[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 37 (Monday, February 26, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8414-8417]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-3197]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Highway Administration

[Docket No. FHWA-2007-26843]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Request for Comments 
for New Information Collection

AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The FHWA has forwarded the information collection request 
described in this notice to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
for approval of a new information collection. We published a Federal 
Register Notice with a 60-day public comment period on this information 
collection on November 24, 2006. We are required to publish this notice 
in the Federal Register by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES: Please submit comments by March 28, 2007.

ADDRESSES: You may send comments within 30 days to the Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, 
725 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503, Attention DOT Desk Officer. 
You are asked to comment on any aspect of this information collection, 
including: (1) Whether the proposed collection is necessary for the 
FHWA's performance; (2) the accuracy of the estimated burden; (3) ways 
for the FHWA to enhance the quality, usefulness, and clarity of the 
collected information; and (4) ways that the burden could be minimized, 
including the use of electronic technology, without reducing the 
quality of the collected information. All comments should include the 
Docket number FHWA-2007-26843.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions concerning the FHWA 
Motorcycle Crash Causation Study, please contact Carol Tan, Ph.D, 
Office of Safety Research and Development (HRDS), at (202) 493-3315, 
Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center, Federal Highway 
Administration, 6300 Georgetown Pike, McLean, VA 22101, between 9 a.m. 
and 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. For 
questions concerning the Pilot Motorcycle Crash Causes and Outcomes 
Study, please contact Paul J. Tremont, Ph.D, Office of Behavioral 
Safety Research, NTI-131, at (202) 366-5588, National Highway Traffic 
Safety Administration (NHTSA), 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 
20590, between 7:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, except 
Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Motorcycle Crash Causation Study and Pilot Motorcycle Crash 
Causes and Outcomes Study.
    Background: In 2005, 4,553 motorcyclists were killed and 87,000 
were injured in traffic crashes in the United States, increases of 13 
percent, and 14 percent respectively from 2004. Per vehicle mile 
traveled in 2004, motorcyclists were about 34 times more likely to die, 
and 8 times more likely to be injured in a motor vehicle crash than 
were passenger car occupants. Per 100 million miles traveled, in 2004, 
motorcyclist fatalities were 77 percent higher than they were in 1994. 
This compares with a decrease of 22 percent in fatality rates for 
occupants in passenger vehicles over the same period. These data show 
that the motorcycle crash problem is becoming more severe.\1\
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    \1\ More detailed information on motorcycle crashes can be found 
in Traffic Safety Facts--Motorcycles, published by NHTSA and 
available on its Web site at: http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd-30/NCSA/TSF2005/MotorcyclesTSF05.pdf.
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    Congress has recognized this problem and directed the DOT to 
conduct research that will provide a better understanding of the causes 
of motorcycle crashes. Specifically, in Section 5511 of the Safe, 
Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy 
for Users (SAFETEA-LU) Pub. L. 109-59, Congress directed the Secretary 
of Transportation to provide grants to the Oklahoma Transportation 
Center (OTC) for the purpose of conducting a comprehensive, in-depth 
motorcycle crash causation study that employs the common international 
methodology for in-depth motorcycle crash investigation developed by 
the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).\2\ 
SAFETEA-LU authorized $1,408,000 for each of fiscal years 2006 and 
2007, but provided for an equal match by the Grantee (Sections 5511 and 
5101). The Secretary delegated authority to FHWA for the Motorcycle 
Crash Causation Grants under Section 5511 (71 FR 30831).
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    \2\ The OECD methodology may be obtained by sending a request to 
[email protected].
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Coordination of FHWA Main Study and NHTSA Pilot Study

    Prior to the SAFETEA-LU directive by Congress to administer a full-
scale study of motorcycle crash causes, NHTSA awarded a contract to 
conduct a pilot study of Motorcycle Crash Causes and Outcomes. The 
intent of this pilot study is to examine appropriate applications of 
the OECD methodology to motorcycle crashes in the United States. This 
pilot test is needed before any full-scale study could be conducted 
because the OECD methodology has not previously been implemented in the 
United States, and also because this methodology incorporates some 
options for collecting crash and control sample data that are affected 
by logistical and budget constraints.
    The authorization of funds by Congress for a full-scale motorcycle 
crash study provided an opportunity for the NHTSA pilot study to become 
closely coordinated with the FHWA full-scale study. As a result, the 
pilot study will test the procedures FHWA will consider using as it 
implements the OECD methodology. Additionally, it may be possible for 
the pilot study to transition directly into the main study, thereby 
allowing the main study to avoid many startup costs (e.g., site 
selection, training, coding manual development, data form development, 
etc.) that it otherwise would have incurred. This will allow the main 
study to capture a larger sample of crashes with the available funding. 
Recognizing these advantages, the DOT intends to submit a single 
request to OMB for approval of both of these studies. This notice is 
the first step in that combined approval request.

