Reports, Forms, and Record Keeping Requirements

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[U.S. DOT Docket No NHTSA-99-6519]

Reports, Forms, and Record Keeping Requirements

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

ACTION: Request for public comment on proposed collection of

information.

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SUMMARY: Before a Federal Agency can collect certain information from

the public, it must receive approval from the Office of Management and

the Budget (OMB). Under procedures established by the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995, before seeking OMB approval, Federal Agencies

must solicit public comment on proposed information collections,

including extensions and reinstatements of previously approved

collections. This document describes one collection of information for

which NHTSA intends to seek OMB approval.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before February 11, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Comments must refer to the docket notice number cited at the

beginning of this notice and be submitted to Docket Management, Room

PL-401, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590. It is requested,

but not required that two copies of the comment be provided. The Docket

section is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marvin Levy, Ph.D., Contracting

Officer's Technical Representative, Office of Research and Traffic

Records (NTS-31), Washington, DC 20590, telephone (202) 366-5597.

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 for a 60-day comment period and otherwise consult with

affected agencies and members of the public 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

methods and assumptions;

(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

submission of responses.

In response to these requirements, NHTSA asks for public comment on

the following proposed collection of information:

Five State Survey of Alcohol Targets of Opportunity

Type of Request: New information collection requirement.

OMB Clearance Number: None.

Form Number: This collection of information uses no standard forms.

Requested expiration date of approval: February 28, 2003.

Summary of the Collection of Information

The Partners in Progress goal is to reduce the number of alcohol

related fatalities from 15,935, in 1998, to 11,000 by the year 2005. In

support of this goal, five states were awarded cooperative agreements

by NHTSA to demonstrate and evaluate the effectiveness of traffic

safety programs that combine increased law enforcement efforts with

substantial publicity about these programs. These states were selected

because of their potential for reducing the substantial

[[Page 69583]]

number or percentage of alcohol related fatalities occurring each year

within their state.

The objective of this survey is to determine the extent to which

these five programs impact the awareness, attitudes, and driving

behavior of motorists. It is anticipated that changes in enforcement

levels should be reflected by changes in driver awareness, attitudes

and behavior. For example, a state that doubles or triples their

alcohol enforcement activities and provides substantial publicity might

expect that respondents report a greater degree of awareness of these

efforts as compared to before the program began. It may be expected

that respondents would report they came in contact with law enforcement

more frequently and drive after drinking less often once the program

began. In addition, the survey will provide information on driver

awareness and acceptability of specific enforcement techniques being

used as well as data regarding a new national alcohol media campaign

called ``You drink and drive, You Lose''. The information to be

collected by this survey is not available to NHTSA through any other

source.

Within each state, the survey will be administered in three waves

(prior to the intervention effort, at the mid-point, and at the end the

effort) by telephone to a probability sample of the driving age public

(aged 16 years or older as of their last birthday). Participation by

respondents is strictly voluntary. The interview is anticipated to

average 8-10 minutes in length. Interviewers will use computer assisted

telephone interviewing to reduce survey administration time and to

minimize data collection errors. A Spanish-language questionnaire and

bi-lingual interviewers will be used to reduce language barriers to

participation. All respondents' results will remain anonymous and

completely confidential. Participant names and telephone numbers used

to reach the respondents are separated from the data records prior to

their entry into the analytical database.

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

Information

More than 305,000 persons were reported injured and nearly 16,000

persons died in alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes during 1998

(Traffic Safety Facts: 1998, NHTSA-National Center for Statistics and

Analysis). NHTSA is committed to the development of effective programs

to reduce the incidence of these crashes. Recently, NHTSA awarded

cooperative agreements, valued at approximately $1,000,000 each, to

five states--Pennsylvania, Georgia, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Texas.

Each state is responsible for implementing the enforcement and

publicity programs and conducting both process and impact evaluations.

Data to be collected include number and types of police stops made, and

changes in alcohol-related violations and crashes. In order to reduce

the work requirements for each state and to create sets of survey data

that can be readily compared among the states, a separate award was

made to a survey firm having expertise in conducting random telephone

surveys. Thus, the survey data to be collected comprise only one part

of the entire data set that will be assessed. The entire data set will

be used to properly plan and evaluate new enforcement programs directed

at reducing alcohol-impaired driving. States found to have implemented

effective programs in countering the driving after drinking problem

will prepare a Best Practices Guide that highlights the major features

of their programs. These Guides will be disseminated among states that

want to implement an improved alcohol enforcement program.

The findings from this proposed data collection will assist NHTSA

in addressing the problem of alcohol-impaired driving and in

formulating programs and recommendations to Congress. NHTSA will use

the findings to help focus current programs and activities to achieve

the greatest benefit, to develop new programs to decrease the

likelihood of drinking and driving behaviors, and to provide

informational support to states, localities, and law enforcement

agencies that will aid them in their efforts to reduce drinking and

driving crashes and injuries. It should be noted that during the past

decade NHTSA has conducted surveys on drinking and driving attitudes

and behavior but these were from nationally represented samples and not

related to specific statewide enforcement activities. Also, some survey

data about an enforcement effort were collected years ago in one of the

targeted states--Tennessee--but these data cannot be used within the

context of the present study.

Description of the Likely Respondents (Including Estimated Number,

and Proposed Frequency of Response to the Collection of

Information)

Under this proposed collection, a telephone interview averaging

approximately 8-10 minutes in length would be administered to each of

1,000 randomly selected members of the general public age 16 and older,

in each of the five states in this study, at three different times over

an 18 month period. A total of 15,000 individuals will be interviewed

over the course of this study. Interviews would be conducted with

persons at residential phone numbers selected using random digit

dialing. No more than one respondent per household would be selected,

and each sample member would complete just one interview. Businesses

are ineligible for the sample and would be not be interviewed. After

each wave is completed and the data analyzed, the findings will be

disseminated to each state for review.

Estimate of the Total Annual Reporting and Record Keeping Burden

Resulting From the Collection of Information

NHTSA estimates that respondents in the sample would require an

average of 8.5 minutes to complete the telephone interview. Thus, the

number of estimated reporting burden on the general public would be a

total of 2,125 hours for all three waves of the proposed survey. The

respondents would not incur any reporting or record keeping cost from

the information collection.

Rose A. McMurray,

Associate Administrator, Traffic Safety Programs.

[FR Doc. 99-32105 Filed 12-10-99; 8:45 am]

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