Rear Seat Advanced Restraint Program

         The U. S. Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), is responsible for reducing the number of injuries and deaths on highways resulting from vehicle crashes. 

     NHTSA intends to issue a full and open, competitive Request for Proposals (RFP) from this solicitation to develop an advanced restraint system that protects rear seat occupants of different sizes, age or body condition, possibly gender, and different crash pulses.  For this project the elongation requirement S4.2(c) specified in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 209 will be removed.  Also, to evaluate the final advanced restraints system, NHTSA plans on using advanced crash test dummies.  This may include the 50th THOR-NT and the 5th female THOR. These dummies will be provided by NHTSA. The demonstrated system should be able to meet the following objectives listed below:

1.      To identify, design, optimize, and fabricate a prototype advanced restraint system for rear seat occupants.  The system should address a range of occupant sizes, conditions and multiple frontal high-speed crash pulses.  This project should establish the baseline performance of a non-advanced system and show the occupant safety improvements of the advanced restraint systems.  This advanced restraint system for the rear seat occupant does not have to meet the requirements specified in section 4.2 (c) of FMVSS No. 209.

2.      Demonstrate an advanced restraint occupant protection system for rear seat occupants that may provide an opportunity to reduce the societal harm to occupants resulting from frontal motor vehicle crashes in the US light vehicle fleet.  The system should provide protection for rear seat occupants in frontal crashes with different crash pulse and direction of impact and to occupant size (height and/or weight), age and gender.

      The NAICS Code for this contract is 541330.  Contractors must be registered in the Central Contractor Registration Database located at http://www.ccr.gov, and must complete electronic representatives and certification on the ORCA database located at http://orca.bpn.gov to be considered for contract award.  It is the Government's intent to award a Cost Reimbursement, Cost-sharing contract from this Solicitation, with or without discussions, to the responsible offeror whose proposal, conforming to the solicitation, is most advantageous to the Government based on the evaluation factors contained in the solicitation.  It is the Offeror's responsibility to monitor the FedBizOpps Internet site for the release of the solicitation and amendments (if any).  Potential Offerors will be responsible for downloading their own copy of the solicitation and amendments (if any). Requests for paper copies of the RFP will not be accepted. The estimated date for release of the solicitation is on or about June 25, 2012.

The period of performance for this required including preparation, submission, review of any and all reports, shall be completed within the thirty (30) months after award of contract.