[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 138 (Tuesday, July 22, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34575-34576]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-13778]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. NHTSA-2025-0024]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the
Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Request for
Comment; National Survey of the Use of Booster Seats
AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),
Department of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice and request for comments on a currently-approved
collection of information.
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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 extension of a currently approved information collection
for which NHTSA intends to seek OMB approval on the National Survey of
the Use of Booster Seats (NSUBS). A Federal Register Notice with a 60-
day comment period soliciting comments on the following information
collection was published on April 2, 2025. One comment was received.
The comment does not necessitate NHTSA making any revisions to the
information collection or burden estimates.
DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before August 21, 2025.
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 Lacey Werth, Office of Traffic Records
and Analysis (NSA-210), (202) 366-7468, National Center for Statistics
and Analysis, 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
OMB.
Title: National Survey of the Use of Booster Seats.
OMB Control Number: 2127-0644.
Form Number: 1010. The data collection will be conducted
electronically, replacing the previously used paper form. The form
number will remain the same and should have been included in the 60-day
Federal Register notice.
Type of Request: 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: The NSUBS is a voluntary
collection of restraint use information for children under 13. The
purpose of the NSUBS is to gather information on restraint use for all
child occupants, in particular the use of booster seats among children
ages 4-7. NSUBS is a biennial collection that involves data collectors
visiting sampled gas stations, recreation centers, day care centers,
and seven specific fast food restaurant chains where vehicles are most
likely to have child occupants. Data collectors will observe as many
vehicles as possible that appear to have a least one child occupant
under the age of 13 in order for data collector observation of
restraint use for all occupants. For motorists who voluntarily
participate in a subsequent interview, the data collectors conduct a
brief interview with the vehicle driver or other knowledgeable adult to
determine the age, height, weight, race/ethnicity of the child
occupants and age of the driver. The survey collects data to support
estimates of restraint use for all children under 13. The collection
includes race/ethnicity breakouts of restraint use among all occupants
in a vehicle as well as age, height, and weight of children.
Description of the Need for the Information and Proposed Use of the
Information: The NSUBS is conducted to respond to Section 14(i) of the
Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability, and Documentation
(TREAD) Act of 2000. The Act directs DOT to reduce deaths and injuries
among children in the 4- to 8-year old age group that are caused by
failure to use a booster seat by twenty-five percent. Conducting the
NSUBS provides the Department with invaluable information on use and
non-use of booster seats, helping the Department to improve its
outreach programs to ensure that children are protected to the greatest
extent possible when they ride in motor vehicles. The survey data will
allow programs to better reach the caretakers whose children are
unrestrained or not using the best restraint choice for their
children's sizes. The findings may also be of interest to State
legislatures wanting to strengthen their child restraint laws by
enacting mandatory or enhanced booster seat use provisions.
60-Day Notice: A Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment
period soliciting public comments on the following information
collection was published on April 2, 2025 (90 FR 14515). One comment
was received. The comment is about Elections Commission Advisor with an
attached 10 Day Payoff Quote. This comment does not appear to be
related to NSUBS. The comment does not necessitate a revision to the
scope of the information collection or the estimates of the annual cost
or burden hours.
Affected Public: Motorists in passenger vehicles with children
under 13 who are approached at gas stations, fast food restaurants, day
care centers, and recreation centers frequented by children and asked
to participate in the survey.
Estimated Number of Respondents: Based on the average number of
respondents from the last three survey
[[Page 34576]]
years, we estimate that there will be approximately 4,600 respondents
(i.e., 4,600 adult motorists in passenger vehicles with children under
13 at gas stations, fast food restaurants, day care centers, and
recreation centers who agree to be interviewed for the survey).
Frequency: Biennial.
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: NHTSA estimates that each
respondent will spend approximately 4.25 minutes providing the required
information. A respondent is defined as an adult motorist providing
information about the children in their vehicle. Based on this, NHTSA
estimates the total burden for 4,600 respondents to be approximately
326 hours. The calculation is as follows:
(4.25 minutes x 4,600 respondents) / 60 minutes/hour = 325.8 hours
Since NSUBS data collection occurs biennially, dividing the total
burden hours by two results in an annual burden of 163 hours.
Table 1--Burden Estimates
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Estimated burden per Total burden hours Total annual Total annual burden
Total responses response per survey responses hours
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4,600 4.25 326 2,300 163
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To estimate the value of the respondents' time, NHTSA uses the
average hourly wage in the United States, which is estimated to be
$31.48.\1\ Since wages represent only 61.6 percent of total
compensation (according to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data), the
fully loaded hourly compensation is $51.10. Using this figure, NHTSA
calculates the total opportunity cost to respondents for each survey to
be $16,658.60 (326 hours x $51.10) or $8,329.30 annually.
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\1\ U.S. Dept. of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, April 3,
2024, from https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm#00-0000 for
May 2023.
Table 2--Opportunity Costs Estimates
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Estimated burden
Total responses per response Average hourly Opportunity cost Total burden hours Total opportunity Total annual
(minutes) opportunity cost per response per survey cost per survey opportunity cost
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4,600 4.25 $51.10 $3.62 326 $16,658.60 $8,329.30
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Estimated Total Annual Burden Cost: Participation in this study is
voluntary and there are no costs to respondents beyond the time spent
taking part in the survey.
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.
Chou-Lin Chen,
Associate Administrator, National Center for Statistics and Analysis.
[FR Doc. 2025-13778 Filed 7-21-25; 8:45 am]
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