[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 163 (Friday, August 21, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51844-51848]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-18409]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2019-0037]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval: Driver 
Interactions With Advanced Driver Assistance Technologies

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

ACTION: Notice and request for comments on a request for approval of a 
new information collection.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this 
notice announces that the Information Collection Request (ICR) 
abstracted below has been forwarded to the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) for review and approval. A Federal Register notice with a 
60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following information 
collection was published on May 21, 2019 (84 FR 23154). NHTSA received 
7 public comments. A summary of the comments and the changes NHTSA made 
in response to those comments is provided below.

DATES: Written comments should be submitted on or before September 21, 
2020.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection, including suggestions for reducing burden, 
should be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget at 
www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. To find this particular information 
collection, select ``Currently under 30-day Review--Open for Public 
Comment'' or use the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information or access 
to background documents, contact Elizabeth Mazzae, Applied Crash 
Avoidance Research Division, Vehicle Research and Test Center, NHTSA, 
10820 State Route 347--Bldg. 60, East Liberty, Ohio 43319; Telephone 
(937) 666-4511; Facsimile: (937) 666-3590; email address: 
elizabeth.mazzae@dot.gov.

[[Page 51845]]


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Before a Federal agency can collect certain 
information from the public, it must receive approval from the Office 
of Management and Budget (OMB). In compliance with these requirements, 
this notice announces that the following information collection request 
has been forwarded to OMB.
    OMB Control Number: To be issued at time of approval.
    Title: Driver Interactions With Advanced Driver Assistance 
Technologies.
    Form Numbers: NHTSA forms 1522, 1525, 1527.
    Type of Request: New information collection.
    Type of Review Requested: Regular.
    Length of Approval Requested: Three years from the date of 
approval.
    Abstract: NHTSA has proposed to perform research involving the 
collection of information from the public as part of a multi-year 
effort to learn about drivers' use of and behavior in interacting with 
certain advanced driver assistance technologies (ADAS). The research 
will involve on-road, semi-naturalistic driving experimentation in 
which participants who are members of the general public will drive 
government-owned instrumented production vehicles equipped with driver 
assistance technologies. The goal is to measure drivers' responses to 
system alerts and their frequency of system use, as well as observe 
their behavior during system use. This research will support NHTSA 
decisions relating to safe implementation of advanced driver assistance 
technologies.
    The research will also investigate whether drivers' experience with 
one brand's ADAS impacts how they interact when driving another vehicle 
equipped with a different brand's systems. This scenario is one that 
would be experienced with rental cars and family vehicle sharing and 
will provide important insights into how differences in system 
operation and interface design aspects may cause usability issues. The 
observation of usability issues would inform NHTSA about the benefits 
of common system interface design aspects (e.g., visual and auditory 
displays and controls).
    Participants will include drivers with and without experience with 
the particular ADAS features being studied. Experienced drivers will be 
ones who own one of the two vehicle models equipped with the particular 
ADAS feature(s) being studied and can be verified to have a certain 
degree of experience in using the feature(s). Participants will be 
asked to drive a specified route over public roadways while using 
driver assistance technologies. Participants' actions to engage the 
assistance features and responses to unrequested disengagements will be 
observed and recorded.
    Information will be collected during the course of the research 
through participant screening questions, recording of video and 
engineering data, and post-drive questionnaires. Questions addressed to 
individuals will serve to assess individuals' suitability for study 
participation, to obtain feedback regarding participants' use of the 
ADAS technologies, and to gauge individuals' level of comfort with and 
confidence in the technologies' performance and safety. Since 
qualitative feedback or self-report data is not sufficiently robust for 
the purpose of investigating driver performance/interaction issues with 
advanced vehicle control and safety technologies, objective data will 
also be recorded including driver eye glance behavior and hand 
locations. Eye glance behavior will reveal how drivers visually monitor 
and respond to visual alert information. Hand location data will 
provide information regarding how well drivers are able to engage the 
advanced driver assistance functions efficiently (e.g., with one 
attempt or multiple attempts) and how long it takes. We will observe 
whether drivers engage in secondary tasks (e.g., interacting with 
infotainment functions) during feature engagement.
    Description of the Need for the Information and Proposed Use of the 
Information:
    The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) 
mission is to save lives, prevent injuries, and reduce healthcare and 
other economic costs associated with motor vehicle crashes. As driver 
assistance technologies advance, they have the potential to 
dramatically reduce the number of motor vehicle crashes, injuries, and 
associated economic costs. The safety and effectiveness of the 
technologies depends on drivers understanding the capabilities, 
constraints, and visual and auditory alerts provided. Drivers' 
understanding of when assistance features are available to use and when 
they are not is important for safety. In particular, drivers must 
understand and respond quickly when a feature indicates that it is 
disengaging and the driver must retake full manual control of driving. 
This work seeks to gather information regarding how drivers who are 
inexperienced compare to drivers with experience using driver 
assistance features including advanced cruise control and either lane 
keeping assistance or lane centering assistance. The research will 
compare the two groups' use of these features in interactions, response 
to disengagement notifications, and proper use.
    The collection of information will consist of: (1) Question Set 1, 
Driving Research Study Interest Response Form, (2) Question Set 2, 
Screening Questions, (3) passive observation of driving behavior, and 
(4) Question Set 3, Post-Drive Questionnaire.
    Affected Public (Respondents): Research participants will be 
licensed drivers aged 25 years to 65 who drive at least an average 
number of miles annually (e.g., 11,000 miles), are in good health, and 
do not require assistive devices to safely operate a vehicle and drive 
continuously for a period of 3 hours.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: The data collection will have two 
equal-sized parts: One that will begin immediately upon receipt of PRA 
clearance and will involve use of two 2018-2019 model year U.S. 
production vehicle models. The second part of the data collection will 
begin after completion of the first part and will have the same 
approach, but will involve different vehicle models.
    Information for both parts of the data collection will be collected 
in an incremental fashion to permit the determination of which 
individuals have the necessary characteristics for study participation. 
All interested candidates will complete Question Set 1, Driving 
Research Study Interest Response Form. A subset of individuals meeting 
the criteria for Question Set 1 will be asked to complete Question Set 
2, Screening Questions. From the individuals found to meet the criteria 
for both Questions sets 1 and 2, a subset will be chosen with the goal 
of achieving a sample providing a balance of age and sex to be 
scheduled for study participation.
    A summary of the estimated numbers of individuals that will 
complete the noted question sets across both the first and second data 
collection parts is provided in the following table. Both data 
collection parts will involve approximately 500 respondents for 
Question Set 1, 300 for Question Set 2, and 150 for Question Set 3.

