGY> <DEPDOC>[Docket No. NHTSA-2025-0002]</DEPDOC> <SUBJECT>Legacy Limousines and Luxury Coaches; Grant of Petition for Temporary Exemption From Shoulder Belt Requirement for Side-Facing Seats on Motorcoaches</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Department of Transportation (DOT). <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Notice of grant of a petition for temporary exemption. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> In accordance with our regulations, NHTSA is granting a petition from Legacy Limousines and Luxury Coaches for a temporary exemption from the requirement to install Type 2 seat belts ( <E T="03">i.e.,</E> shoulder belts) at side-facing locations in the company's motorcoaches. The petitioner is a final-stage manufacturer of entertainer-type motorcoaches, seeking temporary exemption from the shoulder belt requirement of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 208, “Occupant crash protection,” for side-facing seats on motorcoaches. The granted exemption permits the petitioner to install Type 1 seat belts (lap belt only) at side-facing seating positions, instead of the Type 2 seat belts (lap and shoulder belts) required by FMVSS No. 208. After reviewing the petition and the comments received, the agency has determined that the requested exemption is warranted to enable the petitioner to sell a vehicle whose overall level of safety or impact protection is at least equal to that of a nonexempted vehicle. </SUM> <DATES> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> This exemption applies to the petitioner's motorcoaches produced from January 21, 2025 until January 21, 2027. </DATES> <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Sara R. Bennett, Office of the Chief Counsel, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590. Telephone: (202) 366-2992; Fax: (202) 366-3820. </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <EXTRACT> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">I. Background</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">II. Authority and Procedures for Temporary Exemption</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">III. FMVSS No. 208</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">IV. Legacy Limousine and Luxury Coaches' Petition</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">V. Public Participation</FP> </EXTRACT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">I. Background</HD> This notice grants a petition submitted by Legacy Limousines and Luxury Coaches from the shoulder belt requirement of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 208, “Occupant crash protection,” for side-facing seats on motorcoaches. As background, NHTSA is responsible for promulgating and enforcing Federal motor vehicle safety standards (FMVSS) designed to improve motor vehicle safety. Generally, a manufacturer may not manufacture for sale, sell, offer for sale, or introduce or deliver for introduction into interstate commerce a vehicle that does not comply with all applicable FMVSS. <SU>1</SU> <FTREF/> There are limited exceptions to this general prohibition. <SU>2</SU> <FTREF/> One path permits manufacturers to petition NHTSA for an exemption for noncompliant vehicles under a specified set of statutory bases. <SU>3</SU> <FTREF/> The details of these bases, and under which basis Legacy Limousines and Luxury Coaches' petition is granted, are provided in the sections of this notice that follow. <FTNT> <SU>1</SU>  49 U.S.C. 30112(a)(1). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>2</SU>  49 U.S.C. 30112(b); 49 U.S.C. 30113; 49 U.S.C. 30114. </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>3</SU>  49 U.S.C. 30113. </FTNT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">II. Authority and Procedures for Temporary Exemption</HD> The National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act (Safety Act), codified at 49 U.S.C. chapter 301, authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to exempt motor vehicles, on a temporary basis and under specified circumstances, and on terms the Secretary considers appropriate, from a FMVSS or bumper standard. This authority is set forth at 49 U.S.C. 30113. The Secretary has delegated the authority for implementing this section to NHTSA. <SU>4</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>4</SU>  49 CFR 1.95. </FTNT> The Safety Act authorizes the Secretary to grant, in whole or in part, a temporary exemption to a vehicle manufacturer if the Secretary makes one of four specified findings. <SU>5</SU> <FTREF/> The Secretary must also look comprehensively at the request for exemption and find that the exemption is consistent with the public interest and with the objectives of the Safety Act. <SU>6</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>5</SU>  49 U.S.C. 30113(b)(3). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>6</SU>  49 U.S.C. 30113(b)(3)(A). </FTNT> The Secretary must evaluate the petition for exemption under at least one of the following bases: (ii) Compliance would cause substantial economic hardship, and the manufacturer tried to comply in good faith; (ii) the exemption would make easier the development or field evaluation of a new motor vehicle safety feature, and the safety level is equal to the safety level of the standard; (iii) the exemption would make the development or field evaluation of a low-emission motor vehicle easier, and the safety level of the vehicle is not unreasonably lowered; or (iv) compliance would prevent the manufacturer from selling a motor vehicle with an overall safety level at least equal to the overall safety level of nonexempt vehicles. <SU>7</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>7</SU>  49 U.S.C. 30113(b)(3)(B). </FTNT> NHTSA established 49 CFR part 555, <E T="03">Temporary Exemption from Motor Vehicle Safety and Bumper Standards,</E> to implement the statutory provisions concerning temporary exemptions. The requirements in 49 CFR 555.5 state that the petitioner must set forth the basis of the petition by providing the information required under 49 CFR 555.6, and the reasons why the exemption would be in the public interest and consistent with the objectives of the Safety Act. A petition submitted on the basis that the applicant is otherwise unable to sell (or in this instance, manufacture) a vehicle whose overall level of safety or impact protection is at least equal to that of a nonexempt vehicle must include the information specified in 49 CFR 555.6(d). <HD SOURCE="HD1">III. FMVSS No. 208</HD> On November 25, 2013, NHTSA published a final rule amending FMVSS No. 208 to require seat belts for each passenger seating position in all new over-the-road buses (OTRBs) (regardless of gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR)), and all other buses with GVWRs greater than 11,793 kilograms (kg) (26,000 pounds (lb)) (with certain exclusions). In the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) preceding the final rule, NHTSA proposed to permit manufacturers the option of installing either a Type 1 (lap belt) or a Type 2 (lap and shoulder belt) on side-facing seats. <SU>8</SU> <FTREF/> The proposed option was consistent with a provision in FMVSS No. 208 that allows lap belts for side-facing seats on buses with a GVWR of 4,536 kg (10,000 lb) or less. NHTSA proposed the option because the agency was unaware of any demonstrable increase in associated risk of lap belts compared to lap and shoulder belts on side-facing seats. NHTSA stated that “a study commissioned by the European Commission regarding side-facing seats on minibuses and motorcoaches found that due to different seat belt designs, crash modes and a lack of real-world data, it cannot be determined whether a lap belt or a lap/shoulder belt would be the most effective.”  <SU>9</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>8</SU>  75 FR 50958 (Aug. 18, 2010). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>9</SU>   <E T="03">http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/automotive/projects/safety_consid_long_stg.pdf.</E> </FTNT> However, after the NPRM was published, the Motorcoach Enhanced Safety Act of 2012 was enacted as part of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), Public Law 112-141 (July 6, 2012). Section 32703(a) of MAP-21 directed the Secretary of Transportation (authority delegated to NHTSA) to “prescribe regulations requiring safety belts to be installed in motorcoaches at each designated seating position.” As MAP-21 defined “safety belt” to mean an integrated lap and shoulder belt, the final rule amended FMVSS No. 208 to require lap and shoulder belts at all designated seating positions, including side-facing seats, on OTRBs. Even so, the agency reiterated its view that “the addition of a shoulder belt at [side-facing seats on light vehicles] is of limited value, given the paucity of data related to side facing seats.”  <SU>10</SU> <FTREF/> The agency also noted that Australian Design Rule ADR 5/04, “Anchorages for Seatbelts” specifically prohibits shoulder belts for side-facing seats. <FTNT> <SU>10</SU>  78 FR 70416, 70448 (Nov. 25, 2013), citing the 2004 Anton's Law final rule. </FTNT> Given that background, and believing that few OTRBs would have side-facing seats, NHTSA stated in the November 2013 final rule that the manufacturers at issue may petition NHTSA for a temporary exemption under 49 CFR part 555 to install lap belts instead of lap and shoulder belts at side-facing seats. <SU>11</SU> <FTREF/> In the November 2013 final rule, NHTSA stated that the agency would be receptive to the argument that lap belts provide an equivalent level of safety to lap/shoulder belt combinations for side-facing seats. <SU>12</SU> <FTREF/> NHTSA stated that the basis for any petition for exemption from this requirement would be that the applicant is unable to sell a bus whose overall level of safety is at least equal to that of a non-exempted vehicle. <SU>13</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>11</SU>   <E T="03">Id.</E> </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>12</SU>   <E T="03">Id.</E> </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>13</SU>   <E T="03">Id.</E> </FTN ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 30k characters. 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