Project Working Group Guidance

    A project working group consisting of representatives from the 
motorcycle industry and from the motorcycle community was formed to 
provide input into the study design. A working group meeting was held 
in Denver on June 15-16, 2006. At this meeting, consensus was reached 
that all the relevant OECD variables would be captured in both the

[[Page 8415]]

NHTSA pilot and FHWA full-scale studies, that some of these variables 
would need to be modified to conform to U.S. requirements, and that 
other variables would need to be added to provide necessary data 
related to the U.S. roadway environment.

Proposed Data Acquisition Methodology

Use of Parallel and Complementary Procedures

    The OECD describes two complementary procedures to be performed for 
acquiring the data needed to understand the causes of motorcycle 
crashes. The first of these is the traditional in-depth crash 
investigation that focuses on the sequence of events leading up to the 
crash, and on the motorcycle, rider, and environmental characteristics 
that may have been relevant to the crash. The second procedure, known 
as the case-control procedure, complements the first. It requires the 
acquisition of matched control data to allow for a determination of the 
extent to which rider and driver characteristics, and pre-crash factors 
observed in the crash vehicles, are present in similarly-at-risk 
control vehicles.
    Such a dual approach offers specific advantages to the 
understanding of crashes and the development of countermeasures. The 
in-depth study of the crash by itself allows for analysis of the events 
antecedent to the crash, some of which, if removed or altered, could 
result in a change in subsequent events that would have led to a non-
crash, or reduced crash severity outcome. For example, an in-depth 
crash investigation may reveal that an automobile approaching an 
intersection was in a lane designated for straight through traffic 
only, but the motorist proceeded to make a left turn from that lane 
into the path of an oncoming motorcycle. That finding can, by itself, 
be used to develop countermeasures, and does not require matched 
control data. However, acquiring matched control data from similarly-
at-risk riders and drivers provides additional critical information 
about crash causes that cannot be obtained if only crashes are 
examined. The main purpose of acquiring matched data is to allow for 
inferences to be made regarding risk factors for crash causes. A brief 
explanation is provided here so that those less familiar with case-
control procedures will understand the advantage of acquiring 
controls.\3\ Consider a hypothetical situation where it is observed 
that the proportion of motorcycle riders involved in crashes that have 
a positive Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) is the same as the proportion of 
matched (similarly-at-risk) control motorcycle riders not involved in 
crashes. And assume that the proportion of passenger-vehicle motorists 
who crash with motorcycles at a positive BAC is greater than matched 
control passenger-vehicle motorists. These data considered together 
would suggest that for crashes involving passenger vehicles and 
motorcycles, alcohol is a bigger risk factor for passenger vehicle 
drivers than it is for motorcycle riders. That is, the relative risk of 
crash involvement attributable to alcohol in motorcycle-automobile 
crashes is greater for passenger-vehicle motorists than for 
motorcyclists. Other risk factors for crashes (i.e., age, gender, 
riding and driving experience, fatigue level) for both motorcyclists 
and motorists can also be examined in this manner. If scaled interval 
measurements of risk factor levels are obtained (for example, if the 
level of alcohol is measured, not just its presence or absence), then 
it becomes possible to calculate functions showing how risk changes 
with changes in the variable of interest. Such risk functions are 
highly useful in the development of countermeasures.\4\
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    \3\ This being a study of crashes involving motorcycles, data 
will be acquired from both crash-involved motorcycles and also motor 
vehicles involved in those crashes as countermeasures may be 
developed separately for each that could lead to a reduction in 
crashes involving motorcycles. Similarly, when control data are 
acquired, data from similarly-at-risk motorcycle rider controls and 
similarly-at-risk automobile driver controls will also be acquired. 
This way a balanced picture of the causes of crashes involving 
motorcycles and other vehicles will emerge.
    \4\ Certainly other outcomes besides the one presented are 
possible, and other comparisons are of interest. For example it 
would be useful to compare crash-involved motorcyclists to non-crash 
involved motorcyclists and crash-involved passenger vehicle 
motorists to non-crash involved passenger-vehicle motorists. These 
comparisons would allow for estimates of changes in relative risks 
for riders and drivers independently.
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Issues Related to Sampling

