[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 232 (Friday, December 5, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56264-56266]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-22057]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. NHTSA-2024-0041]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the
Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Request for
Comment; 5-Star Safety Ratings Label Quantitative Concept Testing
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.
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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. NHTSA is seeking
OMB approval for a new information collection to conduct consumer
research to enhance the usefulness of vehicle safety rating information
and guide the potential redesign of the Government 5-Star Safety
Ratings section of the Monroney label (vehicle window sticker). A
Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting
comments on the following information collection was published on March
7, 2025. NHTSA received three comments.
DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before January 5, 2026.
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 Mike Joyce, Marketing Specialist,
Office of Communications and Consumer Information (NCO-0200), National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, W52-
238, Washington, DC 20590. Mike Joyce's email address is
[email protected]. Contact by phone at: 202-366-9550.
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: 5-Star Safety Ratings Label Quantitative Concept Testing.
OMB Control Number: New.
Form Number(s): NHTSA Form Nos. 2026, 2027, 2028.
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 is seeking approval of a new information collection request
for four information collections that NHTSA will use as part of a one-
time study gather data to enhance the usefulness of the safety rating
information provided under the New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) and
guide the potential redesign of the Government 5-Star Safety Ratings
section of the Monroney label.
The one-time research study will include two components. The first
component will involve a series of
[[Page 56265]]
online webcam interviews that will collect qualitative feedback that
will be used to improve the content included in the second component, a
quantitative survey. Each of the two components will also include a
screener questionnaire. The quantitative survey will be administered
online and by phone (and potentially supplemented by mail if needed).
Participants in the quantitative survey will be asked to evaluate
design concepts that contain new information and improvements to the
Government 5-Star Safety Ratings section of the Monroney label. The
intent is to identify the clearest, most communicative and helpful way
to display information related to vehicle safety. NHTSA will use the
findings from this research to support planned changes to the label
requirements and to inform future consumer communications on vehicle
safety ratings and safety technology system performance assessments to
assist the public when making vehicle purchasing decisions.
This collection of information will be voluntary. Respondents will
include U.S. adult licensed drivers who are shared or primary decision-
makers for their households' vehicle purchasing decisions and who are
in the ``new vehicle purchasing mindset''--that is, they have purchased
a new vehicle in the last six months or plan to do so in the next 12
months. Qualitative reporting will deidentify respondents and no
personally identifiable information (PII) will be shared with NHTSA.
Reports highlighting findings from the qualitative and quantitative
research will be delivered to and maintained by NHTSA.
Description of the Need for the Information and Proposed Use of the
Information:
The purpose of this research is to obtain critical information that
will allow NHTSA and NCAP to fulfill a congressional mandate to improve
highway traffic safety. NCAP is responsible for providing consumers
with important safety information to assist them in their vehicle
purchase decisions. The proposed research will gather necessary data to
guide the redesign of the Government 5-Star Safety Ratings section of
the Monroney label and enhance the usefulness of that safety rating
information. This collection of information will allow NHTSA to obtain
critical information to assist the agency in fulfilling the 2015 FAST
Act's requirement that NHTSA issue a rule to ensure that crash-
avoidance information is provided next to crashworthiness information
on vehicle windows stickers.\1\ Specifically, the data from this
collection will be used to not only enhance consumer understanding of
NHTSA's vehicle safety ratings and advanced driver assistance systems
performance assessments, but also guide the development of
communications that will help consumers as they consider this
information in their vehicle purchase decisions.
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\1\ Section 24322 of Part II--Safety Through Informed Consumers
Act of 2015 requires the Secretary of Transportation (NHTSA by
delegation) to issue a rule to ensure that crash-avoidance
information is indicated next to crashworthiness information on
stickers placed on motor vehicles by their manufacturers. Public Law
114-94, December 4, 2015.
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60-Day Notice: A Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment
period soliciting public comments on the following information
collection was published on March 7, 2025.\2\ NHTSA received three
comments, two from anonymous commenters and a third from the Alliance
for Automotive Innovation (Auto Innovators).
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\2\ 90 FR 22571.
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NHTSA received comments on a variety of topics, including the
urgent need for a revised safety label and the lack of comparative
ratings on the existing safety label. NHTSA also received comments
asking about the need to conduct additional research after conducting
research in 2022. NHTSA also received comments regarding providing
environmental information on the label as well as issues regarding
diversity, equity, and inclusion. After considering the comments, NHTSA
has decided not to make changes to the planned research study and
information collection in response to those comments. Detailed
responses to the comments are provided in NHTSA's submission to OMB.
Affected Public: U.S. Residents ages 18 years or older with a
driver's license, who are a decision-maker for vehicle purchases for
their household, and are in the vehicle buying mindset (has either
purchased or leased a vehicle in the last six months or is planning to
do so in the next 12 months).
Estimated Number of Respondents: Varies by individual collection.
For this information collection, NHTSA plans to conduct an initial
cognitive test as a pilot to assess the survey instrument and ensure
the content is clear, easy to understand and includes the appropriate
questions and response options to evaluate concepts for a new design
for the section of the window sticker that contains safety information.
The research team will partner with a market research recruiter and
will use their proprietary database to find and recruit participants to
complete the cognitive test. NHTSA estimates that they will be
recruited using online outreach (and supplemented with other forms of
outreach such as phone or mail as needed). A total of 9 respondents
will participate in the qualitative phase (a cognitive test of the
survey instrument). Past experience shows that nine interviews serve as
a sufficient number for cognitive testing.
For the quantitative phase, 1,000 respondents will complete an
online survey with screening questions.
Frequency: One time for each of the two phases (cognitive test and
quantitative survey).
Number of Responses: The quantitative survey will exlude
participants from the cognitive test, so each respondent will
participate once. The research will collect 9 responses for the
cognitive test and 1,000 responses for the quantitative survey
resulting in a total of 1,009 responses.
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 708 hours.
Because the number of respondents and the amount of time required
is different for each phase of the research, burden estimates are
calculated based on each phase and then summed to create a total.
Table 1--Burden Estimates
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Estimated Opportunity Total burden Total labor
Research phase Respondents burden per Average hourly cost per hours costs
response (min) labor cost (%) submission (%) (rounded) (rounded)
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Qual Screener Responses................................. 180 5 $46.29 $3.86 16 $695
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Qual Cognitive Testing.................................. 9 60 46.29 46.29 9 417
Quant Screening......................................... 10,000 * 3 46.29 2.31 500 23,100
Quant Fielding.......................................... 1,000 11 46.29 8.49 183 8,490
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Total............................................... .............. .............. .............. .............. 708 32,702
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* Quant screening is a simplified version of qual screener and does not include demographic questions since key demographic data is provided by the
panel with whom we will work; therefore, we estimate 3 minutes for quant screening compared to 5 minutes for qual screening.
Based on projections (708 hours) in the table on the previous page,
the estimated total annual opportunity cost associated with the
information collection request is $32,702 (rounded).
Estimated Total Annual Burden Cost: $0.
NHTSA does not expect there to be any cost associated with the
information collections other than the opportunity cost associated with
the time they spend 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, 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.
Issued on December 3, 2025.
Juliette Marie Vallese,
Associate Administrator, Office of Communications and Consumer
Information.
[FR Doc. 2025-22057 Filed 12-4-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P