[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 49, Volume 5]
[Revised as of October 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 49CFR571.212]

[Page 581-582]
 
                        TITLE 49--TRANSPORTATION
 
                            OF TRANSPORTATION
 
PART 571--FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARDS--Table of Contents
 
            Subpart B--Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards
 
Sec. 571.212  Standard No. 212; Windshield mounting.

    S1. Scope. This standard establishes windshield retention 
requirements for motor vehicles during crashes.
    S2. Purpose. The purpose of this standard is to reduce crash 
injuries and fatalities by providing for retention of the vehicle 
windshield during a crash, thereby utilizing fully the penetration-
resistance and injury-avoidance properties of the windshield glazing 
material and preventing the ejection of occupants from the vehicle.
    S3. Application. This standard applies to passenger cars, and to 
multipurpose passenger vehicles, trucks, and buses having a gross 
vehicle weight rating of 4536 kilograms or less. However, it does not 
apply to forward control vehicles, walk-in van-type vehicles, or to 
open-body type vehicles with fold-down or removable windshields.
    S4. Definition. Passive restraint system means a system meeting the 
occupant crash protection requirements of S5. of Standard No. 208 by 
means that require no action by vehicle occupants.
    S5. Requirements. When the vehicle travelling longitudinally forward 
at any speed up to and including 48 kilometers per hour impacts a fixed 
collision barrier that is perpendicular to the line of travel of the 
vehicle, under the conditions of S6, the windshield

[[Page 582]]

mounting of the vehicle shall retain not less than the minimum portion 
of the windshield periphery specified in S5.1 and S5.2.
    S5.1  Vehicles equipped with passive restraints. Vehicles equipped 
with passive restraint systems shall retain not less than 50 percent of 
the portion of the windshield periphery on each side of the vehicle 
longitudinal centerline.
    S5.2  Vehicles not equipped with passive restraints. Vehicles not 
equipped with passive restraint systems shall retain not less than 75 
percent of the windshield periphery.
    S6. Test conditions. The requirements of S5. shall be met under the 
following conditions:
    S6.1  The vehicle, including test devices and instrumentation, is 
loaded as follows:
    (a) Except as specified in S6.2, a passenger car is loaded to its 
unloaded vehicle weight plus its cargo and luggage capacity weight, 
secured in the luggage area, plus a 50th-percentile test dummy as 
specified in part 572 of this chapter at each front outboard designated 
seating position and at any other position whose protection system is 
required to be tested by a dummy under the provisions of Standard No. 
208. Each dummy is restrained only by means that are installed for 
protection at its seating position.
    (b) Except as specified in S6.2, a multipurpose passenger vehicle, 
truck or bus is loaded to its unloaded vehicle weight, plus 136 
kilograms or its rated cargo and luggage capacity, whichever is less, 
secured to the vehicle, plus a 50th-percentile test dummy as specified 
in part 572 of this chapter at each front outboard designated seating 
position and at any other position whose protection system is required 
to be tested by a dummy under the provisions of Standard No. 208. Each 
dummy is restrained only by means that are installed for protection at 
its seating position. The load is distributed so that the weight on each 
axle as measured at the tire-ground interface is in proportion to its 
GAWR. If the weight on any axle when the vehicle is loaded to its 
unloaded vehicle weight plus dummy weight exceeds the axle's 
proportional share of the test weight, the remaining weight is placed so 
that the weight on that axle remains the same. For the purposes of this 
section, unloaded vehicle weight does not include the weight of work-
performing accessories. Vehicles are tested to a maximum unloaded 
vehicle weight of 2,495 kilograms.
    S6.2  The fuel tank is filled to any level from 90 to 95 percent of 
capacity.
    S6.3  The parking brake is disengaged and the transmission is in 
neutral.
    S6.4  Tires are inflated to the vehicle manufacturer's 
specifications.
    S6.5  The windshield mounting material and all vehicle components in 
direct contact with the mounting material are at any temperature between 
-9 degrees Celsius and +43 degrees Celsius.

[41 FR 36494, Aug. 30, 1976, as amended at 42 FR 34289, July 5, 1977; 45 
FR 22046, Apr. 3, 1980; 60 FR 13647, Mar. 14, 1995]