[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 138 (Wednesday, July 20, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43380-43383]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-15412]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2022-0031]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Fatality 
Analysis Reporting System and Non-Traffic Surveillance

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

ACTION: Notice and request for comments on an extension with 
modification of a currently approved 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 and approval. The ICR describes the nature of 
the information collection and its expected burden. This document 
describes a currently approved collection of information for which 
NHTSA intends to seek approval from OMB for extension on NHTSA's State 
data reporting systems: Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and 
Non-Traffic Surveillance (NTS). A Federal Register Notice with a 60-day 
comment period soliciting comments on the following information 
collection was published on April 4, 2022. Three supporting comments 
were received.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before August 19, 2022.

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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information or access 
to background documents, contact Barbara Rhea, State Data Reporting 
Systems Division (NSA-120), (202) 366-2714, National Highway Traffic 
Safety Administration, Room W53-304, U.S. Department of Transportation, 
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590. Please identify the 
relevant collection of information by referring to its OMB Control 
Number.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), a 
Federal agency must receive approval from the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) before it collects certain information from the public and 
a person is not required to respond to a collection of information by a 
Federal agency unless the collection displays a valid OMB control 
number. In compliance with these requirements, this notice announces 
that the following information collection request will be submitted to 
OMB.
    A Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting 
public comments on the following information collection was published 
on April 04, 2022 (87 FR 19573).
    Title: Fatality Analysis Reporting System and Non-Traffic 
Surveillance.
    OMB Control Number: 2127-0006.
    Form Number: N/A.
    Type of Request: Request for extension of a currently approved 
information collection.
    Type of Review Requested: Regular.
    Length of Approval Requested: Three years from date of approval.

Summary of the Collection of Information

    NHTSA is authorized by 49 U.S.C. 30182 and 23 U.S.C. 403 to collect 
data on motor vehicle traffic crashes to aid in the identification of 
issues and the development, implementation, and evaluation of motor 
vehicle and highway safety countermeasures to reduce fatalities and the 
property damage associated with motor vehicle crashes. Using this 
authority, NHTSA established the Fatal Analysis Reporting System (FARS) 
and the Non-Traffic Surveillance (NTS), which collect data on fatal 
motor vehicle traffic crashes. Among other things, the information aids 
in the establishment and

[[Page 43381]]

enforcement of motor vehicle regulations and highway safety programs.
    The FARS is in its forty-sixth year of operation and is a census of 
all defined crashes involving fatalities. The FARS collects data from 
all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. NHTSA 
established cooperative agreements with the 50 States, the District of 
Columbia and Puerto Rico to report a standard set of data on each fatal 
crash within their jurisdictions. State employees extract and 
transcribe information from existing State files including police crash 
reports as well as driver license, vehicle registration, highway 
department, and vital statistics files. This collected information 
comprises a national database, Fatality Analysis Reporting System 
(FARS), that is NHTSA's and many States' principal means of tracking 
trends involving motor vehicle traffic fatalities and quantifying 
problems or potential problems in highway safety.
    The Non-Traffic Surveillance (NTS) is a data collection effort for 
collecting information about counts and details regarding fatalities 
and injuries that occur in non-traffic crashes and non-crash incidents. 
Non-traffic crashes are crashes that occur off a public trafficway 
(e.g., private roads, parking lots, or driveways), and non-crash 
incidents are incidents involving motor vehicles but without a crash 
scenario such as, carbon monoxide poisoning and hypo/hyperthermia. NTS 
non-traffic crash data are obtained through NHTSA's data collection 
efforts for the Crash Report Sampling System (CRSS),\1\ the Crash 
Investigation Sampling System (CISS),\2\ and FARS. NTS also includes 
data outside of NHTSA's own data collections. NTS' non-crash injury 
data is based upon emergency department records from a special study 
conducted by the Consumer Product Safety Commission's National 
Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) All Injury Program. NTS 
non-crash fatality data is derived from death certificate information 
from the Centers for Disease Control's National Vital Statistics 
System.
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    \1\ NHTSA's information collection for CRSS is covered by the 
ICR with OMB Control No. 2127-0714.
    \2\ NHTSA's information collection for CISS is covered by the 
ICR with OMB Control No. 2127-0706.
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    Data is collected differently under each of NHTSA's three data 
collection efforts that feed into NTS. The CRSS and CISS data 
collection efforts obtain NTS applicable reports received from the 
sample sites during their normal data collection efforts for CRISS and 
CISS. The FARS data collection effort uncovers NTS applicable reports 
received from the State during their normal data collection activities 
for FARS. Therefore, the burden for NTS is included in each study's 
calculation. This notice only seeks comment on the part of the NTS data 
that comes from the FARS data collection effort.