[[Page 51846]]



                     Estimated Number of Respondents
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                        Questions                             Total N
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Question Set 1, Driving Research Study Interest Response            1000
 Form...................................................
Question Set 2, Screening Questions.....................             600
Question Set 3, Post-Drive Questionnaire................             300
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    Estimated Time per Response: For both parts of the data collection, 
completion of Question Set 1, Driving Research Study Interest Response 
Form is estimated to take approximately 5 minutes and completion is 
estimated to take approximately 7 minutes for Question Set 2, Screening 
Questions. Completion of Question Set 3, Post-Drive Questionnaire is 
estimated to take 15 minutes per inexperienced participant and 20 
minutes per experienced participant for both parts of data collection.
    The estimated annual time and cost burdens across both the first 
and second data collection parts are summarized in the table below. For 
example, the anticipated number of individuals completing Question Set 
1 for part 1 of the data collection is half of 1000, or 500, and so on.
    The number of respondents and time to complete each question set 
are estimated as shown in the table. The time per question set is 
calculated by multiplying the number of respondents by the time per 
respondent and then converting from minutes to hours. The hour value 
for each question set is multiplied by the latest average hour earning 
estimate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics \1\ to obtain an estimated 
burden cost per question set.
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    \1\ * Cost per hour based on Bureau of Labor Statistics Dec. 
2019 Average Hourly Earnings data for ``Total Private,'' $28.32 
(Accessed Jan. 28, 2020 at https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t19.htm).

