[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 179 (Thursday, September 18, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45102-45104]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-18068]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. NHTSA-2025-0011]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the
Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Request for
Comment; National Roadside Survey of Alcohol and Drug Prevalence of
Road Users: 2025
AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),
Department of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice and request for comments on a new 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. The National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) intends to conduct a new
information collection for a National Roadside Survey (NRS) of alcohol
and other drug prevalence among drivers and other road users (ORUs;
e.g., pedestrians, bicyclists, electric scooter riders, and those with
mobility aids). NHTSA will conduct two studies. Study 1 will focus on
drivers but include convenience sampling of ORUs passing by the driver
data collection locations. Study 2 is a pilot test assessing the
feasibility of an NRS specific to ORUs. Both will collect breath and
oral fluid specimens, demographic information, and self-report
questionnaire data on roads across the country. Participation will be
voluntary and anonymous. A Federal Register notice with a 60-day
comment period soliciting comments on the following information
collection was published on November 20, 2024. NHTSA received 6
comments, which we address below.
DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before October 20, 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 Stacy Jeleniewski, Contracting
Officer's Representative, Office of Behavioral Safety Research (NPD-
310), [email protected], National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration, W46-491, 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 to
OMB.
Title: National Roadside Survey of Alcohol and Drug Prevalence of
Road Users: 2025.
OMB Control Number: New.
Form Numbers: NHTSA Forms #1762, 1763, 1764.
Type of Request: Request for approval of a new information
collection.
Type of Review Requested: Regular.
Requested Expiration Date of Approval: 3 years from date of
approval.
Summary of the Collection of Information: NHTSA is seeking approval
to conduct two studies. Study 1 will focus on drivers but include
convenience sampling of ORUs passing by the data collection locations.
Study 2 is a Pilot Test assessing the feasibility of an NRS specific to
ORUs. Both will collect breath and oral fluid specimens, demographic
information, and self-report questionnaire data on roads across the
country. Participation will be voluntary and anonymous.
Study 1 will recruit drivers at the roadside to test for alcohol
and other selected drugs known, or suspected, to impair cognitive and
motor skills important for driving safety. The study will operate data
collection research teams across the country to collect breath samples,
oral fluid specimens, and questionnaire data to be analyzed to achieve
NHTSA's research objectives. The study will allow NHTSA to estimate the
population-level prevalence of alcohol- and other drug-positive driving
on roadways in the U.S. for the selected days and times. Information
will also be requested from other road users who pass by the Study 1
data collection locations.
Study 2 examines the viability of a stand-alone roadside nationwide
survey
[[Page 45103]]
focused solely on ORUs. This effort uses 20 new data collection
locations, inclusive of 4 PSUs with 5 locations in each. This effort is
to inform NHTSA on the feasibility of such a targeted roadside survey,
and to determine the level of effort to execute a nationwide study of
ORUs. The same procedures as Study 1 will be used.
Description of the Need for the Information and Proposed Use of the
Information: NHTSA was established to reduce deaths, injuries, and
economic losses resulting from motor vehicle crashes on the Nation's
highways. As part of this statutory mandate, NHTSA is authorized to
conduct research for the development of traffic safety programs.
Subchapter V of Chapter 301 of Title 49 of the United States Code
(U.S.C.) authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to conduct motor
vehicle safety research. 49 U.S.C. 30182. Pursuant to Section 1.95 of
Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), the Secretary has
delegated this authority to the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA). Additionally, Title 23, United States Code,
Chapter 4, Section 403 gives the Secretary of Transportation (NHTSA by
delegation) authorization to use funds appropriated to conduct research
and development activities. The agency develops, promotes, and
implements educational, engineering, and enforcement programs with the
goal of ending preventable tragedies and reducing economic costs
associated with vehicle use and highway travel. Current data is
essential to develop appropriate approaches to improve traffic safety.
This is especially true for information on impaired driving, both for
alcohol, and for drug use and driving where data is much more limited.
Drugs affect biology, perception, psychomotor ability, and
behavior. With the exception of alcohol, however, relatively little is
known about the prevalence of drugged driving currently on U.S.
roadways because of the complexities associated with collecting,
analyzing, and reporting information on other drug use. Given the
number of States legalizing medicinal and/or recreational use of
cannabis, and other issues such as the increase in opioid use in the
U.S., more information is needed on the level of alcohol-involved and
other drug-involved driving on the nation's roadways to better inform
NHTSA's countermeasure development efforts.
NHTSA and other traffic safety stakeholders have sought to learn
about these issues through varied methodological approaches. For Study
1, researchers will collaborate with State and local officials to
collect data at the roadside at 300 roadway locations (60 primary
sampling units [PSUs], also known as ``sites,'' with 5 roadway
locations each) across the country. Roadside surveys such as this
provide objective measures of alcohol and other drugs in drivers'
systems at the time they are actually driving, based on tests results
from breath samples and oral fluid samples collected using established
sample collection methods. All samples will then be tested, and results
confirmed by a leading forensic toxicology laboratory. This approach
will allow for the estimation of alcohol and other drug prevalence
among the non-crash-involved general driving population in the U.S. for
the selected days and times studied.
Study 1 also explores whether it is possible to collect information
from ORUs encountered at the driver data collection locations including
individuals in transit on foot, on a bicycle, electric scooter, or with
a mobility aid.
Study 2 is a separate test to determine the viability of a stand-
alone roadside survey focused solely on ORUs (i.e., excluding drivers)
to estimate the population level prevalence of alcohol and other drug
use among other road user types for specified days and times. Study 2
will select 20 new data collection locations to recruit a convenience
sample of ORUs.
