[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 221 (Wednesday, November 16, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71122-71123]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-29361]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[U.S. DOT Docket No. NHTSA-2011-0162]
Reports, Forms, and Recordkeeping Requirements
AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), DOT.
ACTION: Request for public comment on proposed collection of
information.
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SUMMARY: Before a Federal agency can collect certain information from
the public, it must receive approval from the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB). Under procedures established by the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), before seeking OMB approval,
Federal agencies must solicit public comment on proposed collections of
information, including extensions and reinstatements of previously
approved collections.
This document describes an Information Collection Request (ICR) for
which NHTSA intends to seek OMB approval.
DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before January 17, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to the U.S. Department of
Transportation Dockets, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE., Washington, DC 20590.
You may also submit comments electronically at http://www.regulations.gov. All comments should refer to the Docket No. NHTSA-
2011-0162.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jessica Cicchino, Ph.D., Contracting
Officer's Technical Representative, Office of Behavioral Safety
Research (NTI-131), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,
1200 New Jersey Ave. SE., W46-491, Washington, DC 20590. Dr. Cicchino's
phone number is (202) 366-2752 and her email address is
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,
before an agency submits a proposed collection of information to OMB
for approval, it must publish a document in the Federal Register
providing a 60-day comment period and otherwise consult with members of
the public and affected agencies concerning each proposed collection of
information. The OMB has promulgated regulations describing what must
be included in such a document. Under OMB's regulations (at 5 CFR
1320.8(d)), an agency must ask for public comment on the following:
(i) 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;
(ii) 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;
(iii) How to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and
(iv) How to minimize the burden of the collection of information on
those who are to respond, 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.
In compliance with these requirements, NHTSA asks public comment on
the following proposed collection of information:
Title: Instrumented On-Road Study of Motorcycle Riders.
Type of Request: New information collection request.
OMB Clearance Number: None.
Form Number: This collection of information uses no standard forms.
Requested Expiration Date of Approval: 3 years from date of
approval.
Summary of the Collection of Information: In this study, the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) will be
conducting on-road instrumented vehicle data collection with a total of
160 motorcycle riders to examine motorcycle riders' behaviors as they
typically ride. Volunteers will be recruited to have their motorcycles
outfitted for one year with instrumentation such as cameras, GPS, and
accelerometers that will capture data on normal riding behavior
whenever their motorcycles are ridden.
Before participating in the on-road portion of the study,
participating motorcycle riders will be asked to complete intake
questionnaires that will ask about their demographics, riding history,
self-reported behavior, and perceptions. After completing the on-road
study, participants will be asked to complete a short debriefing
interview that will focus on their experiences riding with the
instrumentation in the past year. If a participant is involved in a
motorcycle crash during the study, he or she may be asked additional
questions about the circumstances surrounding the crash. This
subjective data will be combined with the objective data from the
instrumentation on actual riding behavior to help NHTSA develop a
better understanding of if a rider's demographic characteristics,
riding history, self-reported behavior, and perceptions are linked to
his or her behavior on the road.
Need and Use of Information: The National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA) was established to reduce the mounting number of
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 as a foundation for the
development of motor vehicle standards and traffic safety programs.
Motorcycle fatalities have increased over the past decade at an
alarming rate. In 2009, 4,462 motorcycle riders were killed in the US.
This marks the first time the number of motorcycle fatalities has
decreased after steadily increasing over 11 years; however, even with
this decline, the number of motorcycle fatalities in 2009 was nearly
double that from a decade earlier. Motorcycles made up 3% of the
registered vehicles in the US in 2009 but motorcyclists accounted for
13% of the total traffic fatalities.
Knowledge of both how riders successfully avoid crashes and of
behaviors that correlate with and contribute to crash risk is crucial
to developing effective countermeasures to reduce motorcycle crashes
and fatalities. Data describing actual events are difficult to collect.
Riders and law enforcement officers are not always aware of what caused
a crash after the fact. It is even more difficult to identify
behavioral factors associated with safe riding, and the actions of
riders during evasive maneuvers that did not result in a police-
reportable crash. Studies using instrumented vehicles to collect data
on the real-world driving of passenger car and truck drivers have
provided unprecedented information describing
[[Page 71123]]
actual events occurring for drivers as they negotiate the roadway
system. The goal of this study is to collect similar data from
motorcycle operators using instrumented motorcycles.
Participating riders' responses to a series of questionnaires on
their demographics, riding history, self-reported behavior, and
perceptions will augment the data collected from their instrumented
motorcycles. Information collected from questionnaires will allow NHTSA
to investigate if these rider characteristics are related to safe and
unsafe on-motorcycle riding behavior. A debriefing interview will
collect additional subjective information on the rider's experiences
riding with the instrumentation over the prior year. In support of its
mission, NHTSA will use the information from the questionnaires and
interviews, in conjunction with the naturalistic data collected from
the instrumented motorcycles, to decrease crashes and resulting
injuries and fatalities, and provide informational support to States,
localities, and law enforcement agencies that will aid them in their
efforts to reduce motorcycle crashes.
Description of the Likely Respondents (Including Estimated Number,
and Proposed Frequency of Response to the Collection of Information):
Participation in the study will be voluntary. Each of the 160
participants in the on-road instrumented motorcycle portion of the
study will be asked to complete intake questionnaires, capturing
demographic characteristics, riding history, self-reported behavior,
and perceptions, during his or her instrumentation session and to
complete a debriefing interview as the instrumentation is being removed
from his or her motorcycle one year later.
If a participant in the study is involved in a crash while riding
the instrumented motorcycle, he or she may be asked to participate in
one additional interview on the circumstances surrounding the crash.
Based on the number of crashes that occurred per mile driven in a prior
instrumented car study and the number of motorcycle injury crashes per
mile ridden in 2009, NHTSA estimates that 20 motorcycle crashes may
occur during this study.
Estimate of the Total Annual Reporting and Record Keeping Burden
Resulting from the Collection of Information: The intake questionnaires
are estimated to take 75 minutes to complete, and the debriefing
interview is estimated to last 15 minutes. Intake questionnaires will
be completed during the time when the respondent's motorcycle is being
instrumented, and the debriefing interview will be completed while the
instrumentation is being removed from the respondent's motorcycle after
the one-year period of on-road data collection. This results in an
estimated burden of 200 hours of burden for the intake questionnaires
(160 respondents x 75 minutes), and 40 hours of burden for the
debriefing interviews (160 respondents x 15 minutes).
A rider involved in a crash on his or her instrumented motorcycle
during the on-road data collection period may be asked to participate
in an additional interview regarding the circumstances that surrounded
the crash. This interview would take approximately 60 minutes, and
NHTSA estimates that 20 motorcycle crashes may occur during this study.
Thus, the estimated burden for post-crash interviews is 20 hours (20
respondents x 60 minutes).
The total estimated information collection burden for this project
is 260 hours over one year: 200 hours for the intake questionnaires, 40
hours for the debriefing interviews, and 20 hours for possible post-
crash interviews. The respondents will not incur any record-keeping
burden or record-keeping cost from the information collection.
Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A).
Jeffrey Michael,
Associate Administrator, Research and Program Development.
[FR Doc. 2011-29361 Filed 11-15-11; 8:45 am]
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