Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Request for Comment; Title: FMVSS Considerations for Vehicles With Automated Driving Systems: Seating Preference Study

Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Request for Comment; Title: FMVSS Considerations for Vehicles With Automated Driving Systems: Seating Preference Study

Publication: Federal Register
Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Byline: Cem Hatipoglu
Date: 20 March 2023
Subject: American Government

Topic: Autonomous Vehicles

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 53 (Monday, March 20, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16724-16726]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-05569]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2022-0018]

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. This is a new
collection of information to conduct an experiment to gather both
objective and subjective data regarding occupant/passenger seat
preference in Automated Driving System-Dedicated Vehicles (ADS-DVs). A
Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting
comments on the following information collection was published on March
7, 2022. No relevant comments were received.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before April 19, 2023.

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 Debbie Sweet, Office of Vehicle Safety
Research (NVS-010), (202) 366-7179, National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration, W46-413, U.S. Department of Transportation, 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 OMB.
Title: FMVSS Considerations for Vehicles with Automated Driving
Systems: Seating Preference Study.
OMB Control Number: New.
Form Number(s): NHTSA Forms 1624, 1625, and 1626.

Table 1--Forms To Be Used in the Study
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NHTSA Form 1624................... Eligibility Questionnaire--FMVSS
Considerations for Vehicles with
Automated Driving Systems: Seating
Preference Study.
NHTSA Form 1625................... Demographic Questionnaire--FMVSS
Considerations for Vehicles with
Automated Driving Systems: Seating
Preference Study.
NHTSA Form 1626................... Post Experiment Questionnaire--FMVSS
Considerations for Vehicles with
Automated Driving Systems: Seating
Preference Study.
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Type of Request: New collection.
Type of Review Requested: Regular.
Requested Expiration Date of Approval: 3 years from date of
approval.
Summary of the Collection of Information:
49 U.S.C. 30181, 30182, and 30183 authorize the Secretary of
Transportation (NHTSA by delegation) to conduct research, development,
and testing programs, including activities related to new and emerging
technologies that impact, or that may impact, motor vehicle safety.
NHTSA proposes to collect information from the public regarding
occupant/passenger seat preference in Automated Driving System-
Dedicated Vehicles (ADS-DVs). Adults aged 18 and older will participate
in an on-road study after giving informed consent. Participants will
ride in one passenger vehicle and two ADS-DVs on a closed test track.
Questionnaire data will be collected at the beginning and end of
participation for each participant. Objective data will be collected
via the data acquisition systems installed in each study vehicle. The
data from each participant will be

[[Page 16725]]

combined, stratified by demographic information and analyzed.
There are four information collections for the study. The (1)
Eligibility Questionnaire will be used to identify eligible
participants for this study; results from this questionnaire will not
be kept or analyzed. Candidates who are selected for the study will
participate in a single test-track experiment and will complete two
additional questionnaires while participating in the experiment. The
(2) Demographic Questionnaire will be used for description of the
participant sample (e.g., number of males and females in the dataset,
final age range for all participants, and driving experience range for
all participants). This is necessary to compare the sample collected to
the general driving population. The (3) objective data collected via
data acquisition systems installed in each study vehicle during the
test-track experiment is necessary for collecting information about
participants' seat selection, any seat changes during the ride, seat
belt use, and how participants interact with the HMI. The (4) Post
Experiment Questionnaire will be used to analyze the perceptions and
opinions of ADS-DV technology within the participant sample, as well as
to gather any comments regarding their seat preference and seat belt
use. This data will be used to determine how and why participants
choose seating preferences in ADS-DVs.

