[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 218 (Tuesday, November 10, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71717-71719]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-24868]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2020-0024]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; National 
Survey of Drowsy Driving Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviors

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 
Department of Transportation.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments on a new information 
collection.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), 
this notice announces that the Information Collection Request (ICR) 
abstracted below will be submitted to the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) for review. The ICR describes the nature of the 
information collection and its expected burden. The ICR is for a new 
information collection for a one-time voluntary survey regarding 
knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors associated with drowsy driving. A 
Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting public 
comments on the following information collection was published on July 
14, 2020. NHTSA received two comments, which we address below.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before December 10, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection, including suggestions for reducing burden, 
should be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget at 
www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. To find this particular information 
collection, select ``Currently under Review--Open for Public Comment'' 
or use the search function. Comments may also be sent by mail to the 
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and 
Budget, 725 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20503, Attention: Desk 
Officer for Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic 
Safety Administration, or by email at [email protected], or 
fax: 202-395-5806.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information or access 
to background documents, contact Jordan A. Blenner, JD, Ph.D., 
Contracting Officer's Representative, Office of Behavioral Safety 
Research (NPD-320), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, W46-470, Washington, DC 20590. Dr. Blenner's 
telephone number is 202-366-9982, and her email address is 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), 
before a Federal agency can collect certain information from the 
public, it must receive approval from the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB). In compliance with these requirements, this notice 
announces that the following information collection request has been 
forwarded to OMB.
    A Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting 
public comments on the following information collection was published 
on July 14, 2020 (Federal Register/Vol. 85, No. 135/pp. 42486-42488). 
NHTSA received two comments. General Motors (GM) provided comments 
supportive of the proposed information collection. The American 
Alliance for Healthy Sleep (AAHS) also provided comments supportive of 
the proposed collection but expressed concerns about the collection 
methods.
    We appreciate the comments from GM and the AAHS and thank them for 
thoughtfully considering the described program. The AAHS raised two 
areas of concern. The first is that the AAHS

[[Page 71718]]

