Information Collection Activities: Submission for the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Review; Request for Comment

Jeffrey Michael
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
May 1, 2014

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 84 (Thursday, May 1, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24810-24811]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-09945]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration


Information Collection Activities: Submission for the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) Review; Request for Comment

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of the OMB review of information collection and 
solicitation of public comment.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 
U.S.C. chapter 35), this notice announces that the Information 
Collection Request (ICR) abstracted below will be submitted to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. The ICR described the 
nature of the information collection and its expected burden. A Federal 
Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting public comments 
on the following information collection was published on November 15, 
2013 (Federal Register/Vol. 78, No. 221/pp. 68902-68903).

DATES: Submit comments to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on 
or before June 2, 2014.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Kathy Sifrit, Contracting 
Officer's Technical Representative, Office of Behavioral Safety 
Research (NTI-132), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., W46-472, Washington, DC 20590. Dr. Sifrit's 
phone number is (202) 366-0868 and her email address is 
kathy.sifrit@dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    OMB Control Number: 2127--New.
    Title: Physical Fitness and Driving Performance.
    Form No.: NHTSA Form 1227.
    Type of Review: Regular.
    Respondents: Drivers age 70 and older who have responded to a 
solicitation for participation in a study of aging, physical fitness, 
and driving safety and have initiated a phone call expressing their 
interest in study participation.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: An estimated that 270 respondents 
who contact researchers in response to descriptive solicitations.
    Estimated Time per Response: The estimated time to respond to 
questions in the telephone conversations is 15 minutes for each 
conversation with a respondent.
    Total Estimated Annual Burden Hours: 67.5 hours.
    Frequency of Collection: The questions will be presented a single 
time.
    Abstract: Older adults comprise an increasing proportion of the 
(driving) population and there is concern about the consequences of 
declining physical abilities such as strength, flexibility, and range 
of motion on the safe operation of motor vehicles. Previous research 
indicates that gains in physical fitness improve a number of abilities 
important for safe driving. NHTSA needs to learn more about these 
relationships between fitness and driving performance to support the 
development of recommendations and educational materials aimed at 
improving older driver safety. The objective in this project is to 
assess the effect(s) of

[[Page 24811]]

physical activity and physical fitness training on the driving 
performance of adults 70 and older. The National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration (NHTSA) proposes to collect information from licensed 
older drivers about their driving habits and levels of physical 
activity in order to determine whether they are eligible to participate 
in a study of the effects of physical activity on driving performance. 
Drivers will volunteer for the study by responding to flyers posted at 
a community center, and/or announcements in newsletters and on 
community listserves, and/or sign-ups at a weekly farmer's market and 
other local events. Interested older drivers will contact a designated 
research team member through a toll-free number. Researchers will ask 
drivers a brief (<15 minutes) series of questions to determine 
eligibility to participate in the study, then describe the proposed 
study to respondents who qualify. Each driver who meets study inclusion 
criteria will then be asked if he or she wishes to participate. If yes, 
a project assistant will ask for a description of the car in order to 
identify it and install a data collection system that will collect 
driving data necessary for the study. The questions will allow research 
staff to ensure that prospective participants meet study inclusion 
criteria, are able and willing to wear fitness monitors to measure 
physical activity levels, and facilitate installing data collection 
instruments in each participant's vehicle. Analyses of these fitness/
activity level and driving data will provide information about whether 
people age 70 and older who participate in regular physical activity 
perform better in a driving evaluation and/or drive more than do 
healthy, sedentary drivers of a similar age; whether particular 
physical training activities relate to improved functioning in specific 
driving tasks; and the extent to which driving performance and/or 
exposure of sedentary older adults will improve, following 
participation in physical activity. NHTSA will use the information to 
inform recommendations to the public regarding how improved physical 
fitness can result in better driving performance for the purpose of 
reducing injuries and loss of life on the highway.

ADDRESSES: Send comments regarding the burden estimate, including 
suggestions for reducing the burden, to the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, 725 17th Street 
NW., Washington, DC 20503, Attention: Desk Officer for Department of 
Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or by 
email at oira_submission@omb.eop.gov, or fax: 202-395-5806.
    Comments Are Invited On: Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the Department of Transportation, including whether the information 
will have practical utility; the accuracy of the Department's estimate 
of the burden of the proposed information collection; ways to enhance 
the quality, utility and clarity of the information to be collected; 
and 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. A comment to OMB is most 
effective if OMB receives it within 30 days of publication of this 
notice.

    Authority:  44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A).

    Issued in Washington, DC, on April 28, 2014.
Jeffrey Michael,
Associate Administrator, Research and Program Development.
[FR Doc. 2014-09945 Filed 4-30-14; 8:45 am]
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