[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 169 (Friday, August 30, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70687-70690]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-19437]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2023-0065]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Request for 
Comment; Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network Data Collection

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

ACTION: Notice and request for comments on a request for approval of an 
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. This document 
describes an information collection request for which NHTSA intends to 
seek a new OMB approval for NHTSA's Crash Injury Research and 
Engineering Network (CIREN) investigation-based crash data study. A 
Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting 
comments on the following information collection was published. Two 
comments were received, and burden estimates were adjusted based on the 
input.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before September 30, 2024.

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 Rodney Rudd, Office of Vehicle Safety 
Research, Human Injury Research Division (NSR-220), West Building, W46-
324, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590, (202) 366-5932.

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: Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network (CIREN) Data 
Collection.
    OMB Control Number: New.
    Form Number: NHTSA Form 1770, NHTSA Form 1771, NHTSA Form 1772, 
NHTSA Form 1773, NHTSA Form 1774, NHTSA Form 1775, NHTSA Form 1776, 
NHTSA Form 1777, NHTSA Form 1778, NHTSA Form 1779, NHTSA Form 1780, 
NHTSA Form 1781, NHTSA Form 1782, NHTSA Form 1783, NHTSA Form 1784, 
NHTSA Form 1785, NHTSA Form 1786, NHTSA Form 1787, NHTSA Form 1788, 
NHTSA Form 1789, NHTSA Form 1790, NHTSA Form 1791, NHTSA Form 1792, 
NHTSA Form 1793, NHTSA Form 1794, NHTSA Form 1795, NHTSA Form 1796.
    Type of Request: Request for 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:
    NHTSA proposes to collect information from the public as part of a 
study to improve NHTSA's understanding of injury causation in motor 
vehicle crashes. NHTSA is authorized, under 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. For 
decades, NHTSA has been investigating crashes and collecting crash data 
through its investigation-based data collection systems. The Crash 
Injury Research and Engineering Network (CIREN) is a multidisciplinary, 
injury-focused crash data collection program using trauma centers under 
contract to NHTSA's Office of Vehicle Safety Research. NHTSA also 
investigates crashes through the Crash Investigation Sampling System 
(CISS), Special Crash Investigation (SCI), and specific issue-based 
Special Study data collection studies. Although each of these systems

[[Page 70688]]