Characteristics of the Crash Sample
    To properly acquire in-depth crash data, it is necessary to find a 
location in the country that experiences the full range of motorcycle 
crash types that occur under a wide range of conditions and with a wide 
range of motorcycle rider characteristics. The location must also have 
a sufficiently high frequency of motorcycle crashes to allow 
acquisition of the crash data in a reasonable amount of time. It is 
anticipated that it will be possible to find a single location meeting 
these requirements.
    It is not necessary that the crash types observed (or other 
composite indices or parameters of interest) be drawn from a nationally 
representative sample, because it is not the intent of FHWA to make 
projections of the national incidence of the causes of crashes 
involving motorcycles from this study. Rather, the focus will be on 
identifying the antecedents and risk factors associated with motorcycle 
crashes. If it is deemed necessary, FHWA and NHTSA may utilize their 
alternative databases that incorporate certain of the key variables 
that will be acquired in this study, and those databases could be used 
in conjunction with this study's data to make national estimates of 
population parameters of interest.\5\
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    \5\ There is a lengthy precedent for studying crashes using 
case-control methods including the Grand Rapids study, (Borkenstein, 
R.F., Crowther, F.R., Shumate, R.P., Ziel, W.B. & Zylman, R. (1974). 
The Role of the Drinking Driver in Traffic Accidents (The Grand 
Rapids Study). Blutalkohol, 11, Supplement 1), and of course the 
Hurt study, (Hurt, H.H., Jr., Ouellet, J.V., and Thom, D.R. (1981). 
Motorcycle Accident Cause Factors and Identification of 
Countermeasures Volume I: Technical Report).
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    In addition, the crash investigations will be conducted on-scene, 
while the involved operators and vehicles are still in place. To 
accomplish this safely, it is understood that the controlling police 
agency would need to first secure the crash scene, and gather any 
evidence and data for their own investigation. One way for this project 
to capture its on-scene data, would be for researchers to accompany 
early police responders to the scene, and under police guidance, 
acquire those OECD data elements not captured by the police. If this 
procedure imposes additional costs on the police agency having 
jurisdiction over the crash, then the project would consider 
compensation to the police agency for those costs in accordance with a 
prearranged agreement. This on-scene collection approach provides 
access to physical data that is less disturbed by rescue and clean up 
activities. It also facilitates the collection of interview data while 
memories are unaffected. This quick-response approach is most effective 
when a census of applicable crashes is selected for inclusion.
Characteristics of the Control Sample
    While the occurrence of a crash involving a motorcycle in the study 
site is sufficient for it to be selected into the study, selecting the 
similarly-at-risk controls is not as straightforward. The OECD 
recommends several options for acquiring matched controls; including 
interviewing motorcyclists who may be filling up at nearby gas 
stations, taking videos of motorcyclists who pass the

[[Page 8416]]

crash scenes, and interviewing motorcyclists at the location of the 
crash location at the same time of day, same day of week, and same 
direction of travel. The first of these methods suffers from the 
shortcoming that a rider or motorist filling his fuel tank is not 
presented with the same risks, in the same setting, as is the crash-
involved rider and motorist. To illustrate, consider a motorcycle rider 
who is hit from the rear by a passenger vehicle motorist on a Friday at 
1 a.m.. There is a reasonable chance that alcohol is involved in this 
crash, but to estimate the relative risk it will not help to measure 
the BAC of passenger vehicle motorists (and motorcyclists) at a nearby 
gas station. Passenger-vehicle motorists and motorcyclists will need to 
be sampled at the location of the crash on the same day of the week, at 
the same hour, and from the same travel direction. Even if the 
suspected risk factor is not alcohol, but some other variable (e.g., 
distraction associated with cell phone use), it is still highly 
advantageous to acquire the comparison data at the crash locations 
(matched on time and direction), rather than somewhere else.
    Using the second method mentioned above, acquiring the risk sample 
by taking video at the crash scenes provides a similarly-at-risk pool, 
and it also allows for many controls to be acquired at low cost. Its 
chief disadvantage is that it does not allow capture of some of the key 
risk factors for crashes (e.g., BAC), while others (e.g., fatigue) may 
be very difficult to capture. However, some risk factors could be 
acquired later by contacting the riders and drivers if license tag 
numbers are recorded, and so this method could be used to supplement 
the safety zone interview (described below).
    The final method, the voluntary safety research interview, involves 
setting up a safety zone at the crash location, one week later at the 
same time of day, and asking those drivers and motorcyclists who pass 
through to volunteer in a study. With this method, Certificates of 
Confidentiality are presented to each interviewed driver and rider and 
immunity is provided from arrest. The main advantage of this method is 
that the key variables that are thought to affect relative crash risk 
can be acquired from drivers and riders who are truly similarly-at-
risk. A final decision on the means of acquiring control data has not 
been made.

