[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 232 (Monday, December 5, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72500-72501]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-23597]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[U.S. DOT Docket No. NHTSA-2005-22932]


Reports, Forms, and Recordkeeping Requirements

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

ACTION: Request for public comment on proposed collection of 
information.

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SUMMARY: Before a Federal agency can collect certain information from 
the public, it must receive approval from the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB). Under procedures established by the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, before seeking OMB approval, Federal agencies must solicit 
public comment on proposed collections of information, including 
extensions and reinstatements of previously approved collections.
    This document describes the collection of information for which 
NHTSA intends to seek OMB approval.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before February 3, 2006.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to U.S. Department of 
Transportation Dockets, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Plaza 401, Washington, 
DC 20590. Docket No. NHTSA-2005-22932.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Siegler, PhD., Contracting 
Officer's Technical Representative, Office of Research and Technology 
(NTI-132), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 400 Seventh 
Street, SW., Room 5119, Washington, DC 20590.

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 a 60-day comment period and otherwise consult with members of 
the public and affected agencies concerning each 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 
methodology and assumptions used;
    (iii) How to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and
    (iv) How to minimize the burden of the collection of information on 
those who are to respond, including the use of appropriate automated, 
electronic, mechanical, and or other technological collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology. e.g., permitting 
electronic submissions of responses.
    In compliance with these requirements, NHTSA asks public comment on 
the following proposed collection of information:

Evaluation Surveys for Impaired Driving and Safety Belt Interventions

    Type of Request--New information collection requirement.
    OMB Clearance Number--None.
    Form Number--This collection of information uses no standard forms.
    Requested Expiration Date of Approval--3 years from date of 
approval.
    Summary of the Collection of Information--The National Highway 
Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) proposes to conduct telephone 
surveys to evaluate interventions designed to increase safety belt use 
and reduce impaired driving. Sample sizes would range from 200 to 2000 
depending on the geographic unit being surveyed (Nation, Region, State, 
Community) and the evaluation design for the intervention (e.g., number 
of analytic groups). Interview length would be 10 minutes. The surveys 
would collect information on attitudes, awareness, knowledge, and 
behavior related to the intervention. The surveys would follow a pre-
post design where they are administered prior to the implementation of 
the intervention and after its conclusion. Interim survey waves may 
also be administered if the duration of the intervention permits.
    In conducting the proposed surveys, the interviewers would use 
computer-assisted telephone interviewing to reduce interview length and 
minimize recording errors. A Spanish Language translation and bilingual 
interviewers would be used to minimize language barriers to 
participation. The proposed surveys would be anonymous and 
confidential.
    Description of the Need for the Information and Proposed Use of the 
Information--The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) 
was established to reduce the mounting number of deaths, injuries, and 
economic losses resulting from motor vehicle 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 
standards and traffic safety programs.
    The heavy toll that impaired driving exacts on the Nation in 
fatalities, injuries, and economic costs is well documented. Strong 
documentation also exists to show that wearing a safety belt is one of 
the most important actions a person can take to prevent injury or 
fatality in the event of a crash, but a significant proportion of the 
population still does not wear them. The persistence of these traffic 
safety problems points to a continuing need for effective interventions 
to address impaired driving and non-use of safety belts. This in turn 
calls for strong evaluation efforts to identify what interventions are 
effective. This includes monitoring key interventions that have been 
shown to be effective in order to determine whether they are

[[Page 72501]]

