[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 90 (Tuesday, May 10, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28099-28101]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-10012]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2022-0044]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Notice and Request for 
Comment; Field Study of Heavy Vehicle Crash Avoidance Systems

ACTION: Notice and request for public comment on an extension of a 
currently approved information collection.

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SUMMARY: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) 
invites public comments about our intention to request approval from 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for an extension of a 
currently approved information collection. Before a federal agency may 
collect certain information from the public, it must receive approval 
from 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 a collection of information for which NHTSA intends 
to seek OMB extension approval, titled ``Heavy Vehicle Crash Avoidance 
Systems'' and identified by OMB Control Number 2127-0741, which is 
currently approved through August 31, 2022. This project has been 
delayed due to COVID-19 shutdowns and precautions. The extension is 
necessary to continue the current data collection to completion. This 
extension request updates the burden hours to reflect the numbers of 
respondents that are needed to complete the study, updates to time 
estimates for responses, and mean hourly rates. Additionally, this 
notice provides clarification on the burden hours and the costs to the 
public.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before July 11, 2022.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments using any of the following methods:
     Electronic submissions: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
     Fax: (202) 493-2251.
     Mail: Docket Management, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, West Building, Room W12-140, 
Washington, DC 20590.
     Hand Delivery: 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building 
Ground Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., 
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. Telephone (202) 366-
9322.
    Instructions: Each submission must include the Agency name and 
Docket number identified at the beginning of this document. Note that 
all comments received will be posted without change to http://www.regulation.gov, including any personal information provided. Please 
see the Privacy heading below.
    Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all 
comments received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual 
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf 
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review DOT's 
complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register published on 
April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477-78) or you may visit http://www.dot.gov/privacy.html.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov, or the street 
address listed above. Follow the online instructions for accessing the 
dockets via the internet.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jenny Zhang, Office of Vehicle Safety 
Research, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S. 
Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 
20590, Telephone: 202-366-3973; email address [email protected]. 
Please identify the relevant collection of

[[Page 28100]]

information by referring to its OMB Control Number.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 
before an agency submits a proposed collection of information to OMB 
for approval, it must first 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. OMB has promulgated regulations describing what must be 
included in such a document. Under OMB's regulation (at 5 CFR 
1320.8(d)), an agency must ask for public comment on the following: (a) 
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; (b) 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; (c) how to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; (d) 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 for public comments on 
the extension of the following collection of information for which the 
agency is seeking approval from OMB.
    Title: Field Study of Heavy Vehicle Crash Avoidance Systems.
    Type of Request: Extension of a currently approved information 
collection.
    OMB Control Number: 2127-0741.
    Form Number: None.
    Type of Review Requested: Regular.
    Requested Expiration Date of Approval: Three years from date of 
approval.
    Summary of the Collection of Information: The National Highway 
Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is gathering information 
regarding drivers' naturalistic driving experiences and opinions about 
crash avoidance systems (CAS) consisting of Lane Departure Warning, 
Forward Collision Warning, Impact Alert, and Automatic Emergency 
Braking for heavy vehicles.
    CAS technology has been advancing rapidly since the conclusion of 
the previous study, with products for heavy commercial vehicles 
becoming commercially available. These systems present opportunities 
for improving driver awareness and behavior, improving drivers' 
responses to potential collisions, and mitigating or preventing 
collisions when drivers do not respond. The newest generation of CAS 
technology includes several new features, such as multiple sensors, 
improvements to radar algorithms, and new features such as full braking 
in response to static objects or pedestrians. However, it is unknown if 
this newest generation of products has been able to reduce the 
prevalence of false or nuisance alerts observed in the previous study, 
if there are any issues with new types of alerts that have been added 
since previous studies, or whether driver have negative perceptions of 
the technology due to these issues. As these technologies become more 
popular with fleets, it is important to understand their real-world 
performance and any unintended consequences that may arise from them.
    Data collection began in August 2021 after COVID delays and a 
shortage of chips necessary for use in the data acquisition system 
necessary for the naturalistic driving portion of the study. As of 
December 31, 2021, one respondent has completed the study, three are in 
the field study portion, and one has completed the informed consent 
document and pre-field study surveys but still needs to go through the 
installation portion of stage one and stages two to three of the study. 
Information in this extension requests refers to the respondents and 
burden associated with completing the study.
    Description of the Need for the Information and Proposed Use of the 
Information: The collection of information consists of: An informed 
consent for participation, a demographic questionnaire, an initial CAS 
technology questionnaire, and a post-study CAS technology 
questionnaire.
    The information to be collected will be used as follows:
     Informed Consent is collected from respondents who agree 
to participate in the study; the informed consent has been approved by 
an Institutional Review Board.
     Demographic questionnaire is used to obtain demographic 
information so that potential analysis may account for participants 
from various groups (e.g., age, self-identified gender, driving 
experience, and experience with CAS technology).
     Initial CAS technology questionnaire is used to get 
information about drivers' beliefs and attitudes towards the CAS 
technology installed on the commercial vehicle they use for their job 
prior to data collection. This questionnaire assesses perceived 
usability of the systems in terms of acceptance and satisfaction, as 
well as willingness to have this technology in their vehicle.
     Final CAS technology questionnaire is used to get 
information about drivers' beliefs and attitudes towards the CAS 
technology installed on the commercial vehicle they use for their job 
at the end of data collection. These questionnaires will also be used 
to assess perceived distraction potential of the systems in terms of 
acceptance and satisfaction, as well as willingness to have this 
technology in their vehicle. Each driver will complete a post-study 
questionnaire once, after the completion of his or her data collection. 
The post-study survey will gauge how drivers' attitudes and preferences 
may have changed over the course of participation.
     Each participating driver will have a data acquisition 
system (DAS) installed in their vehicle for approximately three months 
while they perform their normal work duties. This system will collect 
video of the driver and forward roadway, telemetry and vehicle network 
data related to driving, and activations of the vehicle's CAS.
    Respondents: Respondents for this study are drawn from a 
convenience sample from trucking fleets across the United States. 
Drivers are recruited from fleets that have signed agreements with the 
research team and have trucks that are outfitted with CAS technologies. 
Recruitment will attempt to balance the number of vehicles using 
particular brands of CAS technology but will be subject to fleet 
availability and scheduling constraints. Requirements of drivers 
involved in the study do not extend beyond employment requirements for 
each fleet.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 170 remaining respondents for 
initial phases of the study; anticipating some drop-out, the end-goal 
number of remaining respondents is 149.
    Estimated Number of Responses: 170 for the consent form (one per 
respondent); 170 for the Demographic Questionnaire (one per 
respondent); 170 for the Initial CAS Questionnaire (one per 
respondent); 149 for the Final CAS Questionnaire (one per respondent) 
that completes the study.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 123.6 hours total.
    Estimated Frequency: The Informed Consent Form, Demographic 
Questionnaire, and Initial CAS Technology Questionnaire are completed 
once at the start of participation and data collection. The