satisfy different purposes and collect data in different manners, they 
all utilize similar core data elements, procedures, information 
technology, and protocols for data collection.
    NHTSA is seeking a new, independent approval of an information 
collection request for the CIREN program separate from NHTSA's other 
investigation-based crash data collection systems. The method of case 
subject identification and selection is unique for CIREN. CIREN 
collects a purposive sample of injured traffic crash victims from a 
small number of sites to extensively examine and document injury 
causation in motor vehicle crashes. The CIREN program enrolls case 
subjects (crash victims) who have been admitted to contracted level-one 
trauma centers for treatment of injuries sustained in a crash. CIREN 
requires case subjects admitted to the contracted trauma centers to 
consent to participate in the study, which facilitates detailed review 
and analysis of medical and engineering data by multidisciplinary teams 
to evaluate injury causation. The focus of the CIREN program has 
historically been on seriously injured occupants of recent model-year 
motor vehicles, though the program intends to expand to include 
pedestrians, pedalcyclists, and micromobility (non-motorist) users who 
have been injured in crashes.
    Study personnel at each contracted CIREN site review trauma 
registry data to identify potential case subjects based on the study's 
inclusion criteria. Study teams obtain informed consent from eligible 
patients according to institutional policies and consent documents. 
Eligible patients who do not provide consent to participate in the 
study are dropped from consideration and no data are collected. 
Participation in CIREN does not affect the case subject's medical 
treatment. Observations from the CIREN program inform NHTSA research 
priorities and the data support improvements in motor vehicle safety. 
CIREN provides non-private data to the public through an online case 
viewer, database files, and reports.
    After an eligible patient provides consent, study personnel 
retrieve the case subject's medical information and commence the crash 
investigation. Study personnel retrieve the medical information 
directly from the hospital's electronic medical record (EMR) system 
including case subject anthropometry, past medical history, 
radiological imaging and reports, operative procedure reports, and 
injury diagnoses. Study personnel also request emergency medical 
services (EMS) response reports from first responders. Study personnel 
also conduct an interview with the case subject (or a surrogate in 
cases where the case subject is unable to communicate) to develop an 
understanding about the crash circumstances. Study personnel may 
capture photographs of integumentary injuries (e.g., lacerations, 
hematomas, abrasions) if the case subject agrees to have such photos 
taken. A trained crash investigator locates, visits, measures, and 
photographs the crash scene and the case subject's vehicle (or the 
striking vehicle for non-motorist case subjects). They also obtain the 
police crash report. These data are used to characterize the 
performance of vehicle safety systems and biomechanical responses of 
injured individuals in motor vehicle crashes.
    Description of the Need for the Information and Proposed Use of the 
Information: NHTSA investigates real-world crashes and collects 
detailed crash and medical data in the CIREN program to identify human 
and vehicle factors related to injury causation in support of NHTSA 
research. Biomechanical engineers and medical doctors collaboratively 
review case evidence to establish injury causation scenarios. These 
detailed factors and scenarios inform research priorities. They may 
also guide the development and evaluation of effective safety 
countermeasures such as testing tools and criteria. The data collected 
also act as a sentinel, providing NHTSA with advanced notice of 
emerging crash injury problems, and are used to generate research 
hypotheses. These efforts give motor vehicle researchers an opportunity 
to specify areas in which improvements may be possible, design 
countermeasure programs, and evaluate the effects of existing and 
proposed safety measures. The resulting deidentified database provides 
NHTSA and the public with access to crash data which contains extensive 
medical detail, including medical imaging, which is a unique resource 
among available crash data systems. There is no other source for the 
biomechanics-focused data which is critical to support crash injury 
mitigation and prevention research.
    60-Day Notice: A Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment 
period soliciting public comments on the following information 
collection was published on December 8, 2023 (88 FR 85725). Two 
individuals submitted comments in response to the notice, which are 
summarized below.\1\
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    \1\ The comments are available at https://www.regulations.gov/comment/NHTSA-2023-0065-0002 and https://www.regulations.gov/comment/NHTSA-2023-0065-0003.
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    The commenters, individuals who both had experience as former 
project coordinators for CIREN centers, described patient interaction 
times, for both obtaining consent and conducting the interview, shorter 
than the estimates included in the 60-day notice. In the 60-day notice, 
NHTSA estimated that it would approximately 30 minutes for the consent 
form and one hour for each interview. One of the commenters stated that 
time for obtaining consent took between five and ten minutes. The other 
commenter stated that the consent process involved five to ten minutes 
for describing the program, leaving the consent form with the patient, 
and returning to discuss the program further and answer any questions, 
adding an additional ten to fifteen minutes. Since the second commenter 
estimated that the total estimated time for consent could take up to 25 
minutes, not including any time the patient read the consent form on 
their own, NHTSA has decided not to change its burden estimates for the 
consent form.
    Both commenters also commented about the total to conduct 
interviews with patients. The first commented that the interviews 
normally take approximately ten to twenty minutes, with photographs 
taking about three minutes. The first commenter also stated that the 
longest interview took 30 minutes. The second commenter stated that 
interviews took approximately five to ten minutes, with photographs 
taking five to twenty minutes. The highest of the estimates provided by 
the commenters suggest that, at most, interviews take up to 35 minutes. 
This is less than the one-hour estimate NHTSA provided in its 60-day 
notice. After considering these comments, NHTSA has opted to retain its 
more conservative one-hour estimate for patient interviews to account 
for variability on interview lengths and to ensure that its estimate is 
not too low.
    The second commenter noted that obtaining police reports could 
require several weeks of waiting and could involve CIREN contractor 
personnel checking in police report databases repeatedly by CIREN 
contractor personnel. NHTSA appreciates this comment and notes that the 
burden on CIREN contractor personnel is not counted in total burden 
hours as it is not a burden on a respondent.
    The second commenter also noted that the process to obtain vehicle 
location information and inspection approval involves contact with the 
case subject's vehicle insurance provider.

[[Page 70689]]