Information Proposed for Collection

    The OECD protocol includes the following number of variables for 
each aspect of the investigation:

 
 
 
Administrative log..............................................      28
  Accident typology/configuration...............................       9
  Environmental factors.........................................      35
  Motorcycle mechanical factors.................................     146
  Motorcycle dynamics...........................................      32
  Other vehicle mechanical factors..............................       9
  Other vehicle dynamics........................................      18
Human factors...................................................      51
  Personal protective equipment.................................      34
Contributing environmental factors..............................       8
Contributing vehicle factors....................................      13
Contributing motorcycle factors.................................      57
Contributing human factors......................................      50
Contributing overall factors....................................       2
 

    Note that multiple copies of various data forms will be completed 
as the data on each crash-involved vehicle and person and each control 
vehicle and person are acquired. This increases the number of variables 
above the sum of what is presented above. There are also diagrams and 
photographs that are essential elements of each investigation that are 
entered into the database. In prior OECD implementations, about 2,000 
data elements in total were recorded for each crash.

Estimated Burden Hours for Information Collection

    Frequency: This is a one-time study.
    Respondents: This study will be based on all crashes occurring 
within the sampling area; however, this burden estimate is based on 
what we know about fatal crashes. The plan calls for data to be 
captured from up to 1200 crashes with motorcycle involvement, and for 
all surviving crash-involved riders and drivers to be interviewed. Two 
control riders will be interviewed for each crash-involved 
motorcyclist, and one rider and one driver will be interviewed for each 
rider and motorist in multi-vehicle crashes. Passengers accompanying 
crash-involved riders and passenger-vehicle drivers will also be 
interviewed. The final crash sample size will depend on the rate at 
which crashes can be acquired in the selected site(s) and other matters 
related to logistics and the final budget. However, the study will 
acquire crashes on a sample size that exceeds the requirements of the 
OECD methodology, and will be of sufficient size to meet the goals of 
the study.
    The following table shows the sampling plan and estimated number of 
interviews assuming 1200 crashes are investigated.
    A maximum total number of crashes to be investigated is 1200.

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Crash Interviews:
    Single vehicle motorcycle crashes =........................      540
    Multi-vehicle (2-vehicle) motorcycle crashes (660*2) =.....     1320
    Passenger interviews motorcycle (.10*540 + .10*660) =......      120
    Passenger interviews cars (.68*660) =......................      449
                                                                --------
        Total Crash Interviews (540 + 1320 + 120 + 449) =......     2429
Control interviews:
    Controls for single vehicle motorcycle crashes (2*540) =...     1080
    Controls for multi-vehicle motorcycle crashes (1*660 +          1320
     1*660) =..................................................
    Passenger Interviews =.....................................        0
                                                                --------
        Total Control Interviews =.............................     2400
                                                                --------
            Grand Total Crash plus Control Interviews (2429 +       4829
             2400) =...........................................
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    Estimated Average Burden per Interviewee: Crash interviews are 
estimated to require about 25 minutes per individual interviewed. To 
the extent possible, crash interviews will be collected at the scene, 
although it is likely that some follow-ups will be needed to get 
completed interviews from crash involved individuals. Control 
individuals' interviews will be completed in a single session and are 
also expected to require about 25 minutes per individual.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: Burden hours estimates are 
based on the total of 2,429 crash interviews to be conducted at an 
average

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length of 25 minutes each and 2,400 control interviews to be conducted 
at an average length of 25 minutes each for a total one-time burden on 
the public of 120,725 minutes or 2012 hours. It should be noted that 
this burden estimate is increased from the estimate appearing in the 
60-day notice because a trial interview showed the need for more time 
to capture all of the OECD required elements.
    Electronic Access: Internet users may access all comments received 
by the U.S. DOT Dockets, Room PL-401, by using the universal resource 
locator (URL): http://dms.dot.gov, 24 hours each day, 365 days each 
year. Please follow the instructions online for more information and 
help.

    Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; 44 U.S.C. 
Chapter 35, as amended; and 49 CFR 1.48.

    Issued on: February 20, 2007.
James R. Kabel,
Chief, Management Programs and Analysis Division.
[FR Doc. E7-3197 Filed 2-23-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-22-P