[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 247 (Tuesday, December 27, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79442-79444]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-28132]


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

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2022-0080]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Request for 
Comment; Child Passenger Safety Perceptions and Practices in 
Ridesharing and Autonomous Vehicles

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

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

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

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 ICR is for a 
new collection of information for which NHTSA intends to seek OMB 
approval on Child Passenger Safety Perceptions and Practices in 
Ridesharing and Autonomous Vehicles. A Federal Register notice with a 
60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following information 
collection was published on October 17, 2022. NHTSA received two sets 
of comments from three organizations, which we address below.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before January 26, 2023.

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 Kathy Sifrit, Ph.D., Office of 
Behavioral Safety Research (NPD-320), (202) 366-9982, National Highway 
Traffic Safety Administration, W46-472, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590.

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: Child Passenger Safety Perceptions and Practices in 
Ridesharing and Autonomous Vehicles.
    OMB Control Number: New.
    Form Numbers: NHTSA Forms 1687, 1688, 1689, and 1690.
    Type of Request: Approval of a new information collection.
    Type of Review Requested: Regular.
    Length of Approval Requested: Three years from date of approval.
    Summary of the Collection of Information: The National Highway 
Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of the U.S. Department of 
Transportation is seeking approval for a one-time voluntary information 
collection from 24 caregivers of children 8 years old or younger and 12 
licensed drivers of rideshare vehicles. The purpose of the collection 
is to describe child passenger safety (CPS) attitudes and behaviors 
from caregivers and rideshare drivers. A NHTSA contractor expects to 
provide screening questionnaires to 200 potential participants to 
determine their eligibility for the focus group study and to collect 
contact information for scheduling with a potential burden of 15 
minutes per respondent or 50 hours. From the 200 potential 
participants, the contractor will contact and enroll up to 36 
participants in the study. Six 90-minute focus groups will be 
conducted, each with six participants. Including the five minutes for 
participants to complete informed consent, the burden per focus group 
participant is 95 minutes or 57 hours. The total expected burden for 
screening, scheduling, and participating in the focus groups is 107 
hours. A trained moderator will conduct separate virtual focus groups 
for caregivers/parents of at least one child 8 years old or younger who 
frequently use rideshare vehicles to transport children (two groups) 
and those who infrequently transport children in rideshare vehicles 
(two groups) as well as for rideshare drivers who frequently have child 
passengers 8 years old or younger (one group) and those who 
infrequently have child passengers (one group). The contractor will 
collect participants' attitudes and self-reported behaviors from the 
focus groups. NHTSA's contractor received Institutional Review Board 
(IRB) approval to conduct the focus groups. NHTSA will use the 
information to produce a technical report containing descriptive and 
qualitative assessments of caregivers/parents' and rideshare drivers' 
attitudes and behaviors related to CPS in rideshare vehicles. NHTSA 
will make the technical report available to a variety of audiences 
interested in improving highway safety through the agency website and 
the National Transportation Library. This collection will inform the 
development of behavioral safety countermeasures, particularly in the 
areas of communications and training related to CPS in rideshare 
vehicles and potentially future vehicles with Automated Driving 
Systems.
    Description of the Need for the Information and Proposed Use of the 
Information: NHTSA has estimated that using a car seat reduces the risk 
of fatal injury for infants (under 1 year old) by 71 percent for 
passenger cars and by 58 percent for light trucks such as pickups, 
SUVs, and minivans. For toddlers (1 to 4 years old), the corresponding 
reductions are 54 percent and 59 percent. \1\ However, children are not 
always restrained appropriately. In 2020 there were 181 passenger 
vehicle occupant fatalities among children under 4 years old, and 31 
percent were unrestrained (based on known restraint use). In the 4-to-7 
age group, there were 207 fatalities; 43 percent were unrestrained 
(based on known restraint use).\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ Kahane, C. J. (2015, January). Lives saved by vehicle safety 
technologies and associated Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, 
1960 to 2012--Passenger cars and LTVs--With reviews of 26 FMVSS and 
the effectiveness of their associated safety technologies in 
reducing fatalities, injuries, and crashes (Report No. DOT HS 812 
069). National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812069
    \2\ National Center for Statistics and Analysis. (2022, July). 
Occupant protection in passenger vehicles: 2020 data (Traffic Safety 
Facts. Report No. DOT HS 813 326). National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration. https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/813326

