[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 9 (Thursday, January 13, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2442-2444]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-645]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[U.S. DOT Docket No. NHTSA-2010-0179]
Reports, Forms, and Record Keeping 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, 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 the collection of information for which
NHTSA intends to seek OMB approval.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before March 14, 2011.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by DOT Docket ID Number
NHTSA-2010-0179 using any of the following methods:
Electronic submissions: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow
the on-line instructions for submitting comments.
Mail: Docket Management Facility, M-30, U.S. Department of
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., West Building Ground
Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590.
Hand Delivery: West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New
Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday
through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
Instructions: Each submission must include the Agency name and the
Docket number for this Notice. Note that all comments received will be
posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov including any
personal information provided.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Alan Block, Contracting Officer's
Technical Representative, Office of Behavioral Safety Research (NTI-
131), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey
Avenue, SE., W46-499, Washington, DC 20590. Mr. Block's phone number is
202-366-6401 and his 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:
Demonstration Tests of Different High Visibility Enforcement Models
Type of Request--New information collection requirement.
OMB Clearance Number--None.
Form Number--NHTSA Forms 1121, 1122, 1123.
Requested Expiration Date of Approval--3 years from date of
approval.
[[Page 2443]]
Summary of the Collection of Information--The National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) proposes to collect information
from the public to evaluate three programs of sustained enforcement of
the drinking and driving laws. The programs will extend over a period
of 2 years. A baseline wave of telephone interviews with residents in 3
program sites and 2 comparison sites not carrying out a demonstration
program will be conducted prior to the start of the enforcement
program. Additional telephone survey waves will be conducted at each of
the 5 sites at approximately 6 month intervals following the baseline
survey wave until a final telephone survey wave is conducted after the
conclusion of the program, for a total of 5 telephone survey waves
including the baseline. Sample size for the program sites will be 1,200
while sample size for the comparisons sites will be 500, totaling
23,000 interviews. During the 3rd and 5th survey waves, 50 individuals
interviewed during the baseline wave at each of the sites will be re-
interviewed. This will add 500 interviews, for a grand total of 23,500
telephone interviews over a period of approximately 26 months. The
survey will ask questions about drinking behavior, awareness of the
enforcement program, impressions of the program's effectiveness and
utility, and perceived risk of alcohol-impaired drivers being stopped
by law enforcement officers. Interview length will average 10 minutes.
Augmenting the telephone surveys at each of the 3 program sites
will be data collected from individuals at locations where there is an
increased likelihood of persons at high risk of driving while alcohol-
impaired, i.e., at bars. Data will be collected from 100 bar patrons
concurrent with each of the 5 telephone survey waves for a total of
1,500 face-to-face interviews. Interview length will average 5 minutes
and ask about awareness of the program and perceived risk of alcohol-
impaired drivers being stopped by law enforcement officers.
Data will also be collected from drivers at the program and
comparison sites through a roadside survey before, midway, and after
the 2-year intervention period. Breath samples will be obtained to
identify any changes in the distribution of roadside BACs (Blood
Alcohol Concentration) across data collection periods, and the drivers
will also be administered a 5-minute face-to-face interview. Sample
size will be 100 drivers per site per data collection wave, for a total
of 1,500 drivers. The interviews will collect information on program
awareness and perceived risk of an alcohol-impaired driver being
stopped by law enforcement officers.
In conducting the proposed telephone interviews, the interviewers
would use computer-assisted telephone interviewing to reduce interview
length and minimize recording errors. The proposed data collection at
bars and the roadside survey would be anonymous; they would not collect
any personal information that would allow anyone to identify
respondents. The telephone interviews during wave 1 will include some
collection of personally identifying information in order to conduct a
small number of re-interviews during waves 3 and 5. However, that
information will be held exclusively by the survey contractor,
protected from disclosure to any other parties, and destroyed once no
longer needed for re-contacting prospective respondents. Moreover, the
personally identifiable information will be separated from the survey
responses. No personally identifiable information will be collected
during telephone survey waves 2 through 5.