retaining their potency, as well as identifying new or refined 
interventions that may influence parts of the population that have been 
resistant to previous measures.
    Over the next few years, a number of legislative and programmatic 
changes will require NHTSA to collect public awareness information 
about its programs. With the introduction of SAFETEA-LU, section 157 
grants (TEA-21) will no longer be available to fund States' occupant 
protection programs. As a result, States will have to sustain their own 
high enforcement efforts to increase belt use. Public Awareness surveys 
will be needed to determine if States are successful in sustaining 
their programs without NHTSA support.
    Under section 410 of SAFETEA-LU, spending for State enforcement 
grants for impaired driving programs will increase almost 100 million 
dollars annually, from 39.6 million in 2005 to $139 million in 2009. 
States seeking to access these grants for specific impaired driving 
activities will need to have implemented a number of programs in order 
to be eligible for these grants including: statewide checkpoints and/or 
saturation patrols, prosecution/adjudication outreach, increased BAC 
testing of drivers in fatal crashes, high BAC law (stronger/additional 
penalties), effective alcohol rehabilitation and/or DWI courts, under 
age 21 program, administrative license revocation or suspension, and 
self-sustaining programs. It is expected that such heightened activity 
will increase drivers' awareness of these programs and reduce incidents 
of impaired driving. Public awareness surveys would enable NHTSA to 
evaluate the effectiveness of this increased spending.
    Between 2006 and 2009, SAFETEA-LU has authorized NHTSA to spend $29 
million annually on National media to promote a message of high 
visibility enforcement for both impaired driving and occupant 
protection programs. This, coupled with proposed changes in the media 
message for the impaired driving program, requires NHTSA to examine 
public awareness of programs to determine whether the media messages 
are reaching the target audience.
    In order to reduce the work requirements for each State and to 
create sets of survey data that may be compared among the States, NHTSA 
will grant one or more separate awards to survey firms with expertise 
in conducting random telephone surveys. The data will be used to 
properly plan and evaluate enforcement activities directed at reducing 
the occurrence of alcohol impaired driving and increasing the use of 
safety belts. Data from National surveys will be used to assess the 
overall effectiveness of these programs, while State data will assess 
effectiveness of individual State programs. States found to have 
implemented effective programs to reduce their impaired driving 
problem, and increased their safety belt use, will prepare materials 
that highlight major features of their programs to be disseminated 
among States that want to implement an improved alcohol enforcement 
program or occupant protection enforcement program.
    It should be noted that during the past decade NHTSA has conducted 
surveys on attitudes and behaviors on impaired driving and safety belt 
use. These surveys were very useful in convincing States and 
communities to adopt more effective programs that have raised safety 
belt use rates to record levels and initiated a new downward trend in 
impaired driving. Most of these surveys were conducted years ago and 
cannot be used to evaluate new programs scheduled to be initiated in 
the next few years.
    Description of the Likely Respondents (Including Estimated Number, 
and Proposed Frequency of Response to the Collection of Information)--
Over the next 3 years, NHTSA intends to conduct National telephone 
surveys to collect data from a total of 21,600 participants. For the 
impaired driving programs, 2 sets of pre/post intervention surveys, 
each with sample sizes of 1200, will be administered annually for 3 
years. For the Occupant Protection programs, 1 set of pre/post 
intervention surveys, each with sample sizes of 1200, will be 
administered annually for 3 years. NHTSA may also select certain sub-
groups to survey, including State, Regional, and Community telephone 
surveys to monitor and evaluate occupant protection and impaired 
driving demonstration projects. Typically, a State demonstration survey 
will require 500 participants. A regional demonstration survey can 
range from as few as 200 participants for a small county to 2000 
participants for a region covering more than one State.
    Interviews will be conducted with persons at residential phone 
numbers selected using random digit dialing. No more than one 
respondent per household will be selected, and each sample member will 
complete just one interview. Businesses are ineligible for the sample 
and would not be interviewed. After each wave is completed and the data 
analyzed, the findings will be disseminated to each State for review.
    Estimate of the Total Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Burden 
Resulting From the Collection of Information--NHTSA estimates that 
respondents in the sample would require an average of 10 minutes to 
complete the telephone interviews. Thus, the number of annual estimated 
reporting burden on the general public would be 1,200 hours for the 
National surveys and a maximum of 2,800 hours for the State and 
regional demonstration surveys, or a maximum of 4,000 hours per year 
for the combined National, State, and regional surveys. The respondents 
would not incur any reporting or recordkeeping costs from the 
information collection.

    Authority: 44 U.S.C. section 3506(c)(2)(A).

    Issued on: November 22, 2005.
Marilena Amoni,
Associate Administrator of Program Development and Delivery.
[FR Doc. 05-23597 Filed 12-2-05; 8:45 am]
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