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Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Fatality Analysis Reporting System and Non-Traffic Surveillance Publication: Federal Register Signing Official: Chou Lin Chen Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Date: 20 July 2022 
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 138 (Wednesday, July 20, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43380-43383]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-15412]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. NHTSA-2022-0031]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the
Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Fatality
Analysis Reporting System and Non-Traffic Surveillance
AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),
Department of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice and request for comments on an extension with
modification of a currently approved 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)
abstracted 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 document
describes a currently approved collection of information for which
NHTSA intends to seek approval from OMB for extension on NHTSA's State
data reporting systems: Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and
Non-Traffic Surveillance (NTS). A Federal Register Notice with a 60-day
comment period soliciting comments on the following information
collection was published on April 4, 2022. Three supporting comments
were received.
DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before August 19, 2022.
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 Barbara Rhea, State Data Reporting
Systems Division (NSA-120), (202) 366-2714, National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration, Room W53-304, U.S. Department of Transportation,
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590. Please identify the
relevant collection of information by referring to its OMB Control
Number.
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 to
OMB.
A Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting
public comments on the following information collection was published
on April 04, 2022 (87 FR 19573).
Title: Fatality Analysis Reporting System and Non-Traffic
Surveillance.
OMB Control Number: 2127-0006.
Form Number: N/A.
Type of Request: Request for extension of a currently approved
information collection.
Type of Review Requested: Regular.
Length of Approval Requested: Three years from date of approval.
Summary of the Collection of Information
NHTSA is authorized by 49 U.S.C. 30182 and 23 U.S.C. 403 to collect
data on motor vehicle traffic crashes to aid in the identification of
issues and the development, implementation, and evaluation of motor
vehicle and highway safety countermeasures to reduce fatalities and the
property damage associated with motor vehicle crashes. Using this
authority, NHTSA established the Fatal Analysis Reporting System (FARS)
and the Non-Traffic Surveillance (NTS), which collect data on fatal
motor vehicle traffic crashes. Among other things, the information aids
in the establishment and
[[Page 43381]]
enforcement of motor vehicle regulations and highway safety programs.
The FARS is in its forty-sixth year of operation and is a census of
all defined crashes involving fatalities. The FARS collects data from
all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. NHTSA
established cooperative agreements with the 50 States, the District of
Columbia and Puerto Rico to report a standard set of data on each fatal
crash within their jurisdictions. State employees extract and
transcribe information from existing State files including police crash
reports as well as driver license, vehicle registration, highway
department, and vital statistics files. This collected information
comprises a national database, Fatality Analysis Reporting System
(FARS), that is NHTSA's and many States' principal means of tracking
trends involving motor vehicle traffic fatalities and quantifying
problems or potential problems in highway safety.
The Non-Traffic Surveillance (NTS) is a data collection effort for
collecting information about counts and details regarding fatalities
and injuries that occur in non-traffic crashes and non-crash incidents.
Non-traffic crashes are crashes that occur off a public trafficway
(e.g., private roads, parking lots, or driveways), and non-crash
incidents are incidents involving motor vehicles but without a crash
scenario such as, carbon monoxide poisoning and hypo/hyperthermia. NTS
non-traffic crash data are obtained through NHTSA's data collection
efforts for the Crash Report Sampling System (CRSS),\1\ the Crash
Investigation Sampling System (CISS),\2\ and FARS. NTS also includes
data outside of NHTSA's own data collections. NTS' non-crash injury
data is based upon emergency department records from a special study
conducted by the Consumer Product Safety Commission's National
Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) All Injury Program. NTS
non-crash fatality data is derived from death certificate information
from the Centers for Disease Control's National Vital Statistics
System.
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\1\ NHTSA's information collection for CRSS is covered by the
ICR with OMB Control No. 2127-0714.
\2\ NHTSA's information collection for CISS is covered by the
ICR with OMB Control No. 2127-0706.
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Data is collected differently under each of NHTSA's three data
collection efforts that feed into NTS. The CRSS and CISS data
collection efforts obtain NTS applicable reports received from the
sample sites during their normal data collection efforts for CRISS and
CISS. The FARS data collection effort uncovers NTS applicable reports
received from the State during their normal data collection activities
for FARS. Therefore, the burden for NTS is included in each study's
calculation. This notice only seeks comment on the part of the NTS data
that comes from the FARS data collection effort.
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 losses resulting from motor vehicle crashes. To accomplish
this mission, NHTSA needs high-quality data on motor vehicle crashes to
identify primary factors related to the source of crashes and injury
outcomes. The FARS supports this mission by providing the agency with
vital information about all crashes involving fatalities that occur on
our nation's roadways. The FARS does this by collection of national
fatality information directly from existing State files and documents
and aggregates that information for research and analysis.
