Agency information collection activities: Proposed collection; request for comment,

[Federal Register: July 1, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 126)]

[Notices]

[Page 36010-36012]

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

[DOCID:fr01jy98-129]

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-98-3979; Notice No. 1]

Reports, Forms, and Recordkeeping Requirements (Authority: Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995)

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 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 a collection of information for which NHTSA intends to seek OMB approval.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before August 31, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to the DOT Docket Management

[[Page 36011]]

Facility, U.S. Department of Transportation, Room PL-01, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590. Docket No. NHTSA ______. Comments must refer to the docket and notice numbers cited at the beginning of this notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Complete copies of each request for collection of information may be obtained at no charge from Mr. Michael Robinson, NHTSA Information Collection Clearance Officer, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Room 6123, Washington, DC 20590. Mr. Robinson's telephone number is (202) 366-9456.

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:

Assessment of the Drowsy Driver Education Campaign

Type of Request--New information collection requirement.

OMB Clearance Number--Not yet assigned.

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

Requested Expiration Date of Approval--12/31/99.

Summary of the Collection of Information--NHTSA is developing an educational program to help night-shift workers to increase the amount and improve the quality of their sleep in order to reduce their risk for involvement in automobile crashes as a result of driving while drowsy. The education campaign will present several messages related to sleep improvement, sleepiness, and driving while drowsy to night-shift workers employed by 24-hour industries. To ensure that the program is effective in conveying crucial information to shift workers, NHTSA is proposing to conduct a survey of workers to determine changes in their knowledge, attitudes and behavior pertaining to sleep and drowsy driving as a result of the Drowsy Driver Education Campaign. NHTSA proposes to collect survey data from night-shift workers at up to twenty sites that implement the program to varying degrees.

Workers' participation in the self-administered survey would be voluntary. The survey tool would be administered prior to the beginning of the campaign and again 6 months later (after the close of the campaign) to assess the extent to which campaign messages had their intended effect.

Questions included in the survey would be designed to assess changes in night shift worker knowledge, attitude, and behavior as they relate to improved sleep and decreased drowsy driving. A core set of survey items will be asked on both the pre-and post-test survey instruments; some retrospective items will only appear on the post-test instrument.

Survey participants would include a non-probability sample of up to 100 night-shift workers (employed between the hours of 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.) at each participating employer, including some workers on rotating shifts, all of whom would be exposed to the education campaign. Participants are expected to include both male and female workers, age 18 and over. The proposed survey would be anonymous and confidential.

Description of the Need for the Information and Proposed use of the Information--NHTSA was established to reduce the number of deaths, injuries, and economic losses resulting from motor vehicle 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 standards and traffic safety programs.

In the 1996 Appropriations Bill for the Department of Transportation, the Senate Appropriations Committee report noted that, ``NHTSA data indicate that in recent years there have been about 56,000 crashes annually in which driver drowsiness/fatigue was cited by police. An annual average of roughly 40,000 nonfatal injuries and 1,500 fatalities result from these crashes. It is widely recognized that these statistics under-report the extent of these types of crashes.''

In response to the Committee's report, Congress allocated funds for a public education campaign on drowsy driving among non-commercial drivers to be sponsored by NHTSA and the National Center of Sleep Disorders Research of the National Institutes of Health.

As a preliminary task in the development of the campaign, NHTSA in cooperation with the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research (an agency of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health) convened an Expert Panel on Driver Fatigue and Sleepiness to conduct a review of the literature to establish the state of knowledge on sleepiness and driving. This research indicated that the night shift worker is an appropriate target for the education campaign addressing drowsy driving. Night shift workers typically get one and one-half fewer hours of sleep per 24 hours than day workers. They are also at greatest risk of sleep disruption because their work requires that they sleep during daylight hours, interfering with circadian (i.e., day/night sleep) patterns known to exist in human beings.

Data from a recent national telephone survey indicate that 57 percent of the adult public have driven when drowsy during the past calendar year; 23 percent of this population report that they have fallen asleep at the wheel. When data were restricted to individuals working rotating or evening shifts, they indicate that: (1) 80 percent of adults working rotating shifts and 64 percent of adults working regular night shifts had driven while drowsy during the past calendar year, and (2) 40 percent of adults working rotating shifts and 28 percent of adults working regular night shifts reported falling asleep at the wheel.

An education campaign with messages focused on the need for more continuous and higher quality sleep is being finalized for implementation among night shift workers. The proposed survey would assess the ability of this campaign to improve sleep patterns among night shift workers. The survey would allow for the collection of baseline data on knowledge, attitude, and behaviors related to sleep and drowsy driving among shift workers, and their

[[Page 36012]]

comparison with similar data collected at the close of the campaign. If approved, the proposed survey would assist NHTSA in establishing policy related to the expansion of the education campaign to the larger driving community.

Description of the Likely Respondents (Including Estimated Number, and Proposed Frequency of Response to the Collection of Information)-- The information collection described in this notice would be a self- administered paper-and-pencil survey requiring approximately 20 minutes to complete. It would be administered to up to 2,000 shift workers (average of about 100 per site), both male and female, ages 18 and older. Survey participants will be identified by the 15 to 20 employers who will have been awarded grants to participate in the conduct and evaluation of the educational program. Each individual would be surveyed twice during the course of the program: prior to the start of the campaign and again at the close of the campaign.

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 20 minutes to complete the survey. Thus, the number of estimated reporting burden hours a year on the survey participants (2,000 participants multiplied by 2 survey administrations multiplied by 20 minutes) would be 1,333 person-hours for the proposed survey. The respondents would not incur any reporting cost from the data collection. The respondents also would not incur any record keeping burden or record keeping cost from the information collection. James L. Nichols, Acting Associate Administrator for Traffic Safety Programs.

[FR Doc. 98-17512Filed6-30-98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910-59-P