``suggests that participants be contacted, and the survey completed, by 
electronic means instead, if possible.'' While we agree with the AAHS 
that electronic methods generally improve efficiency and cost-
effectiveness, we chose to use an address-based sampling frame to 
select and contact respondents to increase representativeness of the 
national and State samples. Address-based samples are generally more 
representative of the population than email or other electronic-based 
samples because they allow people who do not have a way to be contacted 
electronically to be selected for the survey. Also, given a main 
purpose of the survey is to produce national and State estimates of 
knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors, the use of address-based sampling 
more readily allows for the calculation of sample weights to reflect 
the population since the United States Postal Service maintains a 
computerized list of all U.S. residential addresses from which the 
contractor will draw the sample. Regarding the responses, the proposed 
methodology is a web-based survey with a paper-based version as a back-
up. The initial invitation letter and the two reminder postcards direct 
the respondent to the web version of the survey. The second and third 
invitation letters direct the respondent to the web but also provide a 
paper survey and Business Reply Envelope as a back-up for those without 
internet access. Like the sampling process, we do not want to exclude 
respondents who may not have easy access to the internet. The second 
area of concern was allowing the survey to be completed anonymously and 
to recognize that respondents ``may under-report or may not be willing 
to disclose certain behaviors.'' We agree, and the survey is anonymous 
in that we do not collect the names of the respondents. In addition, 
the invitation letters and survey instruments inform the respondents 
that their responses are anonymous.
    Title: National Survey of Drowsy Driving Knowledge, Attitudes and 
Behaviors.
    OMB Control Number: New.
    Form No.: NHTSA Forms 1547, 1548, 1549, 1550, 1551, and 1552.
    Type of Information Collection Request: Approval of a new 
information collection.
    Type of Review Requested: Regular.
    Requested Expiration Date of Approval: 3 years from date of 
approval.
    Summary of the Collection of Information: Title 23, United States 
Code, Chapter 4, Section 403 gives the Secretary authorization to use 
funds appropriated to conduct research and development activities, 
including demonstration projects and the collection and analysis of 
highway and motor vehicle safety data and related information needed to 
carry out this section, with respect to all aspects of highway and 
traffic safety systems and conditions relating to vehicle, highway, 
driver, passenger, motorcyclist, bicyclist, and pedestrian 
characteristics; accident causation and investigations; and human 
behavioral factors and their effect on highway and traffic safety.
    The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of the 
U.S. Department of Transportation is seeking approval to collect 
information from a random sample of adults (18 years or older) who have 
driven a motor vehicle in the past month for a one-time voluntary 
survey to report their knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors associated 
with drowsy driving. This collection has two parts. The first part is a 
pilot test for which NHTSA will contact 1,000 households for an 
expected number of 163 voluntary responses. The second part is the full 
survey for which NHTSA will contact 81,490 households to achieve a 
total target of at least 15,000 complete voluntary responses, 
consisting of 7,000 completed instruments from a nationally 
representative sample and 2,000 completed instruments from each of four 
samples representative of States that recently have had drowsy driving 
law or program activities (Arkansas, Iowa, Massachusetts, and New 
Jersey). The total estimated burden associated with this collection is 
16,323 hours--up to 10,949 hours associated with survey invitations and 
reminders and up to 5,374 hours associated with completing the survey. 
NHTSA will summarize the results of the collection using aggregate 
statistics in a final report to be distributed to NHTSA program and 
regional offices, State Highway Safety Offices, and other traffic 
safety stakeholders. This collection will inform the development of 
countermeasures, particularly in the areas of communications and 
outreach, for reducing fatalities, injuries and crashes associated with 
drowsy driving.
    Description of the Need for the Information and Proposed Use of the 
Information: NHTSA's Congressional mandate is to reduce 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 
traffic safety programs. See 23 U.S.C. 403; 49 U.S.C. 30101(2); 49 
U.S.C. 32501. NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) 
database reports that 2% of traffic fatalities were drowsy driving 
related in 2018.\1\ However, the involvement of drowsy driving in 
crashes is likely underreported due to difficulty in defining and 
reporting drowsy driving incidents.\2\ Using a multiple imputation 
methodology, the study estimated 21% of fatal crashes involved drowsy 
driving.\3\ If this estimate is accurate, it suggests that more than 
7,000 people die in drowsy driving related motor vehicle crashes across 
the United States each year. While there have been several studies of 
self-reported drowsy driving behavior, there is limited research about 
knowledge and attitudes that lead to drowsy driving. NHTSA last fielded 
a similar survey in 2002, and much has changed since then. The 
information will assist NHTSA in (a) planning drowsy driving prevention 
program activities; (b) supporting groups involved in improving public 
safety; and (c) identifying countermeasure strategies that are most 
acceptable and effective in reducing drowsy driving.
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    \1\ National Center for Statistics and Analysis. (October 2019). 
2018 Fatal Motor Vehicle Crashes: Overview, pg. 8. (Traffic Safety 
Facts, Research Note, Report No. DOT HS 812 826). Washington, DC: 
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
    \2\ National Center for Statistics and Analysis. (October 2017). 
Drowsy Driving 2015, pg. 2 (CrashStats, A Brief Statistical 
Summary. Report No. DOT HS 812 446). Washington, DC: National 
Highway Traffic Safety Administration (available at https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812446).
    \3\ Tefft, Brian C. (2014) Prevalence of Motor Vehicle Crashes 
Involving Drowsy Drivers, United States, 2009-2013. Washington, DC: 
AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.
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    Respondents: Random sample of adults (18 years or older) who have 
driven a motor vehicle in the past month.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 82,490 Invitations/16,122 Expected 
Responses. The pilot study will invite one voluntary participant from 
1,000 households, and the full study (national and four State surveys) 
will invite one voluntary participant from 81,490 households. The 
expected number of survey responses is 16,122 (163 for the pilot and 
15,959 for the full survey).
    Estimated Time per Response: The time required to participate in 
this survey is approximately 25 minutes for the pilot study and 28 
minutes for the full study. Households selected for the pilot survey 
will receive two invitation letters and a reminder postcard that would 
take an estimated five minutes to read (2 minutes for each letter, and 
1 minute for the postcard). Households selected for the full survey 
will receive three invitation letters and two reminder postcards that 
would take an estimated eight minutes to read (2