Description of the Need for the Information and Proposed Use of the 
Information

    NHTSA's mission is to save lives, prevent injuries, and reduce 
economic losses resulting from motor vehicle crashes. To accomplish 
this mission, NHTSA needs high-quality data on motor vehicle crashes to 
identify primary factors related to the source of crashes and injury 
outcomes. The FARS supports this mission by providing the agency with 
vital information about all crashes involving fatalities that occur on 
our nation's roadways. The FARS does this by collection of national 
fatality information directly from existing State files and documents 
and aggregates that information for research and analysis.
    FARS data is used extensively by all the NHTSA program and research 
offices, other DOT modes, States, and local jurisdictions. The highway 
research community uses the FARS data for trend analysis, problem 
identification, and program evaluation. Congress uses the FARS data for 
making decisions concerning safety programs. The FARS data are also 
available upon request to anyone interested in highway safety.

60-Day Notice

    NHTSA published a 60-day notice in the Federal Register on April 4, 
2022 (87 FR 19573). NHTSA received three supporting comments from the 
National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC), the 
Oklahoma Department of Transportation, and Safe Kids Worldwide. NAMIC 
emphasizes that the proposed data collection is necessary and 
appropriate and believes that the information surveyed will have 
significant practical utility. Furthermore, NAMIC supports this 
initiative to better understand and improve highway and auto safety, as 
well as inform policy development and other decision making. The 
Oklahoma DOT acknowledges the great role the FARS plays in compiling 
information that helps it develop plans to reduce occurrences of 
fatalities. The Oklahoma DOT also believes NHTSA's estimate of burden 
to be valid, and believes that, as technology progresses, the burden 
could be minimized while the system is enhanced. Safe Kids Worldwide 
asserts the importance of the FARS/NTS programs to NHTSA's mission and 
the broader safety community and that it is an incredibly robust and 
valuable system for research purposes. Safe Kids Worldwide suggests 
inclusion of more detailed information be available through the online 
query and more detailed coding for train-related injuries.
    FARS is an on-going data acquisition system; reviews are conducted 
yearly to determine whether the data acquired are responsive to the 
total user population needs. Annual changes in the data collected in 
FARS are minor in terms of operation and method of data acquisition. 
The changes do not affect the reporting burden of the respondent. In 
fact, the changes are based on a continuous data collection and quality 
improvement process. The changes usually involve clarifying adjustments 
to aid statisticians in conducting more precise analyses and to remove 
potential ambiguity for the respondents. As part of this continual 
review process, NHTSA will consider Safe Kids Worldwide's suggestion 
regarding making more FARS data available through NHTSA's online query 
tool. NHTSA will also separately consider Safe Kids Wordwide's 
suggestion to include more detailed coding for train-related injuries 
and fatalities at railroad crossings.

Burden to Respondents

    NHTSA has established cooperative agreements with the 50 States, 
the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico to report a standard set of 
data on each fatal crash in their jurisdictions. State respondents 
report based on the occurrence of crashes involving fatalities. When a 
fatal crash occurs, State employees extract and transcribe information 
from existing files and input the information into FARS, with the 
frequency of reporting determined by the frequency of fatal crashes 
occurring in the respondent's jurisdiction. NHTSA continues to 
estimate, as stated in the 60-day notice, that there will be 52 data 
collection sites in each of the next three years with a total annual 
burden of 107,209 hours and $0 for the two information collections.
    Program: FARS and NTS.
    Affected Public: States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 52.
    Frequency: On Occasion.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 107,209 hours (106,909 hours + 
300 hours).
    NHTSA estimates the total annual burden for the two information

[[Page 43382]]

collections, FARS and NTS, is 107,209 hours per year. The hours and 
costs associated with the burden reflect the complexity of coding the 
FARS cases, an increase in the number of fatal crashes across most 
jurisdictions, and accounting for the processing of the non-traffic 
fatalities. Furthermore, over the past two years, there has been an 
increase in staff turnover at the State level, adding an increase in 
administrative hours to provide for State field personnel turnover, 
training, and coding assistance to continue operations.
    For both FARS and NTS, there are 52 respondents (50 States, the 
District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico) reporting on approximately 
34,817 fatal crash cases per year. Of these cases, 34,232 are reported 
to FARS and approximately 585 are identified and reported as non-
traffic fatal crashes (NTS).
    The State employee (or employees depending on the number of fatal 
crashes per year occurring in the jurisdiction) acquires and codes the 
required information, as fatal crashes occur, in the FARS records-based 
system. For FARS, although there is only one information collection, 
NHTSA calculates the total burden using four burden categories: (1) 
FARS Manual Protocol Case Entry, (2) overhead burden for FARS in States 
without EDT, (3) FARS coding in States with EDT, and (4) FARS EDT 
mapping maintenance.

FARS Manual Protocol Case Entry

    NHTSA estimates that there are currently 33 States providing crash 
reports (including case materials) via manual protocol. For these 
respondents, NHTSA estimates that it takes analysts approximately 4.25 
hours to collect fatal crash information and code a FARS case entry in 
the FARS data entry system. This estimate is based on information, over 
a five-year period, of the average number of analysts, full- and part-
time, back-up analysts, FARS supervisors, and coding assistance 
respondents needed to complete an annual FARS file. NHTSA estimates 
that, on average, 16,205 cases are collected and coded annually using 
this access method. Therefore, NHTSA estimates the total annual burden 
associated with FARS Manual Protocol case entry to be approximately 
68,871 hours annually (16,205 cases x 4.25 hours = 68,871 hours).

