[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 13 (Tuesday, January 21, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3468-3470]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-01014]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[U.S. DOT Docket No. NHTSA-2013-0141]


Reports, Forms, and Recordkeeping Requirements

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

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

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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 March 24, 2014.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by DOT Docket ID Number 
NHTSA-2013-0141 using any of the following methods:
    Electronic submissions: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow 
the on-line instructions for submitting comments.
    Mail: Docket Management Facility, M-30, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., West Building Ground Floor, 
Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590.
    Hand Delivery: West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday 
through Friday, except Federal holidays.
    Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
    Instructions: Each submission must include the Agency name and the 
Docket number for this Notice. Note that all comments received will be 
posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov including any 
personal information provided.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Dereece Smither, Contracting 
Officer's Technical Representative, Office of Behavioral Safety 
Research (NTI-131), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., W46-489, Washington, DC 20590. Dr. 
Smither's phone number is 202-366-9794 and her email address is 
[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 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, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic 
submission of responses.
    In compliance with these requirements, NHTSA asks public comment on 
the following proposed collection of information:
    Title--Evaluation of the Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving 
Enforcement (ARIDE) Curriculum
    Type of Request--New information collection requirement.
    OMB Clearance Number--None.
    Form Number--NHTSA Forms 1230, 1231, 1232, 1233, 1234, 1235, 1236, 
1237, 1238, and 1239.
    Requested Expiration Date of Approval--3 years from date of 
approval.
    Summary of the Collection of Information--NHTSA proposes to conduct 
an evaluation of the Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement 
(ARIDE) Curriculum. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 
(NHTSA) and the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) 
currently offers a 16-hour instructor-led course entitled Advanced 
Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE) to law enforcement 
officers. This training, currently in use in many States, is an effort 
to train officers to recognize the signs and symptoms of persons who 
may be under the influence of drugs, including alcohol. The ARIDE 
program has been described by law enforcement leaders as a valuable 
tool for officers in the identification of impaired drivers.
    This evaluation will assess the ways in which the ARIDE course is 
implemented and will examine learner performance. Key study measures 
include:
     Similarities and differences in course delivery among 
various ARIDE courses;
     Course participants' short- and long-term retention of 
information learned during the training; and,
     The overall effect of the training on the student's 
performance of their enforcement duties.

These measures will be captured using videotaped observations, 
interviews with participants, instructors, and fellow officers, and 
examining course assessments. Law enforcement officers who have not 
attended the course will serve as a control group. Data from four 
different groups of participants will be a collected during the course 
of this project:
     Law Enforcement Officers taking the ARIDE Training will be 
given a

[[Page 3469]]

course survey, pre and post-course tests, and a follow-up observational 
survey,
     Law Enforcement Officials will be interviewed about their 
respective officers and about the ARIDE program in general,
     Course Administrators and Instructors will be surveyed 
about course implementation,
     Colleagues of the ARIDE-Trained Officers, including DRE 
(Drug Recognition Experts) Officers, will be surveyed about their 
interactions with ARIDE-Trained and non-ARIDE-Trained Officers.

