Transportation Toolkit

Final Regulations -- Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Child Restraint Anchorage Systems. Federal Register: October 12, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 196) Page 60563-60565
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/06jun20041800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2004/04-22851.htm
     In August 2004, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) denied a petition for reconsideration of a final rule amending Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 225, Child Restraint Anchorage Systems. The denial made impermissible the installation of stowable anchorages on or after September 1, 2004.
     Effective October 12, 2004, in response to a petition from Mercedes-Benz U.S.A., manufacturers have until March 1, 2005 to achieve non-stowability of the anchor system.

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Child Restraint Systems --Notices of Correction.
Federal Register: October 4, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 191) Page 59146
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/06jun20041800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2004/04-22279.htm
     National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Department of Transportation corrects a final rule (Docket NHTSA-03-15351) that was published Tuesday, June 24, 2003 (68 FR 37620). The rule updated test procedures in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 213, "Child Restraint Systems", and expanded the standard to restraints for children weighing up to 65 pounds.
     The correction to the final rule is effective October 4, 2004.

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Rearview Mirrors Correction. Federal Register: April 8, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 68) Page 18496-18497
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2004/04-7962.htm
     On March 27, 1995, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) published a final rule amending the field of view requirements for System A mirrors on school buses, such that those mirrors will no longer be required to provide a view of the ground forward of the rear wheels (60 FR 15690). Previously, System A mirrors were required to provide a view of the area beneath those mirrors, a view that overlapped with the vehicle's System B mirrors, which are also required. The effective date of the amendment was April 26, 1995. However, this new language was later inadvertently modified in two later, substantively unrelated amendments.
     This document corrects NHTSA's inadvertent modification of the relevant regulatory language. These amendments are effective May 10, 2004.

Letter from the Associate Commissioner
http://www.headstartinfo.org/transletter.htm
     Grantees are now able to request a further extension to January 18, 2006 to comply with the requirements to provide child safety restraints and bus monitors. In order to do so, grantees must submit an “intent to request an extension” by March 1, 2004.

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Head Start Program Performance Standards, Part 1310. Head Start Transportation.
     http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/hsb/performance/1310.htm

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Child Restraint Systems – Final Rule.
Federal Register: March 9, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 46) Page 10928-10936
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2004/04-5168.htm
     In response to a petition from a child restraint manufacturer, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued an interim final rule published on October 22, 2002, and amended on November 28, 2003, adopting a temporary provision permitting the manufacture of harnesses for use on a school bus that attach to a school bus seat back.
     Harnesses and other types of child restraints are otherwise generally prohibited by the standard from having any means designed for attaching the system to a vehicle seat back. The provision is set to terminate on September 1, 2004.
     This final rule eliminates the termination date for that provision, thus extending indefinitely the permission for manufacture of the harnesses. The harnesses must bear a warning label informing users that the harness must be used only on school bus seats, and that the entire seat directly behind the child wearing the seat-mounted harness must be either unoccupied or occupied by restrained passengers.
     The amendments made in this rule are effective on September 1, 2004. Petitions for reconsideration must be received by April 23, 2004.

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Definition of Multifunction School Activity Bus. Federal Register: July 31, 2003, Volume 68, Number 147, 44892-44901
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2003/03-19457.htm
     National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), DOT announces the final rule establishing a new class of school buses, multifunction school activity buses, for use in transporting children on trips other those than between home and school. We anticipate that this final rule will also facilitate efforts by the Federal Transit Administration to provide funding to Head Start programs and coordinated transportation providers to purchase the school buses.
     The effective date for the final rule is: September 2, 2003. Manufacturers are provided optional early compliance with this final rule beginning July 31, 2003.

Related Information Memorandums

• ACYF-IM-HS-95-25
  Transportation Safety
• ACYF-IM-HS-95-37
  Transportation
• ACYF-IM-HS-99-07
  New NHTSA "Guideline for the Use of Child Safety Restraint Systems in The Safe Transportation of Preschool Age Children in School Buses."
• ACYF-IM-HS-01-01
  Final Rule on Transportation

Bibliography

Transportation Toolkit Bibliography
http://www.headstartinfo.org/infocenter/guides/tb_conts.htm
     This annotated bibliography contains descriptions of resources on transportation and ordering information. Topics include: education, general information, regulations and standards, licensing and driver training, newsletters, parent resources, partnerships, product information, special needs, state information, videos, internet resources, and bicycle safety resources.