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

[[Page 79443]]

    The use of ridesharing services has increased dramatically over the 
past few years. In 2018, 36 percent of U.S. adults used ridesharing 
services, such as Uber and Lyft. This percentage is more than twice the 
share of the population who used ridesharing apps in 2015.\3\ As the 
use of ridesharing vehicles increases, concerns regarding how children 
are being transported in these vehicles are emerging. However, limited 
research has been conducted on CRS use in ridesharing vehicles. A study 
conducted by Prince, et al. showed lower rates of CRS use and higher 
rates of injuries in crashes involving taxis in New York City.\4\ In an 
online national survey of parents with children under eight, 59 percent 
reported that they transported their children differently when 
traveling in rideshare vehicles compared with private vehicles.\5\ Of 
those, 37 percent reported holding the child on their lap and 25 
percent allowed the child to ride without a CRS. Several online and in-
person surveys with parents and caregivers point to specific 
circumstances in which non-use of CRS is perceived as more acceptable, 
including riding in a rideshare or taxi; traveling while on vacation, 
carpooling, when traveling short distances; and finding there is no CRS 
available.6 7 8
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ Pew Research Center (2019, January 4). More Americans are 
using ride-hailing apps. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/01/04/more-americans-are-using-ride-hailing-apps/.
    \4\ Prince, P., Hines, L. M., Bauer, M. J., Liu, C., Luo, J., 
Garnett, M., & Pressley, J. C. (2019). Pediatric Restraint Use and 
Injury in New York City Taxis Compared with Other Passenger 
Vehicles. Transportation Research Record, 2673(7), 541-549. https://doi.org/10.1177/0361198119843091.
    \5\ Owens, J. M., Womack, K. T., & Barowski, L. (2019, 
September). Factors Surrounding Child Seat Usage in Rideshare 
Services (Technical Report No. 01-005). Safety through Disruption 
(Safe-D) University Transportation Center. https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/63050.
    \6\ Levi, S., Lee, H., Ren, W., Polson, A., & McCloskey, S. 
(2020, December). Awareness and availability of child passenger 
safety information resources (Report No. DOT HS 813 035). National 
Highway Traffic Safety Administration. https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/54283.
    \7\ McDonald, C., Kennedy, E., Fleisher, L., & Zonfrillo, M. 
(2018). Situational Use of Child Restraint Systems and Carpooling 
Behaviors in Parents and Caregivers. International Journal of 
Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(8), 1788. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15081788.
    \8\ Niu, L., Gao, Y. M., Tian, Y., & Pan, S. M. (2019). Safety 
awareness and use of child safety seats among parents after the 
legislation in Shanghai. Chinese journal of traumatology = Zhonghua 
chuang shang za zhi, 22(2), 85-87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cjtee.2018.08.005.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    There also is a lack of research on best practice approaches for 
promoting child safety in rideshare vehicles, and regulatory 
inconsistencies (e.g., types of vehicles covered under restraint laws, 
severity of fines for violations of the law, age of child covered by 
child restraint laws, etc.) only contribute to the confusion on the 
part of caregivers and rideshare drivers. A better understanding of 
caregiver and rideshare driver behaviors and attitudes related to 
restraint use in rideshare services is needed to inform the development 
of public policy, regulations, enforcement measures, and educational 
campaigns.
    60-Day Notice: A Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment 
period soliciting public comments on the following information 
collection was published on October 17, 2022 (87 FR 62922). Two sets of 
comments were submitted by three organizations: one comment was 
submitted by Safe Kids Worldwide and Safe Kids in Automated Vehicle 
Alliance (SKAVA), and the other comment was submitted by the Texas 
Department of Transportation (TxDOT). Safe Kids Worldwide, SKAVA, and 
the TxDOT were supportive of the agency's efforts to understand the 
behavior and attitudes of caregivers and rideshare drivers regarding 
child passenger safety (CPS) in rideshare vehicles. Safe Kids Worldwide 
and SKAVA noted that this research will help inform solutions to 
inconsistencies with CPS in rideshare vehicles. TxDOT recommended some 
changes in project design to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity 
of the information to be collected. We appreciate the comments from 
Safe Kids Worldwide, SKAVA, and TxDOT and thank them for thoughtfully 
considering the described program.
    The TxDOT raised concerns about the study design. They expressed 
