Agency Information Collection Activities; Notice and Request for Comment; National Survey of the Use of Booster Seats Publication: Federal Register Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Byline: Chou-Lin Chen Date: 18 May 2022 Subjects: American Government , Safety

[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 96 (Wednesday, May 18, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30328-30330]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-10629]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2022-0009]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Notice and Request for 
Comment; National Survey of the Use of Booster Seats

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

ACTION: Notice and request for comments on a renewal of an existing 
clearance.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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 document 
describes a collection of

[[Page 30329]]

information for which NHTSA intends to seek OMB approval on the 
National Survey of the Use of Booster Seats (NSUBS). A Federal Register 
Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the 
following information collection was published on February 16, 2022. 
NHTSA received 3 comments. As explained in this document, none of the 
comments necessitate NHTSA making any revisions to the information 
collection or burden estimates.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before June 17, 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 Lacey L. Boyle, Office of Traffic 
Records and Analysis, Mathematical Analysis Division (NSA-210), 202-
366-7468, National Center for Statistics and Analysis, W55-207, 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 (2127-0644).

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.
    A Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting 
public comments on the following information was published on February 
16, 2022 (87 FR 8929).
    Title: National Survey of the Use of Booster Seats.
    OMB Control Number: 2127-0644.
    Form Number(s): NHTSA Form 1010.
    Type of Request: Extension of a currently approved information 
collection.
    Type of Review Requested: Regular.
    Requested Expiration Date of Approval: 3 years from date of 
approval.
    Summary of the Collection of Information: The National Survey of 
the Use of Booster Seats (NSUBS) is a voluntary collection of restraint 
use information for children under 13. NSUBS is a biennial collection. 
Data collectors observe restraint use for all passenger vehicle 
occupants included in the survey and for those vehicles that 
voluntarily participate, the data collectors conduct a brief interview 
with the vehicle driver or other knowledgably adult to determine the 
age, height, weight, race, and ethnicity of the child occupants and age 
of driver. Data collectors collect the information at fast food 
restaurants, gas stations, day care centers, and recreation centers 
where vehicles are most likely to have child occupants. The survey 
estimates restraint use for all children under 13. The collection 
includes race and ethnicity breakouts of restraint use among all 
occupants in a vehicle as well as age, height, and weight of children.
    Description of the Need for the Information and Proposed Use of the 
Information: The NSUBS is conducted to respond to Section 14(i) of the 
Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability, and Documentation 
(TREAD) Act of 2000. The Act directs the Department of Transportation 
to reduce deaths and injuries (among children in the 4- to 8-year old 
age group that are caused by failure to use a booster seat) by twenty-
five percent. Conducting the National Survey of the Use of Booster 
Seats provides the Department with invaluable information on use and 
non-use of booster seats, helping the Department to improve its 
outreach programs to ensure that children are protected to the greatest 
extent possible when they ride in motor vehicles. The OMB approval for 
this survey is scheduled to expire on June 30, 2022. NHTSA seeks an 
extension to this approval to obtain this important survey data, save 
more children, and help to comply with the TREAD Act requirement.
    60-day Notice: NHTSA published a 60-day notice on February 16, 2022 
requesting comments on NHTSA's intention to request approval from the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for an extension of the currently 
approved NSUBS information collection (87 FR 8929). NHTSA received 3 
comments on the 60-day notice. Two of the commentors expressed support 
to continue the NSUBS, while one commentor was against the continuation 
of the NSUBS. None of the comments necessitate a revision of the scope 
of the information collection or the estimates of the annual cost or 
burden hours.
    One individual, Jean Publee, commented against the continuation of 
the NSUBS. Publee states that NHTSA has collected the NSUBS for years 
and believes that the data collection should not go on without an end 
date. Publee states that the NSUBS is a waste of tax dollars. While 
NHTSA understands Publee's comments, NHTSA believes that the 
continuation of this data collection is necessary to support NHTSA's 
mission. The NSUBS is the only probability-based nationwide child 
restraint use survey in the United States that observes restraint use. 
Without this survey, NHTSA cannot direct outreach programs where they 
are most needed.
    NHTSA received two comments supporting the continuation of the 
NSUBS. Safe Kids Worldwide state that it supports the continuation of 
the NSUBS and uses the information collected from the NSUBS to develop 
and advocate policy around child safety in cars. SafetyBeltSafe U.S.A. 
(SBS USA) also shared its support for the continuation of the NSUBS, 
but stated that in addition to what NSUBS already collects they would 
like more detailed data reporting. SBS USA mentions that 16 States and 
DC mandate rear-facing car seats until age 2. SBS USA wants to know if 
these laws are working in States with these requirements vs. States 
without these requirements. NHTSA does not collect data in every State 
and applies sampling weights to produce nationally representative 
estimates; however NHTSA will consider this suggestion and determine if 
the current sample design will allow reporting of usage rate based on 
child restraint laws. SBS USA is concerned about booster seat usages 
vs. booster seat need especially for children 8- to 12-years old. SBS 
USA suggests having parents conduct the 5-Step Test on children using 
seatbelts and record the results. NHTSA appreciates the suggestion and 
will consider it for the future. At this time, adding the 5-Step Test 
is out of scope of the NSUBS. NHTSA's purpose in conducting the NSUBS 
is to assess the extent to which children are prematurely transitioned 
to restraint types that are inappropriate for their age, height, and 
weight. The data collectors have a limited amount of time to visually 
inspect restraint usage and interview drivers, adding the 5-Step Test 
is time prohibitive. NHTSA does record the age of interviewed children 
and will consider breaking out data based on the age range of 8-9 and 
10-12 as it might give more insight into how older and younger kids in 
the 8-12 age range are transitioned to different restraint types.

[[Page 30330]]

    Affected Public: Motorists in passenger vehicles with children 
under 13 willing to participate at gas stations, fast food restaurants, 
day care centers, and recreation centers frequented by children during 
the time in which the survey is conducted.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: Based on the average number of 
respondents from the last three survey years (2017, 2019, 2021), we 
expect to have approximately 5,300 adult motorists in passenger 
vehicles with children under 13 at gas stations, fast food restaurants, 
day care centers, and recreation as respondents.
    Frequency: Biennial.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: NHTSA estimates that the data 
collection will, on average, take approximately 4.25 minutes of each 
respondent's time. Respondents are adult motorists supplying 
information about children in their vehicle. Multiplying the 4.25 
minutes of burden per respondent by the estimated 5,300 respondents 
yields 376 (5,300 x 4.25/60) total burden hours for all respondents 
collectively. Since NSUBS data are collected biennially, dividing the 
376 total burden hours by two yields an annual burden of 188 hours.
    To represent the value of the respondents' time, NHTSA uses the 
average hourly wage for the United States, which is estimated to be 
$27.07.\1\ Using this estimate, NHTSA estimates the total opportunity 
costs to respondents to be $10,178.32 (376 x $27.07) or $5,089.16 
annually.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ U.S. Dept. of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, June 2021, 
from https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm#00-0000 for May 
2020.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimated Total Annual Burden Cost: $0.
    NHTSA estimates that there are no costs to respondents other than 
opportunity costs associated with the burden 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 1351.29A.

Chou-Lin Chen,
Associate Administrator for the National Center for Statistics and 
Analysis.
[FR Doc. 2022-10629 Filed 5-17-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P