[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 167 (Tuesday, August 30, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53045-53047]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-18711]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2022-0044]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Request for 
Comment; Field Study of Heavy Vehicle Crash Avoidance Systems

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

ACTION: Notice and request for public comment on an extension 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) 
summarized 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. The ICR is titled 
``Heavy Vehicle Crash Avoidance Systems'' and is identified by OMB 
Control Number 2127-0741. It is currently approved through August 31, 
2022. This project was 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. A Federal Register Notice with a 60-
day comment period soliciting comments on the following information 
collection was published on May 10, 2022. Two comments were received, 
both in support of the data collection.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before September 29, 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 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 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 
OMB.
    Title: Field Study of Heavy Vehicle Crash Avoidance Systems.
    OMB Control Number: 2127-0741.
    Form Number: None.
    Type of Request: Extension to currently approved collection.
    Type of Review Requested: Regular.
    Length of Approval Requested: Three years.
    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, 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 drivers 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

[[Page 53046]]

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 
and is collected at the end of data collection. This questionnaire 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 the 
questionnaire once, after the completion of his or her data collection. 
The questionnaire 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.
    60-Day Notice: A Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment 
period soliciting public comments on the following information 
collection was published on May 10, 2022 (87 FR 28099). Two comments 
were received in response to the Notice.
    The Texas Department of Transportation (Texas DOT) expressed their 
support of the collection as ``inherent to NHTSA's role in 
understanding and establishing standards for vehicle safety.'' The 
Texas DOT further stated that ``[i]t is critical that NHTSA complete 
its studies to capture the most effective and valuable advanced driver 
assistance systems (ADAS) available.'' The second comment was submitted 
by the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC) and 
expressed support for the data collection in order to further assess 
the efficacy of the systems and the human interaction with them. NAMIC 
provides, in direct response to comment about the burden estimates in 
the 60-day Notice, ``the burdens estimated by NHTSA for the collection 
seem accurate and appropriate to obtain the quality and quantity of 
information sought by NHTSA for this valid purpose.''
    In addition to the comments received, an article titled ``NHTSA 
Seeks OK to Extend Data Collection for Safety Tech Study'' was 
published on May 10, 2022 (https://www.ttnews.com/articles/nhtsa-seeks-ok-extend-data-collection-safety-tech-study). The article discussed 
information in the 60-day Notice and the NHTSA's 's efforts to seek an 
extension to the information collection. Subsequent to that 
publication, another reporter inquired with NHTSA's Office of 
Communications and Consumer Information requesting details; however, 
NHTSA is not aware of any additional articles published regarding the 
collection.
    Affected Public: Respondents to 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.
    NHTSA's goal is to collect field evaluation data from a total of 
150 respondents. To date, one participant has fully completed the 
study. In order to collect complete field evaluation data from an 
additional 149 participants, and to account for drop-outs, NHTSA 
estimates that it will need to recruit an additional 170 respondents 
for initial phases of the study.
    Frequency: The Informed Consent Form, Demographic Questionnaire, 
and Initial CAS Technology Questionnaire are completed once at the 
start of participation and data collection. The Final CAS Technology 
Questionnaire is completed once at the completion of participation, 
approximately three months later.
    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 Hours: 123.6 hours total.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Cost: Zero.

                                               Table 1--Burden Calculations and Estimated Opportunity Cost
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                                                    Number of    Estimated time     Total  estimated  burden hours                      Estimated total
                   Instrument                      respondents   for completion                [dagger]                  Hourly wage    opportunity cost
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Stage One:
    Informed Consent Form......................             170          20 min  57 hours............................          $23.42          $1,334.94
    Demographic Questionnaire..................             170           5 min  15 hours............................           23.42             351.30
    Initial CAS Technology Questionnaire.......             170          25 min  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 min  63 hours............................           23.42           1,475.46
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        Total Burden Remaining.................  ..............  ..............  206 hours...........................  ..............           4,824.52
        Months Remaining.......................  ..............  ..............  20..................................  ..............
        Annual Burden Remaining................  ..............  ..............  123.6 hours.........................  ..............           2,894.71
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[[Page 53047]]

    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, NHTSA 
estimates these opportunity costs to be fully offset by compensation 
provided to the respondents for participation.
    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 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.

    Issued on August 25, 2022.
Cem Hatipoglu,
Associate Administrator, Vehicle Safety Research.
[FR Doc. 2022-18711 Filed 8-29-22; 8:45 am]
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