concern that the number of participants in the focus groups would not 
be representative of the population and recommended increasing the 
sample size. The data collection plan includes enrolling 36 
participants (24 caregivers and 12 rideshare drivers) for the focus 
groups. While we recognize that this may seem to be a small sample 
size, this number is in line with qualitative research methods 
guidelines suggesting that 4-8 participants are enough to reach 
saturation in focus group research.\9\ Additionally, TxDOT noted the 
current study would be useful to examine attitudes and behaviors 
related to advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) available in the 
market and used in some rideshare vehicles, and whether the existence 
of ADAS impacts choice and use of rideshare vehicles. We agree that 
examining attitudes and behaviors related to ADAS in rideshare vehicles 
is important; however, this line of questioning is unrelated to 
understanding CPS in rideshare vehicles and is beyond the scope of this 
study.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \9\ Hennink, M. & Kaiser, B. N. (2022). Sample sizes for 
saturation in qualitative research: A systematic review of empirical 
tests. Social Science & Medicine, 292. 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114523.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Affected Public: Parents of children 8 years old or younger and 
adult licensed drivers of ridesharing vehicles.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 200 potential participants with 36 
participating in focus groups.
    Frequency: This study is a one-time information collection, and 
there will be no recurrence.
    Number of Responses: Each respondent responds to each form only 
once.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: The total estimated burden 
with this collection is 107 hours. NHTSA estimates that up to 200 
potential respondents will need to be screened for eligibility by 
completing a 10-minute screening questionnaire before finding 36 people 
to participate in the focus groups. The contractor will contact the 
eligible participants to determine whether they are still interested 
and if so, to schedule a focus group for an additional potential burden 
of five minutes. As such, screening and scheduling may take up to 15 
minutes per potential participant. The goal is to schedule 36 
participants for six focus groups (four caregiver groups and two driver 
groups).
    Each focus group is estimated to last 90 minutes. Including 
informed consent, NHTSA estimates the burden as 95 minutes per 
participant. During the focus group, participants will discuss their 
experiences in traveling with children in rideshare vehicles, behavior 
with respect to using seat belts or CRSs when travelling in personal 
vehicles and rideshare vehicles, opinions regarding CPS in rideshare 
vehicles, etc. Assuming a 10-minute completion time for the recruitment 
screener questionnaire, 5 minutes for contacting and scheduling 
potential participants for the focus group sessions, 5 minutes for 
informed consent for participants, and 90 minutes for participating in 
the focus groups the total hour burden 107 hours. The calculation of 
the total estimated burden is shown in Table 1 below.

[[Page 79444]]



                                     Table 1--Estimated Burden Hours by Form
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                     Time per
            Form No.                Form name and description       Respondents     respondent      Total time
                                                                                     (minutes)        (hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1687...........................  Screener and Follow-Scheduling.             200              15              50
1688...........................  Informed Consent (Caregivers)..              24               5               2
1689...........................  Informed Consent (Drivers).....              12               5               1
1690...........................  Focus Group Participation......              36              90              54
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total......................  ...............................  ..............  ..............             107
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated Total Annual Burden Cost: NHTSA estimates that there are 
no costs to respondents beyond the time spent participating in the 
study.
    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.
    Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; 44 U.S.C. chapter 
35, as amended; 49 CFR 1.49; and DOT Order 1351.29A.

Nanda Narayanan Srinivasan,
Associate Administrator, Research and Program Development.
[FR Doc. 2022-28132 Filed 12-23-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P