Reports, Forms, and Record Keeping Requirements

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[U.S. DOT Docket No. NHTSA-99-5199]

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

Budget (OMB). Under new 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

collections.

This document describes one collection of information for which

NHTSA intends to seek OMB approval.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before May 24, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to U.S. Department of

Transportation Dockets, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Plaza 401, Washington,

DC 20590. Docket No. NHTSA-99-5199.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Alan Block, Contracting Officer's

Technical Representative, Office of Research and Traffic Records (NTS-

31), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 400 Seventh

Street, SW, Room 6240, Washington, DC 20590.

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

submission of responses.

In compliance with these requirements, NHTSA asks public comment on

the following proposed collection of information:

National Survey of Pedestrian and Bicyclist Attitudes, Knowledge,

and Behavior

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--December 31, 2001.

Summary of the Collection of Information--NHTSA proposes to conduct

a National Survey of Pedestrian and Bicyclist Attitudes, Knowledge, and

Behavior by telephone among a national probability sample of 4,200

adults (age 16 and older). Participation by respondents would be

voluntary. The proposed survey would collect information on pedestrian

and bicycling behavior, obstacles to walking and bicycling, use of

bicycle helmets, training in bicycling safety, pedestrian and bicyclist

safety education for children, knowledge of safety issues and rules of

the road, assessment of existing community facilities for walking and

bicycling, and other related issues.

In conducting the proposed survey, the interviewers would use

computer-assisted telephone interviewing to reduce interview length and

minimize recording errors. A Spanish-language translation and bilingual

interviewers would be used to minimize language barriers to

participation. The proposed survey would be anonymous and confidential.

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

Information--The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

was established to reduce the mounting number of deaths, injuries and

economic losses resulting from motor vehicle-related crashes on the

Nation's highways. As part of this statutory mandate, NHTSA is

authorized to conduct research as a foundation for the development of

motor vehicle safety standards and traffic safety programs.

While not as much in the public eye as other traffic safety

problems, motor vehicle crashes involving pedestrians and bicyclists

exact a heavy toll. Pedestrians and bicyclists account for 15 percent

of all traffic fatalities, and more than 130,000 injuries each year.

Yet there are simple things that people can do to reduce these risks,

provided that they are sufficiently aware and willing to take the

appropriate steps. For example, a study published in the Journal of the

American Medical Association found that the universal use of helmets by

all bicyclists could have prevented as many as 2,500 deaths and 757,000

head injuries between 1984 and 1988.

There is a lack of data concerning the public's exposure to risk as

pedestrians and bicyclists, their awareness of correct pedestrian and

bicyclist safety practices, their perceptions of the responsibilities

of other roadway users, and their perceptions of risks. Without this

information, safety professionals are left with inadequate tools for

determining if there are critical deficits in education or training

that should be addressed, or whether interventions are efficiently

targeted to where they are most needed. This in turn would pose severe

constraints on the ability to meet the U.S. Secretary of

Transportation's goal of reducing by 10 percent the number of

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injuries and fatalities occurring to bicyclists and pedestrians.

Besides reducing pedestrian/bicyclist injuries and fatalities, the

U.S. Secretary of Transportation has called for a doubling in the

national percentage of transportation trips made by bicycling and

walking. Both goals are part of the DOT Secretarial Initiative for

Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety. This is a national effort to promote

walking and bicycling as safe, efficient, and healthy ways to travel.

It involves partnering with numerous groups to foster the development

of a more balanced transportation system. Yet while the Initiative

calls for an increase in pedestrian and bicyclist activities, there are

no exposure data to measure its progress. Moreover, there is a lack of

information on the obstacles to walking and bicycling that would have

to be addressed to meet the Secretarial goal; as well as information on

how persons decide whether or not to walk, or to bike.

The proposed survey would collect data to meet the informational

needs described above. The survey instrument would include items to

measure exposure, knowledge, risk perception, community

characteristics, and decision factors. The survey data would be used to

assess the adequacy of present strategies to increase pedestrian and

bicyclist safety, and to help guide policies aimed at encouraging these

modes of transportation.

Description of the Likely Respondents (Including Estimated Number,

and Proposed Frequency of Response to the Collection of Information)--

Under this proposed effort, a telephone interview averaging

approximately 23.5 minutes in length would be administered to each of

4,200 randomly selected members of the general public age 16 and older

in telephone households. The respondent sample would be selected from

all 50 states plus the District of Columbia. Interviews would be

conducted with persons at residential phone numbers selected through

random digit dialing. Businesses are ineligible for the sample and

would not be interviewed. No more than one respondent would be selected

per household. Each member of the sample would complete one interview.

Estimate of the Total Annual Reporting and Record Keeping Burden

Resulting from the Collection of Information--NHTSA estimates that each

respondent in the sample would require an average of 23.5 minutes to

complete the telephone interview. Thus, the number of estimated

reporting burden hours a year on the general public (4,200 respondents

multiplied by 1 interview multiplied by 23.5 minutes) would be 1645 for

the proposed survey. The respondents would not incur any reporting cost

from the information collection. The respondents also would not incur

any record keeping burden or record keeping cost from the information

collection.

Rose A. McMurray,

Associate Administrator for Traffic Safety Programs.

[FR Doc. 99-7074 Filed 3-23-99; 8:45 am]

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