Agency information collection activities: Submission for OMB review; comment request,

[Federal Register: May 27, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 101)]

[Notices]

[Page 29053-29055]

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

[DOCID:fr27my98-92]

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary

Reports, Forms and Recordkeeping Requirements; Agency Information Collection Activity Under OMB Review

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, DOT.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this notice announces that the Information Collection Requests (ICRs) abstracted below have been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. The ICRs describe the nature of the information collections and their expected burden. The Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on (1) Fatal Accident Reporting System (FARS) was published on February 19, 1998 [63 FR 8519-8520] and(2) 49 CFR Part 583, Motor Vehicle Content Labeling was published on February 26, 1998

[63 FR 9897] and (3) A Survey of Drivers Experiences and Expectations of Light Vehicle Brake System Performance: ABS vs Non-ABS was published in the Federal Register on February 23, 1998 [63 FR 9042].

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before June 26, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Robinson, NHTSA Information Collection Clearance Officer at (202) 366-9456.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

(1) Title: Fatal Accident Reporting System (FARS)

OMB Control Number: 2127-0006.

Type of Request: Extension of a currently approved collection.

Affected Public: State, Local or Tribal Government.

Abstract: Under both the Highway Safety Act of 1966 and the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966, Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has the responsibility to collect accident data that support the establishment and enforcement of motor vehicle regulations and highway safety programs. These regulations and programs are developed to reduce the severity of injury and the property damage associated with motor vehicle accidents. The Fatal Accident Reporting System (FARS) is in its twenty-third year of operation as a major system that acquires national fatality information directly from existing State files and documents. Since FARS is an on-going data acquisition system, reviews are conducted yearly to determine whether the data acquired are responsive to the total user population needs. The total user population includes Federal and State agencies and the private sector. Two data items, Death Certificate Number and Fatal Injury At Work, are not recorded on any FARS form but are electronically transmitted to the central FARS file.

Estimated Annual Burden: 77,400 hours.

(2) Title: 49 CFR 583 Automobile Parts Content Labeling

OMB Control Number: 2127-0573.

Type of Request: Extension of currently approved collection.

Affected Public: Individuals or households.

Abstract: The American Automobile Labeling Act (AALA) or Section 210 of the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act mandates this information collection. The Act requires all new passenger motor vehicles (including passenger cars, certain small buses, all trucks and multipurpose passenger vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating of 8,500 pounds or Less), beginning on October 1, 1994, to bear labels providing information about the domestic and foreign content of their equipment. The following information must appear on the label:

(a) The percentage (by Value) of the equipment in the vehicles that originated in the United States and Canada;

(b) Names of the countries, other than the U.S. or Canada, if any, that contributed the two highest Percentages (15 percent or more) to the total value of the equipment that comprises the vehicle and the percentage those countries contributed;

(c) The city, state and country of final assembly of the vehicle;

(d) The country of origin for the transmission of the vehicle (i.e., the country that contributed the greatest percentage to the total value of the equipment in that engine); and

(e) The country of origin for the transmission of the vehicle (i.e., the country that contributed the greatest percentage to the total value of the equipment in the transmission).

The information submitted under this collection provides the justifying rational for labeling content affixation to each new passenger motor.

Estimated Annual Burden: 7080 hours.

(3) Title: A Survey of Drivers Experiences and Expectations of Light Vehicle Brake System Performance: ABS vs Non-ABS

OMB Clearance Number: 2127-0594.

Type of Request: New collection.

Affected Public: Individuals, households.

Abstract: Data collection will be accomplished through the use of Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI). The CATI system allows a computer to perform a number of functions prone to error when done manually by interviewers, including:

1. Providing correct question sequence;

2. Automatically executing skip patterns based on responses to prior questions (which decreases overall interview time and consequentially the burden on respondents);

3. Recalling answers to prior questions and displaying the information in the test of later questions;

4. Providing random rotation of specified questions or response categories (to avoid bias);

5. Ensuring that questions cannot be skipped; and

6. Rejecting invalid responses or data entries.

The CATI system lists questions and corresponding response categories automatically on the screen, eliminating the need for interviewers to track slip patterns and flip pages. Moreover, the interviewers enter responses directly from their keyboards, and the information is automatically recorded in the computer's memory.

The CATI system includes safeguards to reduce interviewer error in direct key-entry of survey responses. It has a double check method to eliminate the problem of key entry error as a result of accidentally hitting the wrong key. Unlike some systems, when the interviewer enters the code for the respondent reply, the code is not immediately accepted and the interview moved to the next screen. Rather, the screen remains on the question and response categories for the item, and the code and category entered by the interviewer are displayed at the bottom of the screen. The interviewer must confirm the initial entry before it is accepted by the computer as final. If, despite these safeguards, the wrong answer is entered or a respondent changes his/her reply, the interviewer can correct the entry before moving on to the next question.

Description of the need for the information and proposed use of the information: Antilock brake systems (ABS) have been increasingly prevalent on passenger car and light trucks in recent years. Brake experts anticipated that the introduction of ABS on these vehicles would reduce the number and severity of crashes. A number of statistical analyses of crash databases have been performed over the past three years, and suggest that the introduction of ABS does not appear to have reduced the number of automobile crashes where they were expected to be effective. Included in these analyses is a

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significant increase of single-vehicle, run-off-road crashes for vehicles equipped with ABS as compared to cars without ABS. It is unknown to what extent, if any, this increase is due to incorrect driver usage of ABS, incorrect driver responses to their ABS, or unrealistic driver expectations of an ABS braking ability.

Estimate of Total Annual Burden: 1375 hours.

Address: Send comments, within 30 days, to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, 725-17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503, Attention DOT Desk Officer. Comments are invited on: 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; the accuracy of the Department's estimate of the burden of the proposed information collection; ways to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information to be collected; and 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.

A comment to OMB is best assured of having its full effect if OMB receives it within 30 days of publication.

Issued in Washington, DC, on May 21, 1998. Vanester M. Williams, Clearance Officer, United States Department of Transportation.

[FR Doc. 98-13982Filed5-26-98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910-62-P