Description of the Need for the Information and Proposed Use of the
Information--NHTSA was established to reduce the 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.
The heavy toll that alcohol-impaired driving exacts on the nation
in fatalities, injuries, and economic costs is well documented. High
visibility enforcement has historically had the strongest support in
the research literature for effectiveness in reducing alcohol-impaired
driving. Studies have demonstrated that prolonged commitment to highly
visible and well-publicized enforcement of the drinking and driving
laws, with enforcement and communication activities conducted on a
regular basis, can result in substantial reduction in alcohol-related
and alcohol-impaired driving crashes. In practice, however, law
enforcement agencies have consolidated their high visibility alcohol
enforcement efforts into a small number of enforcement waves that occur
each year. The high visibility enforcement becomes an enhanced form of
enforcement rather than something that the officers normally do. Thus
attempting to sustain the high visibility enforcement over time entails
determining how law enforcement agencies can integrate high visibility
enforcement of the drinking and driving laws so that it is not
producing an extra burden for officers but is rather a normal and
regular part of their work.
NHTSA plans to demonstrate three community programs of high
visibility enforcement of the drinking and driving laws. Two of those
programs will be designed as fully integrated high visibility
enforcement programs. Since many law enforcement agencies would be
unable to move directly to a fully integrated program, a third program
will be demonstrated that is operating at an intermediate level between
current common practice and full integration. NHTSA will collect
information to assess the extent to which the programs penetrate public
awareness, how effective the programs are perceived by residents in the
intervention communities, and whether changes occur over the course of
the programs in the perceived risk of an alcohol-impaired driver being
stopped by law enforcement officers. Because the alcohol crash fatality
problem is concentrated among certain groups, particular attention will
be paid to assessing this information for drivers most likely to drive
at BACs above the legal limit. In addition to self-report information,
NHTSA will collect roadside BAC data to obtain a measure of the
distribution of BACs among drivers on the road.
NHTSA will use the findings from this proposed collection of
information to assist States, localities, and law enforcement agencies
to design and implement sustained programs of high visibility
enforcement of the drinking and driving laws.
Description of the Likely Respondents (Including Estimated Number,
and Proposed Frequency of Response to the Collection of Information)--
Under this proposed effort, the Contractor would conduct 23,500
telephone interviews, 1,500 face-to-face interviews with bar patrons,
and 1,500 face-to-face interviews with drivers who participate during
roadside surveys. The telephone interviews will be conducted with
drivers age 18 and older in the five selected communities, with over-
sampling of drivers 18 through 34. Interview length will average 10
minutes. Interviews would be conducted with drivers at residential
phone numbers selected through random digit dialing. Businesses are
ineligible for the sample and would not be interviewed. A total of 250
respondents who complete the interview during the initial baseline
survey wave will be administered the survey two additional times
separated
[[Page 2444]]
by 1-year intervals, for a total of three administrations of the survey
over slightly more than a 2 year period. All other members of the
sample will be administered the survey one time only.
The interviews with bar patrons will be conducted with individuals
21 years of age and older. Interview length will average approximately
5 minutes, and each member of the sample would complete one interview.
Businesses are ineligible for the sample and would not be interviewed.
The roadside survey interviews will be conducted with drivers 18
and older. Interviews would average 5 minutes, and each member of the
sample would complete one interview. Businesses are ineligible for the
sample and would not be interviewed.
Estimate of the Total Annual Reporting and Record Keeping Burden
Resulting from the Collection of Information--NHTSA estimates that
respondents would require an average of 10 minutes to complete the
telephone interviews or a total of 3,917 hours for the 23,500
respondents. The interviews with bar patrons will average 5 minutes or
a total of 125 hours for the 1,500 respondents. The roadside survey
interviews will also average 5 minutes or a total of 125 hours for the
1,500 respondents. The total number of estimated reporting burden hours
on the general public would be 4,167. The annual reporting burden would
be 1,923 hours based on a 26 month data collection period. The
respondents would not incur any reporting cost from the information
collection. The respondents also would 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. 2011-645 Filed 1-12-11; 8:45 am]
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