[[Page 71719]]

minutes for each letter, and 1 minute for each postcard). The estimated 
time to complete the survey is 20 minutes.
    Total Estimated Annual Burden Hours: 16,323 hours.
    The total estimated burden hours associated with this collection is 
16,323 hours. The total burden hours for the respondents are derived by 
estimating the number of minutes each respondent would spend on each 
form and multiplying by the number of respondents (i.e., Form 1547 
invitation letter 1 for the pilot phase: 1,000 Respondents x 2 minutes 
/ 60 = 33.3 hours). This estimate includes 83 hours associated with 
pilot invitations and reminders (33.3 hours (Form 1547) + 16.7 hours 
(Form 1548) + 33.3 hours (Form 1549) = 83.3 or 83 hours), 10,866 hours 
associated with the full survey invitations and reminders (2,716.3 
hours (Form 1547) + 1,358.2 hours (Form 1548) + 2,716.3 hours (Form 
1549) + 1,358.2 hours (Form 1550) + 2,716.3 hours (Form 1551) = 
10,865.3 or 10,866 hours), and up to 5,374 hours associated with 
completing the survey (54.3 hours (pilot) + 5,319.7 hours (full) = 
5,374 hours). The details are presented in Table 1 below.

                                          Table 1--Burden Hours by Form
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                                                                                   Total burden
             Form                  Description      Respondents    Est. minutes   hours per form   Total burden
                                                                  per respondent     per phase    hours per form
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Form 1547.....................  Invitation                 1,000               2            33.3         2,749.6
                                 Letter 1--Pilot
                                 Survey.
                                Invitation                81,490               2         2,716.3
                                 Letter 1--Full
                                 Survey.
Form 1548.....................  Reminder                   1,000               1            16.7         1,374.9
                                 Postcard 1--
                                 Pilot Survey.
                                Reminder                  81,490               1         1,358.2
                                 Postcard 1--
                                 Full Survey.
Form 1549.....................  Invitation                 1,000               2            33.3         2,749.6
                                 Letter 2--Pilot
                                 Survey.
                                Invitation                81,490               2         2,716.3
                                 Letter 2--Full
                                 Survey.
Form 1550.....................  Reminder                  81,490               1         1,358.2         1,358.2
                                 Postcard 2--
                                 Full Survey.
Form 1551.....................  Invitation                81,490               2         2,716.3         2,716.3
                                 Letter 3--Full
                                 Survey.
Form 1552.....................  Pilot Survey....             163              20            54.3         5,374.0
                                Full Survey.....          15,959              20         5,319.7
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals....................  ................  ..............  ..............  ..............     16,322.6 or
                                                                                                          16,323
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    Total Estimated Burden Cost: NHTSA estimates that there are no 
costs to respondents beyond the time spent completing the survey.
    Frequency of Collection: The information collection will be 
administered a single time.
    Public Comments Invited: You are asked to comment on any aspects of 
this information collection, including (a) whether the proposed 
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of 
the functions of the Department of Transportation, including whether 
the information will have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the 
agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed information collection, 
including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (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 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.

    Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; 44 U.S.C. 
Chapter 35, as amended; 49 CFR 1.49; and DOT Order 1351.29.

    Issued in Washington, DC.
Nanda Narayanan Srinivasan,
Associate Administrator, Research and Program Development.
[FR Doc. 2020-24868 Filed 11-9-20; 8:45 am]
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