Agency Information Collection Activities; Notice and Request for Comment; Reducing the Illegal Passing of School Buses |
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Nanda Narayanan Srinivasan
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
17 July 2020
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 138 (Friday, July 17, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43645-43648]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-15445]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. NHTSA-2020-0018]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Notice and Request for
Comment; Reducing the Illegal Passing of School Buses
AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),
Department of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice and request for public comment on a request for approval
of a proposed new collection of information.
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SUMMARY: NHTSA invites public comments about its intention to request
approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for a new
collection of information. Before a Federal agency can collect certain
information from the public, it must receive approval from the 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
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collections. This document describes an Information Collection Request
(ICR) for which NHTSA intends to seek OMB approval.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before September 15, 2020.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Docket Number NHTSA-
2020-0018 through any of the following methods:
Electronic Submissions: Go to http://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the online 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 or Courier: Docket Management, U.S.
Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building,
Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday
through Friday, except on Federal holidays. To be sure someone is there
to help you, please call (202) 366-9322 before coming.
Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
Instructions: Each submission must include the Agency name and the
docket number for this proposed collection of information. Note that
all comments received will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided.
Please see the Privacy heading below.
Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search the electronic form
of all comments received into any of our dockets by the name of the
individual submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted
on behalf of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may
review DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register,
published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477-78), or you may visit http://www.dot.gov/privacy.html.
Docket: For access to the docket to read background
documents or comments received, go to http://ww.regulations.gov or the
street address listed above. To be sure someone is there to help you,
please call (202) 366-9322 before coming. Follow the online
instructions for accessing the dockets.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information or access
to background documents, contact Kristin Rosenthal, Highway Safety
Specialist, Safety Countermeasures Division, Office of Research and
Program Development, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, W44-213, Washington, DC 20590. Ms.
Rosenthal's phone number is 202-366-8995, and her email address is
Kristin.Rosenthal@dot.gov.
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 submissions of responses. In
compliance with these requirements, NHTSA asks for public comment on
the following proposed collection of information for which the agency
is seeking approval from OMB:
Title: Reducing the Illegal Passing of School Buses.
OMB Control Number: New.
Form Number: 1559.
Type of Information Collection Request: Request for approval of a
new information collection.
Type of Review Requested: Regular.
Requested Expiration Date of Approval: Three years from date of
approval.
Summary of the Collection of Information: The National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) was established by the Highway
Safety Act of 1970 to reduce deaths, injuries, and economic losses due
to road traffic crashes on the Nation's highways. Even though every
State has a law requiring drivers to stop for a stopped school bus
displaying flashing red lights, illegal passing of stopped school buses
is a frequent occurrence all across the country. Title 23 of the United
States Code, Chapter 4, Section 403, gives the Secretary authorization
to use funds appropriated to conduct research and development
activities, including demonstration projects and the collection and
analysis of highway and motor vehicle safety data and related
information needed to carry out this section. NHTSA seeks to assess the
knowledge of drivers nationwide about the laws governing passing a
school bus (under the specific State laws where the driver lives) as a
function of varying roadway configurations, flashing yellow and red
light deployment on the school bus, and activation of the stop arm on
the bus. To make this assessment, NHTSA intends to conduct research
that will consist of two methods of survey collection data from drivers
of motor vehicles. First (Study 1), NHTSA will conduct a national
survey, involving respondents who volunteer to participate through
AmeriSpeak,\1\ which will take place in the respondent's home or
wherever the respondent chooses to operate a computer, laptop, tablet,
or other mobile device they provide for screening and data collection.
Second (Study 2), NHTSA will conduct community surveys that occur in
two communities and will involve surveys before and after
implementation of a program designed to increase driver awareness of
laws governing passing a school bus. Screening and data collection for
the community surveys will take place on a computer or tablet provided
by the study at a public venue frequented by drivers across the
socioeconomic and demographic spectra, such as a mall or motor vehicle
department office. All collection of data will be anonymous. AmeriSpeak
provides data to clients with an anonymous record identification
number. The community survey does not collect any personal identifying
data from the participant.
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\1\ AmeriSpeak, created by the National Opinion Research Center
(NORC) at the University of Chicago, is a probability-based panel
designed to be representative of the U.S. household population to
take part in surveys.
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Study 1 will use an internet-hosted survey of a nationally
representative sample of drivers to determine their knowledge of and
attitudes towards laws regarding passing of stopped school buses, as
well as their opinions on the safest driver behaviors when encountering
a school bus on the roadway. Study 2 will be a field study in two
communities with differing levels of camera enforcement of school bus
passing laws to examine the effectiveness of an automated school bus
camera enforcement system combined with high-visibility police
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enforcement and public education in reducing school bus passing
violations. Survey data collection in the test communities will examine
awareness of the enforcement and camera programs, driver knowledge of
and attitudes towards school bus passing laws, and self-reported
behavior when encountering a school bus on the roadway before and after
program implementation.
Description of the Need for the Information and Proposed Use of the
Information: NHTSA's mission is to save lives, prevent injuries, and
reduce economic costs due to road traffic crashes, through education,
research, safety standards and enforcement activity. The agency
develops, promotes, and implements educational, enforcement,
engineering, and emergency response programs with the goal of ending
preventable tragedies and reducing economic costs associated with
vehicle use and highway travel. Since1991 NHTSA has supported efforts
to conduct national surveys focusing on different program areas to
enhance its resources in those areas. NHTSA also conducts local
community surveys which have a similar focus, but also allow the agency
to conduct field research and demonstration programs and evaluate
changes in community knowledge, attitudes, self-reported behavior, and
awareness of program efforts.