                                                       Estimated Time per Response and Total Time
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                                                                                             Time per
             Question set                        Question topic            Participants      response       Pay rate *     Total burden     Total cost
                                                                                             (minutes)                         hours
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1....................................  Driving Research Study Interest              1000               5          $28.32            83.3      $ 2,359.91
                                        Response Form.
2....................................  Screening Questions..............             600               7           28.32            70.0        1,982.40
3....................................  Post-Drive Questionnaire,                     150              15           28.32            37.5        1,062.00
                                        Inexperienced.
                                       Post-Drive Questionnaire,                     150              20           28.32            50.0        1,416.00
                                        Experienced.
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    Total Estimated Burden..............................................  ..............  ..............  ..............           240.8        6,820.31
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    Frequency of Collection: The data collections described will be 
performed once to obtain the target number of 300 valid test 
participants.
    On May 21, 2019, NHTSA published a 60-day notice requesting public 
comment on the proposed collection of information.\2\ We received 
comments from seven entities, including four organizations and three 
individuals. Organizations submitting comments included AAA, The Center 
for Auto Safety, Consumer Reports, and the Motor & Equipment 
Manufacturers Association (MEMA). All comments were supportive of the 
research. No comments addressed the questions to be asked of 
participants. Some suggestions for clarifying and expanding the 
research are summarized below.
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    \2\ 84 FR 23154 (May 21, 2019).
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    Some comments requested clarification of participation criteria, 
such as a more detailed definition of what NHTSA would consider 
``experience'' with using an ADAS. For example, AAA recommended that in 
relation to study participant recruitment, NHTSA should collect more 
information on candidate participants' personally-owned vehicle(s), any 
ADAS features on their vehicle(s), and the individuals' experience with 
respect to ADAS technologies. NHTSA wishes to clarify that the 
participant recruitment criteria listed in the prior published 60-day 
PRA information collection notice was not a complete accounting of all 
information that will be considered in screening candidate 
participants. The notice was an announcement of a planned information 
collection for the purposes of obtaining PRA clearance and not a full, 
detailed accounting and substantiation of a research plan. NHTSA has a 
strategy for characterizing drivers' experience with the specific 
vehicle models and ADAS technologies planned for involvement in the 
study. For example, NHTSA will query state vehicle registration data 
for a particular VIN pattern to identify owners of vehicle models 
equipped with the technology of interest. In addition, vehicle 
registration data will provide information regarding how long an 
individual has owned the vehicle. A minimum annual driving mileage 
requirement will be used and participants will be required to be a 
primary driver of the vehicle model of interest. Owners will also be 
questioned about their use of the technology and also be observed using 
the technology during the experimental training step to allow us to 
confirm that the individual has an acceptable degree of system-use 
knowledge desired for the study.
    Some comments suggested adjustments to study participation 
criteria, such as lowering the minimum annual mileage driven and 
including younger and older drivers.
    1. A suggestion to lower the minimum annual driving mileage 
criterion of 14,000 miles was submitted by both AAA and The Center for 
Auto Safety. AAA commented that the stated mileage criterion 
corresponded to drivers ``who are in the top quartile of all drivers 
nationwide with respect to annual driving mileage . . .''. The study's 
annual mileage criterion is based on a desire to obtain participants 
who drive regularly. NHTSA agrees that annual driving miles statistics 
show a declining trend. In response to these comments

[[Page 51847]]

