scope:

SUMMARY:

This document denies a petition for rulemaking from SafeGuard/IMMI (formerly Indiana Mills and Manufacturing, Inc.) and C.E. White requesting that NHTSA amend Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 213, ''Child restraint systems,'' to provide for ''school bus built-in belt positioning seats.'' Under the petitioners' suggested amendment, a school bus built-in belt positioning seat would be a type of ''booster seat'' and would consist of a school bus seat with a lap/shoulder belt and a shoulder belt height adjuster. The agency is denying the petition because under the requested amendment, designs would be permitted that do not provide the full benefits of booster seats, namely the proper positioning of the child on the vehicle seat to improve the fit of the lap belt to mitigate the risk of abdominal injuries in a crash.