[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 92 (Friday, May 11, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24178-24179]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-11945]



[[Page 24178]]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[U.S. DOT Docket No NHTSA-2001-9423]


National Survey of Speeding, Driving While Distracted, and Other 
Unsafe Driving Behaviors

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments on data collection.

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SUMMARY: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) 
plays a central role in the national effort to reduce motor vehicle 
related traffic injuries and deaths. Speeding has been implicated as a 
cause of about a third of all fatal crashes. The contributions of 
driving while distracted, fatigued and aggressive driving to motor 
vehicle crashes are thought to be substantial, however, estimates are 
not available. The most recent survey data collected by NHTSA on unsafe 
driving behaviors was administered in 1997. Since that time there have 
been various changes in the driving environment including an 
extraordinary increase in the use of wireless phones in vehicles. The 
purpose of this study is to gather information on driver behavior with 
respect to speeding, driving while distracted, aggressive driving, and 
fatigue. The survey will also collect data on the conditions under 
which these behaviors typically occur as well as the public's views 
toward various unsafe driving behaviors and countermeasures they would 
support. To acquire these data, two surveys of about 15 minutes in 
length will each be developed and administered to two separate national 
probability samples of 2,000 persons. As required by the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995, NHTSA invites the general public and Federal 
Agencies to comment on the need for the proposed data collection, the 
types of questions respondents should be asked, ways to enhance the 
quality of the collection, and ways to minimize the burden on 
respondents.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before July 10, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to US DOT, Docket Management 
Facility, Docket Operations, PL-401, Docket # NHTSA-2001-9423, 400 7th 
Street SW., Washington, DC 20590.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul J. Tremont, Ph.D., Project 
Officer, Office of Research and Traffic Records (NTS-31), Washington, 
DC 20590, e-mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 
before an agency submits a proposed collection of information to OMB 
for approval, it must publish a document in the Federal Register 
providing for a 60-day period to allow the public and affected agencies 
sufficient time to comment on the proposed collection of information.
    The OMB has promulgated regulations describing what must be 
included in such a document. Under OMB's regulations (at 5 CFR 
1320.8(d)), an agency must ask for public comment on the following:
    (i) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for 
the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including 
whether the information will have practical utility;
    (ii) The accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methods and assumptions;
    (iii) How to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information;
    (iv) How to minimize the burden of the information collection on 
those being asked to respond, including the use of appropriate 
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection 
methods or other forms of information technology, (e.g., permitting 
electronic response submissions).
    In response to these requirements, NHTSA asks for public comment on 
the following collection of information:

National Survey of Speeding, Driving While Distracted, Aggressive 
Driving and other Unsafe Driving Behaviors

    Type of Request: New information collection requirement.
    OMB Clearance Number: None.
    Form Number: This collection uses no standard forms.
    Requested Approval Expiration date: June 30, 2002.

Summary of the Collection of Information

    The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) plays a 
key role in the national effort to reduce motor vehicle related traffic 
injuries and deaths. Last year more than 38,000 deaths and several 
million injuries occurred as a direct result of motor vehicle crashes. 
There is strong evidence to suggest that most of these crashes are 
caused by human errors, such as speeding, aggressive driving, driver 
distraction and fatigue, and are thus avoidable.
    The proposed survey, to be administered in the 3rd quarter of 2001, 
will gather data on the nature and extent of these problem-driving 
behaviors with the objective of providing the basis for the development 
of countermeasures to them. Data will be collected on topics covered in 
the 1997 Speeding & Unsafe Driving survey, and also will include 
questions on distracted, aggressive and fatigue-related driving. 
Question areas will cover characteristics of drivers who perform these 
various unsafe driving actions, and the situations accompanying unsafe 
actions. Data will also be acquired on distractions drivers are subject 
to, including wireless phones, the situations that lead to these 
distractions, and the way they are managed while driving.
    In order to include measurement of all topic areas of interest in a 
thorough manner while keeping the interview length to a level to avoid 
respondent fatigue and data degradation, two separate surveys will be 
administered. The survey topics will be divided such that most of the 
speed and aggressive driving items will be included in version 1, while 
most of the distracted driver and fatigue items will be included in 
version 2. General attitudinal items concerning problem driving overall 
and respondent characteristics will appear on both survey versions.
    These surveys will be administered by telephone to separate 
national probability samples of the driving age public (age 16 and 
older as of their last birthday). Participation by respondents is 
completely voluntary. To keep interview time to about 15-20 minutes, 
and to minimize errors, surveys will be conducted using computer 
assisted interviewing. A Spanish-language questionnaire administered by 
bi-lingual interviewers will be used to ensure Spanish-speaking 
respondents are included in the sample. All respondents' answers will 
remain anonymous and completely confidential. Participant names are not 
collected during the interview and the telephone number used to reach 
the respondent is separated from the data record prior to its entry 
into the analytical database.

Description of the Need for and Proposed Use of the Information

    More than 38,000 persons were fatally injured in motor vehicle 
crashes in 2000, and up to 1/3 of these fatalities are associated with 
to excessive speeds. While the number of speeding-related and alcohol-
related crashes have dropped slightly since the mid-1990's (National 
Center for Statistics and Analysis), the number of fatal crashes 
attributed to non-speeding and non-

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alcohol related causes have increased. These other causes include 
driver-controlled behaviors such as driving while fatigued, aggressive 
driving, and distracted driving (including cell phone use, talking to 
others in the vehicle, eating, and reading). NHTSA is committed to the 
development of effective programs to reduce the incidence of these 
crashes
    While alcohol-related driving is studied by numerous sources, 
relatively little is known about the public's attitudes and behaviors 
with respect to those other driver-controlled factors. In order for 
NHTSA to properly plan and evaluate programs directed at reducing 
crashes, and to provide information to support states, localities and 
law enforcement agencies, it needs to understand the public's current 
beliefs and behaviors.
    The findings from these proposed collections will assist NHTSA in 
identifying the extent of the problem, the public's perceptions of the 
dangers of these various problem-driving actions and potential 
acceptance of various strategies to reduce related fatalities. NHTSA 
will use the findings to help focus current programs and activities to 
achieve the greatest benefit, to develop new programs to decrease the 
likelihood of drivers engaging in these problem-driving behaviors, and 
to provide informational support to states, and localities that will 
aid them in their efforts to reduce problem-driving related crashes and 
injuries.

Description of the Likely Respondents (Including Estimated Number, 
and Proposed Frequency of Response to the Collection of 
Information)

    Under these proposed collections, telephone interviews averaging 
approximately 15 minutes in length will be administered to two separate 
randomly selected samples of 2,000 persons of the general driving age 
public age 16 and older. The respondent samples would be selected from 
all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia. Interviews would be 
conducted with persons at residential phone numbers selected using a 
modified random-digit-dialing methodology. No more than one respondent 
per household would be selected, and each sample member would complete 
just one interview. Businesses are ineligible for the sample and would 
not be interviewed.

Estimate of the Total Annual Reporting and Record Keeping Burden 
Resulting from the Collection of Information

    NHTSA estimates that respondents in the sample would require an 
average of 15 minutes to complete the telephone interview. Thus, 
estimated reporting burden on the general public would total 1,000 
hours for the proposed surveys. The respondents would not incur any 
reporting or record keeping cost from the information collection.

Rose A. McMurray,
Associate Administrator, Office of Traffic Safety Programs.
[FR Doc. 01-11945 Filed 5-10-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P