Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Minimum Sound Requirements for Hybrid and Electric Vehicles

Document Headings Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following: the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to the agency docket number / agency internal file number the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details. Department of Transportation National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 49 CFR Parts 571 and 585 [Docket No. NHTSA-2016-0125] RIN 2127-AK93 AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Department of Transportation (DOT). ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: To reduce the risk of pedestrian crashes, especially for the blind and visually-impaired, and to satisfy the mandate in the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act (PSEA) of 2010 this final rule establishes a new Federal motor vehicle safety standard (FMVSS) setting minimum sound requirements for hybrid and electric vehicles. This new standard requires hybrid and electric passenger cars, light trucks and vans (LTVs), and low speed vehicles (LSVs) to produce sounds meeting the requirements of this standard. This final rule applies to electric vehicles (EVs) and to those hybrid vehicles (HVs) that are capable of propulsion in any forward or reverse gear without the vehicle's internal combustion engine (ICE) operating. This standard will help to ensure that blind, visually impaired, and other pedestrians are able to detect and recognize nearby hybrid and electric vehicles, as required by the PSEA. DATES: Effective date: This rule is effective February 13, 2017. Compliance date: Initial compliance is required, in accordance with the phase-in schedule, on September 1, 2018. Full compliance is required on September 1, 2019. Petitions for reconsideration: Petitions for reconsideration of this final rule must be received …