Agency information collection activities: Proposed collection; comment request,

[Federal Register: December 13, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 238)]

[Notices]

[Page 69582-69583]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr13de99-119]

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.

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

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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. 99-32105Filed12-10-99; 8:45 am]

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