FARS data is used extensively by all the NHTSA program and research
offices, other DOT modes, States, and local jurisdictions. The highway
research community uses the FARS data for trend analysis, problem
identification, and program evaluation. Congress uses the FARS data for
making decisions concerning safety programs. The FARS data are also
available upon request to anyone interested in highway safety.
60-Day Notice
NHTSA published a 60-day notice in the Federal Register on April 4,
2022 (87 FR 19573). NHTSA received three supporting comments from the
National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC), the
Oklahoma Department of Transportation, and Safe Kids Worldwide. NAMIC
emphasizes that the proposed data collection is necessary and
appropriate and believes that the information surveyed will have
significant practical utility. Furthermore, NAMIC supports this
initiative to better understand and improve highway and auto safety, as
well as inform policy development and other decision making. The
Oklahoma DOT acknowledges the great role the FARS plays in compiling
information that helps it develop plans to reduce occurrences of
fatalities. The Oklahoma DOT also believes NHTSA's estimate of burden
to be valid, and believes that, as technology progresses, the burden
could be minimized while the system is enhanced. Safe Kids Worldwide
asserts the importance of the FARS/NTS programs to NHTSA's mission and
the broader safety community and that it is an incredibly robust and
valuable system for research purposes. Safe Kids Worldwide suggests
inclusion of more detailed information be available through the online
query and more detailed coding for train-related injuries.
FARS is an on-going data acquisition system; reviews are conducted
yearly to determine whether the data acquired are responsive to the
total user population needs. Annual changes in the data collected in
FARS are minor in terms of operation and method of data acquisition.
The changes do not affect the reporting burden of the respondent. In
fact, the changes are based on a continuous data collection and quality
improvement process. The changes usually involve clarifying adjustments
to aid statisticians in conducting more precise analyses and to remove
potential ambiguity for the respondents. As part of this continual
review process, NHTSA will consider Safe Kids Worldwide's suggestion
regarding making more FARS data available through NHTSA's online query
tool. NHTSA will also separately consider Safe Kids Wordwide's
suggestion to include more detailed coding for train-related injuries
and fatalities at railroad crossings.
Burden to Respondents
NHTSA has established cooperative agreements with the 50 States,
the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico to report a standard set of
data on each fatal crash in their jurisdictions. State respondents
report based on the occurrence of crashes involving fatalities. When a
fatal crash occurs, State employees extract and transcribe information
from existing files and input the information into FARS, with the
frequency of reporting determined by the frequency of fatal crashes
occurring in the respondent's jurisdiction. NHTSA continues to
estimate, as stated in the 60-day notice, that there will be 52 data
collection sites in each of the next three years with a total annual
burden of 107,209 hours and $0 for the two information collections.
Program: FARS and NTS.
Affected Public: States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 52.
Frequency: On Occasion.
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 107,209 hours (106,909 hours +
300 hours).
NHTSA estimates the total annual burden for the two information
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collections, FARS and NTS, is 107,209 hours per year. The hours and
costs associated with the burden reflect the complexity of coding the
FARS cases, an increase in the number of fatal crashes across most
jurisdictions, and accounting for the processing of the non-traffic
fatalities. Furthermore, over the past two years, there has been an
increase in staff turnover at the State level, adding an increase in
administrative hours to provide for State field personnel turnover,
training, and coding assistance to continue operations.
For both FARS and NTS, there are 52 respondents (50 States, the
District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico) reporting on approximately
34,817 fatal crash cases per year. Of these cases, 34,232 are reported
to FARS and approximately 585 are identified and reported as non-
traffic fatal crashes (NTS).
The State employee (or employees depending on the number of fatal
crashes per year occurring in the jurisdiction) acquires and codes the
required information, as fatal crashes occur, in the FARS records-based
system. For FARS, although there is only one information collection,
NHTSA calculates the total burden using four burden categories: (1)
FARS Manual Protocol Case Entry, (2) overhead burden for FARS in States
without EDT, (3) FARS coding in States with EDT, and (4) FARS EDT
mapping maintenance.
FARS Manual Protocol Case Entry
NHTSA estimates that there are currently 33 States providing crash
reports (including case materials) via manual protocol. For these
respondents, NHTSA estimates that it takes analysts approximately 4.25
hours to collect fatal crash information and code a FARS case entry in
the FARS data entry system. This estimate is based on information, over
a five-year period, of the average number of analysts, full- and part-
time, back-up analysts, FARS supervisors, and coding assistance
respondents needed to complete an annual FARS file. NHTSA estimates
that, on average, 16,205 cases are collected and coded annually using
this access method. Therefore, NHTSA estimates the total annual burden
associated with FARS Manual Protocol case entry to be approximately
68,871 hours annually (16,205 cases x 4.25 hours = 68,871 hours).