[[Page 28101]]

Final CAS Technology Questionnaire is completed once at the completion 
of participation, approximately three months later.

                                               Table 1--Burden Calculations and Estimated Opportunity Cost
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                                                                    Estimated
                   Instrument                       Number of       time for        Total  estimated  burden hours       Hourly wage    Estimated total
                                                   respondents     completion                  [dagger]                                 opportunity cost
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Stage One:
    Informed Consent Form......................             170              20  57 hours............................          $23.42          $1,334.94
    Demographic Questionnaire..................             170               5  15 hours............................           23.42             351.30
    Initial CAS Technology Questionnaire.......             170              25  71 hours............................           23.42           1,662.82
Stage Two:
    Naturalistic Driving Study.................             171             N/A  N/A.................................             N/A                N/A
Stage Three:
    Final CAS Technology Questionnaire.........             149              25  63 hours............................           23.42           1,475.46
                                                --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total Burden Remaining.....................  ..............  ..............  206 hours...........................  ..............           4,824.52
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Months Remaining...............................  ..............  ..............  20..................................  ..............  .................
Annual Burden Remaining........................  ..............  ..............  123.6 hours.........................  ..............           2,894.71
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    The above table reflects the annual burden hours to be 123.6 to 
complete data collection. While the table reflects opportunity costs, 
this is not a burden incurred by the public for this information 
collection. The annual burden cost to respondents is zero.
    The previous notice estimated total burden hours for this study to 
be 193.5 total. The total number of burden hours to complete data 
collection is now 206 based on updates to the time for the Informed 
Consent and the Demographic Questionnaire. Opportunity costs have been 
updated to reflect current average hourly wages; however, this is not a 
burden to respondents for the information collection.
    Due to COVID-19 shutdowns and precautions, data collection efforts 
were suspended. NHTSA anticipates additional time beyond the August 31, 
2022, expiration date of the currently approved collection to complete 
this effort. The federal government began this study at $2,581,075 in 
contract expenses and has added expenses due to the time delays and 
resulting changes in technology. The total cost expected at this time 
is $2,954,970 with an annualized cost to the federal government over 
the expected study time-to-completion of $402,950.
    Public Comments Invited: You are asked to comment on any aspect of 
this information collection, including (a) Whether the proposed 
collection of information is necessary for the Department's 
performance; (b) the accuracy of the estimated burden; (c) ways for the 
Department to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information collection; and (d) ways that the burden could be minimized 
without reducing the quality of the collected information. The agency 
will summarize and/or include your comments in the request for OMB's 
clearance of this information collection.
    Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44. U.S.C. Chapter 
35, as amended; 5 CFR part 1320; and 49 CFR 1.95.

    Issued in Washington DC.
Cem Hatipoglu,
Associate Administrator for Vehicle Safety Research.
[FR Doc. 2022-10012 Filed 5-9-22; 8:45 am]
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