[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: 49CFR571.301]
[Page 735-740]
TITLE 49--TRANSPORTATION
OF TRANSPORTATION
PART 571--FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARDS--Table of Contents
Subpart B--Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards
Sec. 571.301 Standard No. 301; Fuel system integrity.
S1. Scope. This standard specifies requirements for the integrity of
motor vehicle fuel systems.
S2. Purpose. The purpose of this standard is to reduce deaths and
injuries occurring from fires that result from fuel spillage during and
after motor vehicle crashes, and resulting from ingestion of fuels
during siphoning.
S3. Application. This standard applies to passenger cars, and to
multipurpose passenger vehicles, trucks and buses that have a GVWR of
4,536 kg or less and use fuel with a boiling point above 0 deg.C, and
to school buses that have a
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GVWR greater than 4,536 kg and use fuel with a boiling point above 0
deg.C.
S4. Definition. Fuel spillage means the fall, flow, or run of fuel
from the vehicle but does not include wetness resulting from capillary
action.
S5. General requirements.
S5.1 Passenger cars, and multipurpose passenger vehicles, trucks,
and buses with a GVWR of 10,000 pounds or less. Each passenger car and
each multipurpose passenger vehicle, truck, and bus with a GVWR of
10,000 pounds or less shall meet the requirements of S6.1 through S6.4.
Each of these types of vehicles that is manufactured to use alcohol
fuels shall also meet the requirements of S6.6.
S5.2 [Reserved]
S5.3 [Reserved]
S5.4 Schoolbuses with a GVWR greater than 10,000 pounds. Each
schoolbus with a GVWR greater than 10,000 pounds shall meet the
requirements of S6.5. Each schoolbus with a GVWR greater than 10,000
pounds that is manufactured to use alcohol fuels shall meet the
requirements of S6.6.
S5.5 Fuel spillage; Barrier crash. Fuel spillage in any fixed or
moving barrier crash test shall not exceed 28 g from impact until motion
of the vehicle has ceased, and shall not exceed a total of 142 g in the
5-minute period following cessation of motion. For the subsequent 25-
minute period, fuel spillage during any 1 minute interval shall not
exceed 28 g.
S5.6 Fuel spillage; rollover. Fuel spillage in any rollover test,
from the onset of rotational motion, shall not exceed a total of 142 g
for the first 5 minutes of testing at each successive 90 deg. increment.
For the remaining test period, at each increment of 90 deg. fuel
spillage during any 1 minute interval shall not exceed 28 g.
S5.7. Alcohol fuel vehicles. Each vehicle manufactured to operate on
an alcohol fuel (e.g., methanol, ethanol) or a fuel blend containing at
least 20 percent alcohol fuel shall meet the requirements of S6.6.
S6. Test requirements. Each vehicle with a GVWR of 4,536 kg or less
shall be capable of meeting the requirements of any applicable barrier
crash test followed by a static rollover, without alteration of the
vehicle during the test sequence. A particular vehicle need not meet
further requirements after having been subjected to a single barrier
crash test and a static rollover test.
S6.1 Frontal barrier crash. When the vehicle travelling
longitudinally forward at any speed up to and including 48 km/h impacts
a fixed collision barrier that is perpendicular to the line of travel of
the vehicle, or at any angle up to 30 deg. in either direction from the
perpendicular to the line of travel of the vehicle, with 50th-percentile
test dummies 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, under the applicable conditions of S7.,
fuel spillage shall not exceed the limits of S5.5.
S6.2 Rear moving barrier crash. When the vehicle is impacted from
the rear by a barrier moving at 48 km/h, with test dummies as specified
in part 572 of this chapter at each front outboard designated seating
position, under the applicable conditions of S7., fuel spillage shall
not exceed the limits of S5.5.
S6.3 Lateral moving barrier crash. When the vehicle is impacted
laterally on either side by a barrier moving at 32 km/h with 50th-
percentile test dummies as specified in part 572 of this chapter at
positions required for testing to Standard No. 208, under the applicable
conditions of S7., fuel spillage shall not exceed the limits of S5.5.
S6.4 Static rollover. When the vehicle is rotated on its
longitudinal axis to each successive increment of 90 deg., following an
impact crash of S6.1, S6.2, or S6.3, fuel spillage shall not exceed the
limits of S5.6.
S6.5 Moving contoured barrier crash. When the moving contoured
barrier assembly traveling longitudinally forward at any speed up to and
including 48 km/h impacts the test vehicle (school bus with a GVWR
exceeding 4,536 kg) at any point and angle, under the applicable
conditions of S7.1 and S7.5, fuel spillage shall not exceed the limits
of S5.5.
S6.6 Anti-siphoning test for alcohol fuel vehicles. Each vehicle
shall have means that prevent any hose made of vinyl plastic or rubber,
with a length of
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not less than 1200 millimeters (mm) and an outside diameter of not less
than 5.2 mm, from contacting the level surface of the liquid fuel in the
vehicle's fuel tank or fuel system, when the hose is inserted into the
filler neck attached to the fuel tank with the fuel tank filled to any
level from 90 to 95 percent of capacity.
S7. Test conditions. The requirements of S5.1 through S5.6 and S6.1
through S6.5 shall be met under the following conditions. Where a range
is specified, the vehicle must be capable of meeting the requirements at
all points within the range.
S7.1 General test conditions. The following conditions apply to all
tests.