The results of this project will assist NHTSA as the agency
develops its programmatic activities aimed at reducing crashes and
fatalities that may be associated with the use of alcohol and/or other
drugs. It is expected the results of this study will be compared to
future studies to monitor alcohol and other drug prevalence trends over
time on the nation's roadways.
60-Day Notice: A Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment
period soliciting public comments on the following information
collection was published on November 20, 2024 (89 FR 43505). Five
comments were received during the comment period; One additional
comment was received the next day. The American Association of Motor
Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) expressed support for the project,
stating they are ``supportive of the opportunity to have greater
transparency into safety data that can help roadway safety researchers
and practitioners to better understand the prevalence of drivers with
one or more drugs in their system while driving.'' Four comments were
made by individuals but were not relevant to the information
collection. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) provided
comments, after the deadline, on January 22, 2025. The IIHS expressed
support for the project, specifically, that ``a 2025 survey is
important for providing up-to-date alcohol and drug prevalence
estimates among drivers'' and ``agrees that other road users such as
pedestrians, bicyclists, and electric scooter riders will be a useful
addition to the survey, as the number of non-occupant fatalities on
U.S. roadways has been increasing in recent years.'' There were no
adverse comments, and no changes were made to this information
collection in response to comments.
Affected Public: Study 1 will recruit volunteers who are drivers of
passenger motor vehicles on active roadways at the 300 selected
sampling locations. ORUs passing by the Study 1 data collection
locations will also be recruited to participate. The site and location
sampling are based on recruitment of drivers. For ORUs, participants
will be recruited to the extent they are available at the locations.
Study 2 will focus specifically on ORUs (i.e., excluding drivers) at 20
new sampling locations across 4 PSUs to assess the feasibility of
conducting a stand-alone nationwide roadside survey on these vulnerable
road user populations.
Estimated Number of Respondents: Participation in this study will
be voluntary and anonymous. Study 1 expects to contact approximately
11,750 drivers at the selected sampling locations with 9,000 agreeing
to participate. Based on the last NRS results, it is expected 8,000
drivers will fully participate and 1,000 will partially participate
(i.e., stops providing information before full data collection is
complete). Study 1 also expects to contact 750 ORUs at the Study 1 data
collection locations with 500 fully participating and 60 partially
participating. Study 2 of only ORUs expects to contact approximately
750 individuals with 500 fully participating and 60 partially
participating.
Frequency: Both Study 1 and Study 2 are one-time data collections.
Because 5 data collection locations are located in each PSU, there is a
remote chance an individual could participate more than once in either
effort. Because data collection is anonymous, it will not be possible
to know if an individual participates more than once. However, this is
not likely and not expected, as potential participants will not know
data collection locations or times ahead of time, and the time at any
location will be limited.
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: The total annual burden hours
for the two studies is estimated to be
[[Page 45104]]
531 hours. The total amount of burden across both studies combined is
estimated to be 1,593 hours. This includes approximately 1,500 hours
for the 9,000 participants (8,000 Study 1 drivers, 500 Study 1 ORUs,
500 Study 2 ORUs) who will fully participate. The expected completion
time for each individual is 10 minutes. The remaining 93 hours are for
the 1,120 people who will partially participate (1,000 Study 1 drivers,
60 Study 1 ORUs, 60 Study 2 ORUs). It is expected these individuals
will spend 5 minutes on average for partial participation. The total
amount of burden cost to respondents to participate across both studies
is estimated to be $72,640 (see Table 1). The total annual burden cost
to respondents is $24,213.
Table 1--Summary of Total Burden Hours and Estimated Costs by Respondent Type
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Hourly wage + 30%
Type of respondent Number of Minutes per fringe ($35.07 + Total estimated Estimated cost
respondents respondent $10.52) * burden hours
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Study 1 (NRS)
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Driver fully participates................................... 8,000 10 $45.59 1,333.33 $60,786.51
Driver partially participates............................... 1,000 5 45.59 83.33 3,799.01
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Subtotal................................................ ............ ............ .................... .................. 64,585.52
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ORU fully participates...................................... 500 10 45.59 83.33 3,799.01
ORU partially participates.................................. 60 5 45.59 5 227.95
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Subtotal................................................ ............ ............ .................... .................. 4,026.96
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Total....................................................... ............ ............ .................... 1,504.99 (1,505) 68,612.48 (68,612)
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Study 2 (ORU Pilot)
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ORU fully participates...................................... 500 10 45.59 83.33 3,799.01
ORU partially participates.................................. 60 5 45.59 5 227.95
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Total................................................... ............ ............ .................... 88.33 (88) 4,026.96 (4,027)
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Both Studies Combined
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Fully participates.......................................... 9,000 10 45.59 1,500.00 68,385.00
Partially participates...................................... 1,120 5 45.59 93.33 4,254.91
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Grand Total............................................. 10,120 ............ .................... 1,593.33 (1,593) 72,639.91 (72,640)
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* See July 2024 total private average hourly wages from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics at https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t19.htm;. Fully
loaded wage is inclusive of a 30% addition to the base hourly wage to account for fringe benefits.
Estimated Total Annual Burden Cost: Participation in this study is
voluntary and there are no costs to respondents beyond the time spent
hearing about the study and participating in data collection if they
decide to participate. Participants will incur no burden related to
annual reporting or record keeping due to the collection of this new
information.
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 Department, including whether the information will
have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the Department's estimate
of the burden of the proposed information collection; (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 automated 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.
Jane Terry,
Acting Associate Administrator, Research and Program Development.
[FR Doc. 2025-18068 Filed 9-17-25; 8:45 am]
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