and further review of available data, the minimum annual driving 
mileage criterion will be lowered to 11,000 miles.
    2. The Center for Auto Safety commented that the stated participant 
age range of 25-54 years does not account for the other 49 percent of 
the driver population who are under 25 years of age or over 54 and that 
``. . . one of the fastest growing cohorts in the United States are 
people aged 65 and older.'' For this research, due to limited time and 
funding with which to conduct the research, NHTSA chose a single age 
group consisting of the ``middle age'' range of drivers, those aged 25 
to 65, that is considered to have generally homogeneous driving 
behavior characteristics. NHTSA will consider including younger and 
older drivers in subsequent research efforts.
    Other comments suggested broadening the study scope to include 
additional vehicle models and a variety of traffic scenarios and 
conditions.
    1. Regarding the route over public roads that participants will 
drive in the research, AAA stated that the ``course should entail a 
variety of road conditions including divided limited access highways, 
two lane rural roads and surface streets, as appropriate. Varying 
traffic conditions should be included as well.'' Route selection for 
the first part of this research is constrained by the operational 
design domain (ODD) of technologies and vehicle models chosen for the 
study. As such, the route to be used in the first part of this work 
will necessarily consist of multi-lane highways. For the second part of 
this research, NHTSA will consider available production ADASs and their 
ODDs when selecting the route to be used for testing.
    2. Both AAA and MEMA recommended that the study route should permit 
participants to use the technologies in different types of traffic 
conditions and traffic volumes. NHTSA will not control for traffic 
volumes directly in this research, but will constrain testing hours to 
daylight periods and will record video data documenting traffic 
conditions experienced by participants during their experimental drives 
for later characterization as part of data analysis.
    3. Consumer Reports expressed concern that only two vehicle models 
are planned for use in the first part of this research. They noted that 
the ``capabilities and limitations of these systems can vary greatly 
among manufacturers, and thus it would be very difficult to generalize 
the results to all vehicles if NHTSA's research includes only two 
vehicle models.'' While testing additional models would likely provide 
additional interesting information, it is not feasible to test a large 
number of vehicle models using the planned research method and ensure 
timely and relevant results. In choosing vehicle models, we considered 
feature availability, feature performance (e.g., can lateral and 
longitudinal control be engaged simultaneously?), and sales. The two 
vehicles' chosen have different strategies for determining when lateral 
and longitudinal control may be engaged: One is speed based and the 
other is map/location based. One of the two vehicle models is also a 
fairly frequently purchased model for which the ADAS technologies of 
interest are standard equipment.
    For the second, subsequent part of this research, NHTSA will 
consider available production ADAS-equipped vehicles and their ODDs and 
choose ones that will best help us answer important safety questions.
    4. A comment from AAA stated that ``NHTSA should ensure that the 
methodology used for comparing vehicles accounts for the system 
variations, while tabulating the number and reason for disengagements 
of the system.'' NHTSA wishes to clarify that the focus of this 
research is not on comparing systems from different manufacturers, but 
rather to examine how effectively drivers use and interact with ADAS 
technologies involved in the research. The research will also examine 
the efficacy of the systems' different means of communication with the 
driver in relation to status of the ADAS feature(s). NHTSA has other 
ongoing research efforts that focus on characterizing technology 
performance separate from the driver behavior and technology use 
context.
    5. MEMA recommended increasing the survey accuracy by increasing 
sample size. The total number of participants planned for this on-road, 
semi-naturalistic driving research is 300. For on-road, instrumented 
vehicle research, this number represents quite a large number of 
research participants and would require substantial funding and labor 
effort to complete the work. NHTSA's preliminary calculations show that 
the planned sample size will provide ample statistical power for the 
study analyses planned.
    6. AAA suggested that ``Before moving forward with experimental 
design, NHTSA should provide the public and industry an opportunity to 
conduct a design review.'' This step could be critical in ensuring that 
automakers who design and deploy advanced driver assistance 
technologies can provide appropriate feedback and highlight important 
information to NHTSA to optimize research results.'' NHTSA generally 
welcomes exchanges of information with industry partners. In this 
instance, however, the approach and experimental design for the first 
part of this research is complete, as the study's magnitude in terms of 
number of participants and time required for participation (i.e., time 
burden) must be estimated in order to request clearance under the 
Paperwork Reduction Act. NHTSA has taken pains to ensure that the 
systems involved in the research will be production ADAS-equipped 
vehicles that are currently available for sale to the American public. 
Also, the vehicles will necessarily be driven on roadways that maximize 
the opportunity for use of the ADS features being examined given the 
ODD of those features. Therefore, we are confident that the study 
results will provide useful information to automakers.
    Three additional comments from individual members of the public 
highlighted concerns regarding driving automation. One commenter 
concerned about the possibility of vehicles being hacked and remotely 
controlled asserted that in all vehicles with driving automation 
capability, ``there needs to be the standard automotive equipment and a 
manual override switch in place'' so that ``in case something happens 
it can be changed back to `normal' vehicle functions instantly.'' 
Another individual suggested that ``in addition to instrumented 
vehicles for data collection, the latest in virtual reality technology 
be leveraged for such efforts.'' Lastly, a commenter stated his belief 
that automation in vehicles needs to be ``all or nothing because as 
drivers get acclimated to automation they will lose their proficiency 
at driving a vehicle. In my opinion all vehicles . . . will have to 
operate on the same system, with no human responsibilities . . .''.
    NHTSA appreciates the suggestions regarding participation criteria 
and additional experimental conditions to consider; however, the scope 
of the current work is limited by both program timeline and allocated 
funding amount. NHTSA will keep in mind the suggestions as input for 
future research programs.

Public Comments Invited

    You are asked to comment on any aspect of this information 
collection, including (a) whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the Department's performance; (b) the 
accuracy of the estimated burden; (c) ways for the department to 
enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information collection; 
and (d) ways

[[Page 51848]]

that the burden could be minimized without reducing the quality of the 
collected information.

    Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; 44 U.S.C. 
chapter 35, as amended; 49 CFR 1.49; and DOT Order 1351.29.

    Issued in Washington, DC.
Cem Hatipoglu,
Associate Administrator, Office of Vehicle Safety Research.
[FR Doc. 2020-18409 Filed 8-20-20; 8:45 am]
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