FARS Manual Protocol In-Kind Process Support

    In addition to the time for each crash entry, some respondents 
using the FARS Manual Protocol are also expected to incur overhead 
burden time. NHTSA estimates that 8 States provide overhead support and 
that the total annual burden for this support is 2,000 hours, or an 
average of 250 hours per respondent. This burden includes hours spent 
by supervisors and State managers responding to and supporting FARS 
operations that are not accounted for in the coding hours every year, 
including supporting data acquisition and other associated tasks.

FARS EDT Mapping Maintenance

    NHTSA estimates that there are approximately 19 States already 
participating in Electronic Data Transfer (EDT). For these respondents, 
PAR data is automatically transferred from the State's centralized 
crash database to NHTSA's CDAN system. The crash data is then 
prepopulated in NHTSA's crash data systems, including FARS.
    NHTSA estimates the burden to maintain the protocol is estimated at 
two hours per State (respondent) or a total of 38 hours per year (19 
States x 2 hours). This represents time to monitor case quality and 
timeliness, conduct quality control processes, and maintain 
communications with NHTSA and its contractors to ensure accurate data 
transfer. The specific task associated with this maintenance of effort 
is referred to as ``mapping''. Upon becoming an EDT State, the 
respondent participates in an initial mapping process. The process 
requires an alignment between the State Specific Coding Instructions 
and the FARS Coding and Validation guidance.\3\ During quality control 
processes, which are conducted year-round, data anomalies may be 
detected, at which time action must be taken to review and ultimately 
correct the shifts in the data. This process, while managed by the 
Office of Data Acquisition, requires concurrence from the respondent, 
which is what the burden represents.
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    \3\ The burden associated with this task is accounted for under 
NHTSA ICR that covers EDT (OMB Control Number 2127-0753).
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FARS EDT Manual Case Entry for Supporting Case Materials

    Participation in EDT reduces but does not eliminate the manual 
entry of data into FARS. Although information from PARs is pre-
populated into the system, EDT State respondents must still collect and 
enter supporting case materials, such as driver records, toxicology 
reports, death certificate information, and coroner's/medical examiners 
reports to complete a FARS case. NHTSA estimates that completing each 
case entry in an EDT States takes 2 hours, which is slightly less than 
half the time the process is estimated to take for non-EDT States. On 
average, NHTSA estimates that 18,000 FARS cases will have pre-populated 
data. Accordingly, NHTSA estimates the total burden associated with 
completing the FARS case entries for these cases to be 36,000 hours 
(18,000 cases x 2 hours).

Total Burden for FARS

    The collective and cumulative efforts of all 52 respondents results 
in an estimated annual burden of 106,909 hours (68,871 hours + 2,000 
hours + 38 hours + 36,000 hours). Table 1 provides a summary of the 
burden associated with FARS.

                          Table 1--Burden Category Estimates and Total Burden for FARS
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                                       Cases       Participating    Burden per       Hours per
         Burden category             processed      respondents      response       respondent     Total (hours)
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FARS EDT (mapping maintenance)..              19              19             N/A               2              38
FARS EDT Manual Case Entry                18,000              19            2.00           1,895          36,000
 (supporting case materials)....
FARS Manual Protocol Case Entry           16,205              33            4.25           2,087          68,871
 Process (including supporting
 case materials)................
FARS Manual Protocol In-kind                   8               8             N/A             250           2,000
 Process Support................
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    Total.......................          34,232              52            3.13        2,056.94         106,909
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[[Page 43383]]

NTS Data Collection

    Non-traffic fatal crashes are collected by approximately 25 States 
as part of the FARS data collection process. NHTSA estimates that it 
takes twelve hours per respondent annually to account for NTS cases. 
Therefore, NHTSA estimates that the total burden for NTS case 
identification and coding is 300 hours annually (25 respondents x 12 
hours).

Burden for FARS and NTS

    NHTSA estimates the total annual burden for the two information 
collections, FARS and NTS, is 107,209 hours per year (106,909 hours + 
300 hours). Table 2 provides a summary of the burdens for the two 
information collections.

                                    Table 2--Summary of Burden Hour Estimates
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                                                                    Burden per
     Information collection          Responses      Respondents      response        Hours per     Total burden
                                                                      (hours)       respondent        (hours)
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FARS............................          34,232              52            3.13        2,056.94         106,909
NTS.............................             585              25             0.5              12             300
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    Total.......................          34,817              52  ..............  ..............         107,209
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    Estimated Total Annual Burden Cost All Programs: $0.
    NHTSA estimates that there are no costs to respondents other than 
costs associated with burden hours. There are no capital, start-up, or 
annual operation and maintenance costs involved in this collection of 
information. The respondents would not incur any reporting costs from 
the information collection beyond the opportunity or labor costs 
associated with the burden hours. The respondents also would not incur 
any recordkeeping burden or recordkeeping costs from the information 
collection.
    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 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) 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.

Chou Lin Chen,
Associate Administrator, National Center for Statistics and Analysis.
[FR Doc. 2022-15412 Filed 7-19-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P