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

Jeff Michael
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
September 1, 2015

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 169 (Tuesday, September 1, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52844-52845]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-21603]



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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration


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

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), U.S. 
Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: NHTSA has forwarded the information collection request 
described in this notice to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
for approval of a new information collection. We published a Federal 
Register Notice with a 60-day public comment period on this information 
collection on April 29, 2015. We are required to publish this notice in 
the Federal Register by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before October 1, 2015.

ADDRESSES: 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 NHTSA Desk Officer.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. James Higgins, 202-366-3976.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Survey of Law Enforcement Officers/Agencies: Attitudes 
Towards and Resources for Traffic Safety Enforcement.
    Type of Request: New information collection requirement.
    Background: Title 23, United States Code, Chapter 4, Section 402 
gives the Secretary authorization to use funds appropriated to carry 
out this section to conduct research and development activities, 
including demonstration projects and the collection and analysis of 
highway and motor vehicle safety data and related information needed to 
carry out this section, with respect to all aspects of highway and 
traffic safety systems and conditions relating to--vehicle, highway, 
driver, passenger, motorcyclist, bicyclist, and pedestrian 
characteristics; accident causation and investigations; and human 
behavioral factors and their effect on highway and traffic safety. 
NHTSA further has the responsibility for promoting and implementing 
effective educational, engineering and enforcement programs with the 
goal of ending preventable tragedies and reducing economic costs 
associated with vehicle use and highway travel.
    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.
    NHTSA is interested in the attitudes of Law Enforcement Officers 
(LEOs) and the resources that Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) have for 
traffic safety enforcement. More specifically, NHTSA is interested in 
past and present LEO viewpoints, agency resources currently being 
employed, how resources are being utilized, and which additional 
resources can be implemented to make the enforcement of traffic safety 
more successful, efficient, and safe for both the Law Enforcement 
Community as well as the public.
    NHTSA proposes to collect information from LEOs and LEAs 
responsible for traffic safety enforcement. Information will be 
collected through a separate survey voluntarily completed by line 
officers and supervisors, as well as structured phone interviews with 
LEA Chiefs or their designees. Agency administrative data will be 
gathered through authorized LEA personnel responsible for maintaining 
such information.
    Due to economic challenges and resource constraints, a number of 
law enforcement agencies have merged traffic enforcement with other 
enforcement divisions in order to reduce costs. It is important to gain 
an understanding of how attitudes and resources have shifted in recent 
years in order to determine what NHTSA can do to enhance traffic 
safety.
    This proposed study is the first step in NHTSA understanding the 
attitudes and challenges that LEOs and LEAs have with traffic safety 
enforcement. This study will collect critical information about current 
and past attitudes towards traffic safety enforcement, as well as 
determine the strengths and weaknesses associated with merging traffic 
enforcement with other enforcement divisions, and allow NHTSA to assess 
key variables that have implications for intervention and outreach 
activities. The agency will gain not only valuable information on the 
attitudes of Law Enforcement but will also gain valuable guidance in 
the logistics involved in recruiting and collecting data from agencies 
and officers as well as the quality of responses and data from the 
developed instruments for larger nationally representative future 
studies.

Proposed Data Acquisition Methodology

    For the proposed study, we will recruit participant groups from 40 
LEAs across the United States who voluntarily agree to participate in 
the study. The Survey of Law Enforcement Officers/Agencies: Attitudes 
Towards and Resources for Traffic Safety Enforcement will be conducted 
with an average sample of 30 law enforcement line officers, 2 law 
enforcement supervisors, and one command-level staff interview among 40 
sampled law enforcement agencies. Approximately 1,200 completed web-
based officer surveys and 80 completed web-based supervisor surveys. In 
addition, an agency head telephone interview will be conducted with a 
member of each agency's command-level staff for a total of 40 completed 
agency head interviews.
    All web instruments will be reviewed for section 508 compliance 
using the rules specified in section 1194.22--`Web-based Intranet and 
internet information and applications'.

Estimated Burden Hours for Information Collection

    Frequency: This collection will be conducted once.
    Respondent Burden: The web survey for the line officers and 
supervisors will average approximately 15 minutes including 
introduction, consent, confidentiality, survey questions, and 
debriefing. The estimated completion time for each semi-structured 
interview is 30 minutes per agency head or designee. Individuals 
providing administrative data have an estimated completion time of 30-
45 minutes. The total estimated annual burden if all solicited 
participants respond is approximately 370 hours. Participants will 
incur no costs and no record keeping burden from the information 
collection.

Public Comments Invited

    You are asked to comment on any aspect of this information 
collection, including: (1) Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the USDOT's performance, including whether 
the information will have practical utility; (2) the data acquisition 
methods; (3) the accuracy of the USDOT's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed information collection; (4) the types of data being acquired; 
(5) ways to enhance the quality, usefulness, and clarity of the 
collected information; and (6) ways that the burden could be minimized 
without reducing the quality of the collected information.

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    The agency will summarize and/or include your comments in the 
request for OMB's clearance of this information collection.

    Authority:  44 U.S.C. Section 3506(c)(2)(A).

    Issued on: August 25, 2015.
Jeff Michael,
Associate Administrator, Research and Program Development.
[FR Doc. 2015-21603 Filed 8-31-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-59-P