[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 20 (Friday, January 30, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4688-4689]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-2375]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[U.S. DOT Docket No. NHTSA-97-3176]
National Survey of Pedestrian and Bicyclist Attitudes, Knowledge
and Behavior
AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments on data collection.
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SUMMARY: The purpose for conducting this survey is to assist the agency
in reducing injuries, fatalities, and economic loss resulting from
motor vehicle crashes with pedestrians and bicyclists; and to support
the Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretarial Initiative for
Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety. More than 5,000 pedestrians and 800
bicyclists are killed each year in traffic crashes, and more than
140,000 are injured. Developing effective strategies to address this
problem requires up-to-date information on such factors as exposure,
awareness, safety practices, physical obstacles to safety, and
perceptions of risk. By collecting these data, NHTSA will be able to
determine where efforts should be targeted and where new strategies may
be needed. In addition, the Secretary of Transportation has mobilized a
national effort to promote walking and bicycling as safe, efficient,
and healthy ways to travel. The survey will collect information to help
assess progress in meeting the Secretarial Initiative, including the
goal to double the national percentage of transportation trips made by
bicycling and walking.
DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before March 31, 1998.
ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to U.S. Department of
Transportation Dockets, 400 Seventh Street, S.W., Plaza 401,
Washington, D.C. 20590. Docket # NHTSA-97-3176.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Alan Block, Contracting Officer's
Technical Representative, Office of Research and Traffic Records (NTS-
31), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 400 Seventh
Street, S.W., Room 6240, Washington, D.C., 20590.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) was
established to reduce the mounting number of deaths, injuries and
economic losses resulting from motor vehicle-related crashes on the
Nation's highways. As part of this statutory mandate, NHTSA is
authorized to conduct research as a foundation for the development of
motor vehicle safety standards and traffic safety programs.
While not as much in the public eye as other traffic safety
problems, motor vehicle crashes involving pedestrians and bicyclists
exact a heavy toll. Pedestrians and bicyclists account for 15 percent
of all traffic fatalities, and more than 140,000 injuries each year.
Yet there are simple things that people can do to reduce these risks,
provided that they are sufficiently aware and willing to take the
appropriate steps. For example, a study published in the Journal of the
American Medical Association found that the universal use of helmets by
all bicyclists could have prevented as many as 2,500 deaths and 757,000
head injuries between 1984 and 1988. Despite this, only 18 percent of
bicyclists age 16 and older usually wear a helmet when they ride. To
effectively address this gap, a clear picture of bicyclists' knowledge
of the effectiveness of helmet use, and the attitudes that prevent
helmet use, is needed.
Efforts to address the problem have included training, public
information and education, legislation, enforcement, and engineering.
However, there is an absence of national data to tell us whether these
efforts need to be modified or whether new types of interventions are
needed. More specifically, there is a lack of data concerning the
public's exposure to risk as pedestrians and bicyclists, their
awareness of correct pedestrian and bicyclist safety practices, their
perceptions of the responsibilities of other roadway users, and their
perceptions of risks. Without this information, safety professionals
are left with inadequate tools for determining if there are critical
deficits in education or training that should be addressed, or whether
interventions are efficiently targeted to where they are most needed.
This in turn would pose severe constraints on the ability to meet the
U.S. Secretary of Transportation's goal of reducing by 10 percent the
number of injuries and fatalities occurring to bicyclists and
pedestrians.
Besides reducing pedestrian/bicyclist injuries and fatalities, the
U.S. Secretary of Transportation has called for a doubling in the
national percentage of transportation trips made by bicycling and
walking. Both goals are part of the DOT Secretarial Initiative for
Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety. This is a national effort to promote
walking and bicycling as safe, efficient, and healthy ways to travel.
It involves partnering with numerous groups to foster the development
of a more balanced transportation system. Yet while the Initiative
calls for an increase in pedestrian and bicyclist activities, there are
no exposure data to measure its progress. Moreover, there is a lack of
information on the obstacles to walking and bicycling that would have
to be addressed to meet the Secretarial goal; as well as information on
how persons decide whether or not to walk, or to bike.
The proposed survey will collect data to meet the informational
needs described above. The survey instrument will include items to
measure exposure, knowledge, risk perception, community
characteristics, and decision factors. The survey data will be used to
assess the adequacy of present strategies to increase pedestrian and
bicyclist safety, and to help guide policies aimed at encouraging these
modes of transportation.
II. Method of Data Collection
The survey will be conducted by telephone among a national
probability sample of 4,200 adults age 16 and older. Participation by
respondents is voluntary. The survey instrument will contain questions
appropriate to all members of the sample, as well as questions
appropriate only to subgroups of pedestrians (as defined within the
study) and bicyclists. The overall interview length for a respondent
will average 20 minutes. The interviewers will use computer assisted
telephone interviewing to reduce the interview length and minimize
recording errors. A Spanish-language translation as well as
multilingual interviewers will be used
[[Page 4689]]
to minimize language barriers to participation. The survey will be
anonymous and confidential.
III. Use of Findings
The findings of this study will assist NHTSA in addressing the
pedestrian and bicyclist crash problem, and in formulating programs and
recommendations to Congress. NHTSA will use the findings to: (a) Design
more effective countermeasure programs; (b) develop policy
recommendations that support increases in bicycling and walking; and
(c) provide for measurement of the effectiveness of these efforts. The
findings will also be used directly by State and local highway safety
agencies in the development and implementation of effective programs to
increase the levels of bicycling and walking among the public while
simultaneously reducing the number of crash-related deaths and
injuries.
IV. Data
OMB Number: None.
Form Number: None.
Type of Review: Regular Submission.
Affected Public: The United States non-institutionalized population
ages 16 and older living in households with telephone service.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 4,200.
Estimated Time Per Respondent: 20 minutes.
Estimated Total Burden: 1,400 hours.
Estimated Total Cost: $51.90 per survey respondent.
V. Request for Comments
Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden
(including the hours and cost) of the proposed collection of
information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of
the information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of
the collection of information on respondents, including through the use
of automated collection techniques or other forms of information
technology.
Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized
and/or included in the request for approval by the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) of this information collection. Copies of all comments
will be placed in Docket NHTSA-97-3176, in the U.S. Department of
Transportation Dockets, 400 7th Street, SW., Plaza 401, Washington, DC
20590, and will become a matter of public record.
Issued on: January 27, 1998.
James Nichols,
Acting Associate Administrator for Traffic Safety Programs.
[FR Doc. 98-2375 Filed 1-29-98; 8:45 am]
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