One highway safety problem NHTSA has been following closely
involves school children struck by passing motorists while going to or
from a stopped school bus with its red lights flashing and its stop arm
extended. Even though there have been some highly-publicized child
fatalities of this type and the annual national stop-arm violation
count by the National Association of State Directors of Pupil
Transportation Services (NASDPTS) continues to show a surprisingly high
incidence of these illegal passes, to date, no national survey has
assessed the levels of driver knowledge and understanding of the laws
regarding passing of school buses. The findings from this proposed
collection of information will assist NHTSA in designing, targeting,
and implementing programs intended to mitigate illegal passing of
school buses on the roadways and to provide data to States, localities,
and law enforcement agencies that will aid in their efforts to reduce
crashes and injuries due to illegal school bus passing.
Affected Public (Respondents): Respondents for Study 1, the
national survey, will be drawn from the panelists in the AmeriSpeak
panel funded and operated by National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at
the University of Chicago. AmeriSpeak is a probability-based panel
designed to be representative of the U.S. household population.
Randomly selected U.S. households are sampled with a known, non-zero
probability of selection from the NORC National Sample Frame and then
contacted by U.S. mail, email, telephone, and field interviewers (face
to face) to recruit panelists. AmeriSpeak panelists participate in NORC
studies or studies conducted by NORC on behalf of governmental
agencies, academic researchers, and media and commercial organizations.
Participation in research is voluntary at the time that respondents are
asked to join the panel, at the time they are asked to participate in
any particular survey, and at the time they answer any given question
in a survey. Respondents from the AmeriSpeak panel will be compensated
for their time in accordance with their agreement with NORC.
Study 2, the community surveys (before and after program
implementation in two communities), will consist of volunteer
respondents who are current motor vehicle drivers, aged 18 or older.
Volunteers will be recruited while they are at selected locations, such
as malls or motor vehicle offices where the desired respondent
population is likely to be found and will receive compensation in
return for volunteering.
Estimated Number of Respondents: To obtain at least 3,000 fully
completed national surveys for Study 1, it is estimated that up to
3,400 AmeriSpeak panelists will have to be screened to obtain 3,100
qualified volunteers who take the national survey (100 of these
volunteers are estimated not to complete the entire survey).
For the community surveys in Study 2, NHTSA estimates that 400
volunteers will have to be screened for each wave (400 for the before-
program implementation and 400 for the after-program implementation)
for each of the two communities. Therefore, a total of 1,600 volunteers
will have to be screened for the estimated yield of 300 completed
surveys for each wave for the two communities, or 1,200 fully completed
surveys.
Frequency of Collection: Respondents will only respond to the
national survey request a single time during the study period. The
community survey will be conducted twice at the same locations in each
of the two selected communities over a period of approximately 10
months. Therefore, an extremely small possibility exists that an
individual might be invited to participate more than once for the
community survey.
Estimated Time per Participant: Both the national and community
surveys will be administered via an internet-hosted survey on a tablet
or other small computer. The national and community surveys will have
the same core items related to knowledge of and attitudes towards
school bus passing laws. The community survey will have additional
items about awareness of countermeasure program activities and basic
respondent demographic information. Demographic information for the
panelists in the national survey is part of their AmeriSpeak profile.
The intent is for each participant to complete a survey only once.
However, no identifying information will be collected for the community
survey, so a slight possibility exists that an individual will
participate more than once. The estimated average time to complete the
survey per participant in either the national or community samples is
15 minutes. The screening involving (1) reading a recruitment
communication, such as an email or listening to a researcher describe
the study, and (2) determining an individual's eligibility (e.g., 18+
years old, current driver, lives in the community being studied) can
take up to three minutes for the community surveys and two minutes for
the national survey.
Total Estimated Burden Hours: It is estimated that for the 3,400
AmeriSpeak panelists that will have to be screened, the estimated total
burden is 113 hours (3,400 x 2 min./60). For the 3,100 qualified
volunteers who take the national survey, the estimated total burden
hours is 775 hours (3,100 x 15 min./60), yielding at least 3,000 fully
completed surveys. Likewise, it is estimated that the total estimated
burden for the maximum of 1,600 potential participants to be screened
for the community survey (400 per wave x 2 communities x 2 waves) is 80
hours (1,600 x 3 min./60). The estimated total burden hours for the
1,200 fully completed surveys (300 per wave x 2 communities x 2 waves)
is 300 hours (1,200 x 15 min./60). The only cost to participants will
be time spent responding to the screening and the subsequent survey if
they volunteer. Participants who volunteer and begin the survey will
receive compensation for this time. Table 1 provides a summary of the
burden hours per survey.
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Estimated
Number of burden per Number of Total burden
Participant group Form name responses per response participants hours
participant (min.)
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National Survey............... Screening....... 1 2 3,400 113
National Survey............... Online Survey... 1 15 3,100 775
Community Survey.............. Screening....... 1 3 1,600 80
Community Survey.............. Online Survey... 1 15 1,200 300
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Total..................... ................ .............. .............. .............. 1,268
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Estimated Annualized Burden Hours: 1,268 hours.
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.
Issued in Washington, DC.
Nanda Narayanan Srinivasan,
Associate Administrator, Research and Program Development.
[FR Doc. 2020-15445 Filed 7-16-20; 8:45 am]
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