Participation by all respondents is voluntary. The personally 
identifiable information used to contact respondents would be held 
separately from the information provided by all participants so that no 
connection can be made between the two. All results will be reported in 
aggregate.
    Description of the Need for the Information and Proposed Use of the 
Information--NHTSA was established to reduce the 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.
    NHTSA has received several directives regarding training law 
enforcement officers to identify DUID (the most recent, the Office of 
National Drug Control Policy's strategy \1\ for preventing drugged 
driving). Therefore, it is important that NHTSA provide the most up-to-
date, informative, applicable, and effective (in terms of cost, time, 
and resources) curriculum possible to a broad audience of law 
enforcement officers.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ Office of National Drug Control Policy (2010). The 
Presidents' national drug control strategy--2010 (pp. 23-24). 
Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved from http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/policy/ndcs10/index.html.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    For many types of courses, NHTSA will hear that the training was a 
``success'' because hundreds of students were trained, or because a 
certain number of students passed the test with a ``high'' score. 
However, neither of these explanations is sufficient to inform us as to 
what the students learned, whether, and for how long, they will retain 
the knowledge, and how they will use that information. NHTSA is 
interested in implementing strong and pertinent curricula, and 
conducting solid evaluations of those courses that can help teach 
individuals (in this case, law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and 
other traffic safety professionals) in a cost-effective manner, about 
recognition of drug and alcohol impairment. Therefore, the purpose of 
this project is to evaluate the ARIDE curriculum, as it is currently 
delivered, and assess the overall effectiveness of linking the 
objectives to the course materials, and how the objectives contribute 
to enhancing the officers' skill at making informed arrest decisions at 
the roadside. Overall, the information gained as a result of this 
project will be instrumental in guiding potential improvements to the 
training of officers in the detection, apprehension, and prosecution of 
impaired drivers.
    Description of the Likely Respondents (Including Estimated Number, 
and Proposed Frequency of Response to the Collection of Information)--
The primary data collection populations for this research design 
include:
     Law enforcement officers, specifically ARIDE Training 
Participants (learner group) and individuals that intend to take the 
ARIDE training in the near future (control group);
     Partners/colleagues of law enforcement officers, 
specifically the peers of the individuals in the learner and control 
groups, including DREs;
     First-line supervisors and Leaders of law enforcement 
officers in both the learner and control groups; and
     ARIDE Course Administrators/Instructors.
    The IACP and NHTSA offer approximately 150 classes annually, which 
provide training to approximately 2400 officers each year. Based on our 
research of the design effects of similar studies and prior experiences 
evaluating other training programs, as well as the accommodation of 
current project fiscal parameters, we propose a two stage sampling plan 
of selecting a total of 1200 participants across states (N=1200). 
First, we will select six states nationwide that plan to have ARIDE 
courses in 2014/2015 to obtain a sample population of 1200 potential 
participants that satisfy the inclusion criterion above. The states 
will be selected to represent different regions of the country, and, if 
relevant, different policies in the implementation of ARIDE. To secure 
the control group, states that mandate 100 percent ARIDE course 
participation will not be selected, nor will states with so few 
participants that the intended sample size cannot be obtained. Our 
sampling plan assumes an average of 20 participants per course 
administration, and five course administrations per state.
    NHTSA expects the ARIDE Training Participants to complete course 
assessment and survey materials and post-course follow up materials 
which will be made available in online and paper versions. NHTSA 
estimates that the ARIDE Training Participants will take an average of 
7 hours to complete the course assessment materials and post-course 
assessment and survey information. The Control Group study participants 
will require only 1 hour to complete the knowledge assessment and 
survey information. NHTSA estimates partners and colleagues of the law 
enforcement officers who have completed the ARIDE course will need 
approximately 20 minutes to complete a survey about ARIDE-trained and 
non-ARIDE-trained officer's activities. NHTSA estimates that the 
Supervisors and Organizational Leaders of ARIDE and non-ARIDE trained 
officers will need approximately 1 hour to complete interview and 
survey information about their respective officers and about the ARIDE 
program in general. The survey of ARIDE Course Administrators and 
Instructors gauging their opinions about course administration and 
implementation will require about 30 minutes to complete.
    Estimate of the Total Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Burden 
Resulting From the Collection of Information--NHTSA estimates that the 
ARIDE Training Participants will take an average of 7 hours to complete 
the course assessment materials and post-course assessment and survey 
information, for a total of 4200 hours for the assessments/surveys (600 
ARIDE Training Participants x 7 hours). The Control Group study 
participants will require 1 hour to complete the knowledge assessment 
and survey information, which would produce a total of 600 hours burden 
(600 non-ARIDE-Trained officers x 1 hour). NHTSA estimates Partners and 
Colleagues of the law enforcement officers who have completed the ARIDE 
course will need approximately 20 minutes to complete a survey about 
ARIDE-trained and non-ARIDE-trained officer's activities, which would 
result in a burden of 34 hours (100 colleagues x 20 minutes). NHTSA 
estimates that the Supervisors and Organizational Leaders of ARIDE and 
non-ARIDE trained officers will need approximately 1 hour to complete 
interview and survey information about their respective officers and 
about the ARIDE program in general, which would result in a burden of 
50 hours (50 Law Enforcement Supervisors/Leaders). The survey of ARIDE 
Course Administrators and Instructors gauging their opinions about 
course administration and

[[Page 3470]]

implementation will require about 30 minutes to finish, which will 
produce a burden of 20 hours (40 Course Administrators/Instructors x 30 
minutes). NHTSA expects that the study period will cover a single 
calendar year. Thus the annual reporting burden would be 4,904 hours. 
The respondents would not incur any reporting cost from the information 
collection. The respondents also would not incur any record keeping 
burden or record keeping cost from the information collection.

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

    Issued on: January 15, 2014.
Jeff Michael,
Associate Administrator, Research and Program Development.
[FR Doc. 2014-01014 Filed 1-17-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P