This was not considered in the original 60-day notice. For most CIREN 
cases, the case subject's vehicle has sustained sufficient damage to be 
deemed a total loss by the insurer and it becomes necessary to obtain 
approval from the insurer to conduct the vehicle inspection. This 
process requires contacting the claims adjuster to obtain permission as 
well as confirm the disposition of the vehicle (i.e., salvage 
facility). The commenter stated that the amount of time spent getting 
insurance approval could be between 30 minutes to four hours 
collectively. While this estimate was provided from the perspective of 
the time the CIREN contractor personnel spent obtaining such 
information and approval, NHTSA does believe it to be a good indication 
of the time spent by the insurance provider as well. Accordingly, and 
based on this estimate, NHTSA estimates that insurance providers spend 
approximately two hours providing information and approval to inspect 
the case subject's vehicle. This burden estimate is included in the 
discussion of burden hours below. In response to this comment regarding 
insurer involvement, NHTSA is also updating the burden associated with 
tow facilities providing information. In the 60-day notice, NHTSA 
estimated that it would take the tow facility was five minutes of time 
to direct the investigator to the subject vehicle. Since part of the 
insurance approval process involves the insurance adjuster contacting 
the salvage facility in possession of the case subject's vehicle, NHTSA 
has increased the burden for the tow facilities by ten minutes to 
account for the interaction regarding inspection approval from the 
insurance provider.
    Affected Public: The information collections affect people involved 
in select motor vehicle crashes admitted to contracted trauma centers 
for treatment; law enforcement jurisdictions that provide access to and 
a copy of crash reports from the investigated crashes; EMS providers 
responding to investigated crashes; insurance companies responsible for 
case subject vehicles; and tow or salvage facilities possessing case 
subject vehicles.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,394.
    Study personnel screen trauma records for potentially eligible case 
subjects, and then approach potential case subjects to gain consent. It 
is estimated that 362 potential case subjects are approached for 
consent each year. Of those, an average of 258 provide consent and 
participate in the interview process. For each of the 258 consented 
case subjects, study personnel contact the police, EMS agencies, 
insurance companies, and a tow facility for report documentation and to 
coordinate the vehicle inspection. The combination of patients (362) 
and associated contacts (4 x 258) yields 1,394 total respondents each 
year, on average.
    The 60-day notice indicated 1,136 respondents, which was increased 
to 1,394 in this notice due to the inclusion of insurance company 
involvement for each consented case subject (258). This increase was in 
response to a submitted comment noting the necessity to communicate 
with the insurance claim representative to receive permission to 
inspect the involved case vehicle.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Number of Responses: One.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 1,059.
    The CIREN program consists of six (6) information collections. The 
first information collection covers the consent process for individuals 
involved in crashes who are deemed potentially eligible for the study 
at contracted trauma centers. Based on historical data, approximately 
362 potential case subjects are approached for study consent each year. 
The consent process generally requires thirty (30) minutes of the 
respondent's time during their acute hospital admission, which includes 
explanation of the study risks and benefits and review of consent 
language. This burden would apply for every patient approached for 
consent, regardless of their decision to participate in the study. The 
estimated total annual burden hours for seeking study consent from 
eligible case subjects is 181 hours (362 respondents x 0.5 hours).
    The second information collection is from individuals who agree to 
participate in the study. After providing consent, CIREN contractor 
personnel conduct an interview that requires approximately one hour of 
the respondent's time during their acute hospital admission. The CIREN 
program has historically conducted interviews of approximately 258 case 
subjects per year. Therefore, the estimated total annual burden for 
case subject interviews is 258 hours (258 respondents x 1.0 hour).
    The third and fourth information collections for CIREN is obtaining 
first responder reports to complete the cases. The reports are obtained 
from police and EMS agencies, and reports are only requested for crash 
subjects who have consented to participate in the study. NHTSA 
estimates each query to police agencies takes three (3) minutes (0.05 
hours) and each query to EMS agencies takes six (6) minutes (0.1 
hours). Therefore, the total estimated annual burden for crash reports 
is 13 hours (258 requests x 0.05 hours) and EMS reports is 26 hours 
(258 requests x 0.1 hours).
    The fifth information collection for CIREN is gaining permission 
from the case vehicle's insurance company to inspect the vehicle. Most 
cases involve contacting the insurance claims representative to 
determine the location of the vehicle and obtain the necessary approval 
to perform the inspection. The insurance claims representative must 
then notify the salvage facility operator that the CIREN investigator 
has been approved to perform the inspection. NHTSA estimates this 
process takes an average of two (2) hours per case vehicle for which 
approval is sought. Therefore, the total estimated annual burden for 
insurance companies is 516 hours (258 requests x 2.0 hours). This step 
has been added based on comments received from the 60-day notice.
    The sixth information collection for CIREN is associated with 
towing and salvage facility requests for access to case vehicles. 
Typically, a towing or salvage facility operator will provide the crash 
investigator permission to enter the facility to inspect the case-
involved vehicle as well as provide guidance regarding the location of 
the vehicle. This process is estimated to take approximately five (5) 
minutes (0.08 hours) of staff time. The communication between the 
insurance claim representative and salvage facility operator is 
estimated to take approximately ten (10) minutes (0.17 hours) of staff 
time. CIREN averages 258 visits to towing and salvage facilities each 
year since most CIREN cases involve inspection of one case vehicle. The 
total annual burden for towing and salvage facilities is 64.5 hours 
(258 requests x 0.25 hours). This step was modified based on comments 
received from the 60-day notice.
    Accordingly, NHTSA estimates that the total burden associated with 
the CIREN program is 1,059 hours (52 + 387 + 39 + 516 + 64.5). This 
represents an increase of 560 hours from what was in published in the 
60-day notice, with the difference being associated with the inclusion 
of insurance company involvement. Table 1 includes a summary of the 
annual estimated burden hours.

[[Page 70690]]



                                                            Table 1--Annual Burden Estimates
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                                                          Number of
        Information collection            Number of    responses (per     Burden per response       Burden per respondent           Total burden
                                         respondents     respondent)
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Potential case subject consent.......             362         362 (1)  30 minutes...............  30 minutes..............  181 hours.
Case subject interview...............             258         258 (1)  1.0 hours................  1.0 hours...............  258 hours.
Police report requests...............             258         258 (1)  3 minutes................  3 minutes...............  13 hours.
EMS report requests..................             258         258 (1)  6 minutes................  6 minutes...............  26 hours.
Insurance company....................             258         258 (1)  2.0 hours................  2.0 hours...............  516 hours.
Access to towing/salvage facility....             258         258 (1)  15 minutes...............  15 minutes..............  64.5 hours.
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    Total............................  ..............  ..............  .........................  ........................  1,059 hours.
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    Estimated Total Annual Burden Cost: $0.
    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 1351.29A.

Cem Hatipoglu,
Associate Administrator, Office of Vehicle Safety Research.
[FR Doc. 2024-19437 Filed 8-29-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P