S7.1.1 The fuel tank is filled to any level from 90 to 95 percent
of capacity with Stoddard solvent, having the physical and chemical
properties of type 1 solvent, Table I ASTM Standard D484-71, ``Standard
Specifications for Hydrocarbon Dry Cleaning Solvents.''
S7.1.2 The fuel system other than the fuel tank is filled with
Stoddard solvent to its normal operating level.
S7.1.3 In meeting the requirements of S6.1 through S6.3, if the
vehicle has an electrically driven fuel pump that normally runs when the
vehicle's electrical system is activated, it is operating at the time of
the barrier crash.
S7.1.4 The parking brake is disengaged and the transmission is in
neutral, except that in meeting the requirements of S6.5 the parking
brake is set.
S7.1.5 Tires are inflated to manufacturer's specifications.
S7.1.6 The vehicle, including test devices and instrumentation, is
loaded as follows:
(a) Except as specified in S7.1.1, a passenger car is loaded to its
unloaded vehicle weight plus its rated cargo and luggage capacity
weight, secured in the luggage area, plus the necessary test dummies as
specified in S6., restrained only by means that are installed in the
vehicle for protection at its seating position.
(b) Except as specified in S7.1.1, a multipurpose passenger vehicle,
truck, or bus with a GVWR of 4,536 kg or less is loaded to its unloaded
vehicle weight, plus the necessary test dummies, as specified in S6.,
plus 136 kg or its rated cargo and luggage capacity weight, whichever is
less, secured to the vehicle and distributed so that the weight on each
axle as measured at the tire-ground interface is proportional to its
GAWR. If the weight on any axle, when the vehicle is loaded to unloaded
vehicle weight plus dummy weight, exceeds the axle's proportional share
of the test weight, the remaining weight shall be placed so that the
weight on that axle remains the same. Each dummy shall be restrained
only by means that are installed in the vehicle for protection at its
seating position.
(c) Except as specified in S7.1.1, a school bus with a GVWR greater
than 4,536 kg is loaded to its unloaded vehicle weight, plus 54 kg of
unsecured mass at each designated seating position.
S7.2 Lateral moving barrier crash test conditions. The lateral
moving barrier crash test conditions are those specified in S8.2 of
Standard No. 208, 49 CFR 571.208.
S7.3 Rear moving barrier test conditions. The rear moving barrier
test conditions are those specified in S8.2 of Standard No. 208, 49 CFR
571.208, except for the positioning of the barrier and the vehicle. The
barrier and test vehicle are positioned so that at impact--
(a) The vehicle is at rest in its normal attitude;
(b) The barrier is traveling at 48 km/h with its face perpendicular
to the longitudinal centerline of the vehicle; and
(c) A vertical plane through the geometric center of the barrier
impact surface and perpendicular to that surface coincides with the
longitudinal centerline of the vehicle.
S7.4 Static rollover test conditions. The vehicle is rotated about
its longitudinal axis, with the axis kept horizontal, to each successive
increment of 90 deg., 180 deg., and 270 deg. at a uniform rate, with
90 deg. of rotation taking place in any time interval from 1 to 3
minutes. After reaching each 90 deg. increment the vehicle is held in
that position for 5 minutes.
S7.5 Moving contoured barrier test conditions. The following
conditions apply to the moving contoured barrier crash test.
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S7.5.1 The moving barrier, which is mounted on a carriage as
specified in Figure 1, is of rigid construction, symmetrical about a
vertical longitudinal plane. The contoured impact surface, which is 629
mm high and 1,981 mm wide, conforms to the dimensions shown in Figure 2,
and is attached to the carriage as shown in that figure. The ground
clearance to the lower edge of the impact surface is 133 mm
13 mm. The wheelbase is 3,048 mm 50 mm.
S7.5.2 The moving contoured barrier, including the impact surface,
supporting structure, and carriage, has a mass of 1,814 kg
23 kg with the mass distributed so that 408 kg 11 kg is at
each rear wheel and 499 kg 11 kg is at each front wheel.
The center of gravity is located 1,372 mm 38 mm rearward of
the front wheel axis, in the vertical longitudinal plane of symmetry,
401 mm above the ground. The moment of inertia about the center of
gravity is:
Ix = 367 kgm\2\ 18.4 kgm\2\
Iz = 4,711 kgm\2\ 236 kgm\2\
S7.5.3 The moving contoured barrier has a solid nonsteerable front
axle and fixed rear axle attached directly to the frame rails with no
spring or other type of suspension system on any wheel. (The moving
barrier assembly is equipped with a braking device capable of stopping
its motion.)
S7.5.4 The moving barrier assembly is equipped with G78-15
pneumatic tires with a tread width of 152 mm 25 mm,
inflated to 165 kPa.
S7.5.5 The concrete surface upon which the vehicle is tested is
level, rigid, and of uniform construction, with a skid number of 75 when
measured in accordance with American Society of Testing and Materials
Method E: 274-65T at 64 km/h, omitting water delivery as specified in
paragraph 7.1 of that method.
S7.5.6 The barrier assembly is released from the guidance mechanism
immediately prior to impact with the vehicle.
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[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TC01AU91.148
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[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TC01AU91.149
[40 FR 48353, Oct. 15, 1975. Redesignated and amended at 41 FR 9350,
Mar. 4, 1976; 41 FR 36026, 36027, Aug. 26, 1976; 53 FR 8204, Mar. 14,
1988; 53 FR 49990, Dec. 13, 1988; 58 FR 5638, Jan. 22, 1993; 61 FR
19202, May 1, 1996; 63 FR 28953, May 27, 1998]