FARS Manual Protocol In-Kind Process Support
In addition to the time for each crash entry, some respondents
using the FARS Manual Protocol are also expected to incur overhead
burden time. NHTSA estimates that 8 States provide overhead support and
that the total annual burden for this support is 2,000 hours, or an
average of 250 hours per respondent. This burden includes hours spent
by supervisors and State managers responding to and supporting FARS
operations that are not accounted for in the coding hours every year,
including supporting data acquisition and other associated tasks.
FARS EDT Mapping Maintenance
NHTSA estimates that there are approximately 19 States already
participating in Electronic Data Transfer (EDT). For these respondents,
PAR data is automatically transferred from the State's centralized
crash database to NHTSA's CDAN system. The crash data is then
prepopulated in NHTSA's crash data systems, including FARS.
NHTSA estimates the burden to maintain the protocol is estimated at
two hours per State (respondent) or a total of 38 hours per year (19
States x 2 hours). This represents time to monitor case quality and
timeliness, conduct quality control processes, and maintain
communications with NHTSA and its contractors to ensure accurate data
transfer. The specific task associated with this maintenance of effort
is referred to as ``mapping''. Upon becoming an EDT State, the
respondent participates in an initial mapping process. The process
requires an alignment between the State Specific Coding Instructions
and the FARS Coding and Validation guidance.\3\ During quality control
processes, which are conducted year-round, data anomalies may be
detected, at which time action must be taken to review and ultimately
correct the shifts in the data. This process, while managed by the
Office of Data Acquisition, requires concurrence from the respondent,
which is what the burden represents.
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\3\ The burden associated with this task is accounted for under
NHTSA ICR that covers EDT (OMB Control Number 2127-0753).
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FARS EDT Manual Case Entry for Supporting Case Materials
Participation in EDT reduces but does not eliminate the manual
entry of data into FARS. Although information from PARs is pre-
populated into the system, EDT State respondents must still collect and
enter supporting case materials, such as driver records, toxicology
reports, death certificate information, and coroner's/medical examiners
reports to complete a FARS case. NHTSA estimates that completing each
case entry in an EDT States takes 2 hours, which is slightly less than
half the time the process is estimated to take for non-EDT States. On
average, NHTSA estimates that 18,000 FARS cases will have pre-populated
data. Accordingly, NHTSA estimates the total burden associated with
completing the FARS case entries for these cases to be 36,000 hours
(18,000 cases x 2 hours).
Total Burden for FARS
The collective and cumulative efforts of all 52 respondents results
in an estimated annual burden of 106,909 hours (68,871 hours + 2,000
hours + 38 hours + 36,000 hours). Table 1 provides a summary of the
burden associated with FARS.
Table 1--Burden Category Estimates and Total Burden for FARS
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Cases Participating Burden per Hours per
Burden category processed respondents response respondent Total (hours)
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FARS EDT (mapping maintenance).. 19 19 N/A 2 38
FARS EDT Manual Case Entry 18,000 19 2.00 1,895 36,000
(supporting case materials)....
FARS Manual Protocol Case Entry 16,205 33 4.25 2,087 68,871
Process (including supporting
case materials)................
FARS Manual Protocol In-kind 8 8 N/A 250 2,000
Process Support................
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Total....................... 34,232 52 3.13 2,056.94 106,909
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[[Page 43383]]
NTS Data Collection
Non-traffic fatal crashes are collected by approximately 25 States
as part of the FARS data collection process. NHTSA estimates that it
takes twelve hours per respondent annually to account for NTS cases.
Therefore, NHTSA estimates that the total burden for NTS case
identification and coding is 300 hours annually (25 respondents x 12
hours).
Burden for FARS and NTS
NHTSA estimates the total annual burden for the two information
collections, FARS and NTS, is 107,209 hours per year (106,909 hours +
300 hours). Table 2 provides a summary of the burdens for the two
information collections.
Table 2--Summary of Burden Hour Estimates
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Burden per
Information collection Responses Respondents response Hours per Total burden
(hours) respondent (hours)
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FARS............................ 34,232 52 3.13 2,056.94 106,909
NTS............................. 585 25 0.5 12 300
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Total....................... 34,817 52 .............. .............. 107,209
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Estimated Total Annual Burden Cost All Programs: $0.
NHTSA estimates that there are no costs to respondents other than
costs associated with burden hours. There are no capital, start-up, or
annual operation and maintenance costs involved in this collection of
information. The respondents would not incur any reporting costs from
the information collection beyond the opportunity or labor costs
associated with the burden hours. The respondents also would not incur
any recordkeeping burden or recordkeeping costs from the information
collection.
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 agency, including whether the information will
have practical utility; (b) 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; (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 appropriate automated, electronic,
mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms
of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of
responses.
Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; 44 U.S.C. Chapter
35, as amended; 49 CFR 1.49; and DOT Order 1351.29.
Chou Lin Chen,
Associate Administrator, National Center for Statistics and Analysis.
[FR Doc. 2022-15412 Filed 7-19-22; 8:45 am]
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