Description of the Need for the Information and Proposed Use of the
Information

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA's)
mission is to save lives, prevent injuries, and reduce economic losses
resulting from motor vehicle crashes. ADS technology is rapidly
developing, and current Federal motor vehicle safety standards (FMVSS)
and/or NHTSA guidance may need to be adapted to ensure this technology
is deployed safely. Many of NHTSA's FMVSS focus on particular seating
positions and thus, changes in seating preferences could impact those
FMVSS. This study will provide NHTSA information about the seating
preferences of occupants in vehicles that do not require a human driver
in the left front seat. Several safety outcomes stem from occupant
seating preference, which may change in the future as Automated Driving
Systems (ADS) change seating configurations and the way people use
vehicles. ADS-Dedicated Vehicles (ADS-DVs) are vehicles that lack
manually operated driving controls, and therefore do not require a
human driver or occupant to drive the vehicle or sit in the left front
seat (the ``driver's seat'' in conventional vehicles). In conventional
vehicles, there is the basic assumption that a human will always be in
the left front seat while the vehicle is operating because a human
driver would be necessary to operate those vehicles. ADS-DVs provide
the opportunity for occupants to sit in any seat they choose in the
vehicle. It is currently unknown where occupants may choose to sit when
riding in an ADS-DV. Moreover, new seating configurations for occupants
of ADS-DVs may necessitate changes to how and where information is
presented to occupants about their responsibilities as occupants (e.g.,
closing doors, fastening seatbelts). Furthermore, occupants will need a
human-machine interface (HMI) to provide input that they are ready for
the ride to begin, or to request that the ride stop. At present, no
standardized or otherwise commercially produced HMIs exist for this
purpose. Therefore, in order to conduct the research, a prototype HMI
will be developed. The two main goals for this study are to:
1. Describe the occupant distribution for ADS-DVs (i.e., seating
distribution).
2. Use the prototype HMI to evaluate whether occupants would choose
to initiate a ride in an ADS-DV without a seatbelt.

60-Day Notice

A Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting
public comments on the information collection was published on March 7,
2022 (87 FR 12772). NHTSA received one comment on the notice that did
not address the information collection request or the seating
preference study but instead addressed vehicle and road user safety in
general. In addition to seeking public comment, NHTSA and the research
team have publicized this study for a number of years across industry
and consumer events. NHTSA has socialized this study through various
means including discussion in the public-facing Annual Modal Research
Plan FY2022-2023, discussion during the NHTSA Research Portfolio Fall
2022 public meeting, inclusion in a presentation at the 2021 SAE
Government Industry Meeting, and discussion with industry stakeholders
through individual meetings and association groups. Feedback regarding
the study was positive and supportive and assistive in refinement of
the study including the human machine interaction design and
presentation.
Affected Public: Adults ages 18 and older who meet eligibility
criteria such as holding a valid driver's license and having used a
ride- sharing application at least once in the past year.
Estimated Number of Respondents: An expected total of up to 100
participants will be recruited to participate in the study. It is
estimated that 200 respondents will be needed to identify 100 eligible
participants.
Frequency: One-time collection.
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 268.
The eligibility questionnaire will have a maximum of 28 questions
and NHTSA estimates it will take approximately 20 minutes to complete.
Therefore, NHTSA estimates the total time associated with completing
eligibility questionnaires to be 67 hours (200 responses x 20 minutes =
66.7 hours). Study Intake (reading study information sheet and
obtaining participant consent, general study instruction) is expected
to take 10 minutes to complete. Both the demographic and post-
experiment questionnaires will have a maximum of 20 questions and NHTSA
estimates that it will take each eligible participant 10 minutes to
complete the demographic questionnaire and 10 minutes to complete the
post-experiment questionnaire. Therefore, NHTSA estimates the total
burden for Study Intake to be 17 hours (100 responses x 10 minutes =
16.67 hours), Demographic Questionnaire to be 17 hours (100 responses x
10 minutes = 16.67 hours), and the Post Experiment questionnaire to be
17 hours (100 responses x 10 minutes = 16.67 hours). Study
participation (e.g., riding in study vehicles on the test track) is
expected to take 90 minutes. The total burden hours for study
participation are calculated to be 150 hours (100 responses x 90
minutes = 9,000 minutes = 150 hours). Accordingly, NHTSA estimates the
total burden hours for this information collection to be 268 hours.
Data collection will take less than one year.
The table below shows the estimated burden hours for this
information collection, which accounts for the maximum number of
expected responses and drop-outs.

[[Page 16726]]

Estimated Burden Hours
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Estimated
Maximum number individual Total
Instrument of respondents burden estimated
(minutes) burden hours
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Eligibility Questionnaire....................................... 200 20 67
Study Intake.................................................... 100 10 17
Demographic questionnaire....................................... 100 10 17
Study Participation............................................. 100 90 150
Post Experiment Questionnaire................................... 100 10 17
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Total....................................................... .............. .............. 268
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Estimated Total Annual Burden Cost: The only cost burdens
respondents will incur are costs related to travel to and from the
study location. The costs are minimal and are expected to be offset by
the honorarium that will be provided to all research participants.
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 1351.29.

Cem Hatipoglu,
Associate Administrator, Vehicle Safety Research, NHTSA.
[FR Doc. 2023-05569 Filed 3-17-23; 8:45 am]
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