[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 240 (Friday, December 13, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68292-68294]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-26823]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[U.S. DOT Docket No. NHTSA-2019-0051]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Request 
for Comment; Effects of Education on Speeding Behavior

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

ACTION: Notice and request for comments on 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 will be submitted to the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) for review. The ICR describes the nature of the 
information collection and its expected burden. A Federal Register 
notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting public comments on the 
following information collection was published on August 30, 2019. 
NHTSA received one comment, from the Insurance Institute of Highway 
Safety (IIHS), that was critical of the proposed information 
collection.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before January 13, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Send comments regarding the burden estimate, including 
suggestions for reducing the burden, to the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Attention: Desk 
Officer for NHTSA, 725 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kelly Sheppard, Research Psychologist, 
Office of Behavioral Safety Research (NPD-320), National Highway 
Traffic Safety Administration, Department of Transportation, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue SE, W46-499, Washington, DC 20590. Dr. Sheppard's phone 
number is 202-366-6401, and her email address is 
kelly.sheppard@dot.gov.

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.
    A Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting 
public comments on the following information collection was published 
on August 30, 2019.\1\ NHTSA received one comment, from the Insurance 
Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS), that was critical of the proposed 
information collection. IIHS stated that stand-alone education programs 
have not been found to be effective at addressing driver behaviors like 
speeding and that pursuing an education program is not an effective use 
of the agency's resources. They cited NHTSA's Speed Management Program 
Plan as having other activities with more promise for reducing 
speeding.\2\ They also indicated that NHTSA's Countermeasures that Work 
report promotes communications in support of enforcement but not 
education alone.\3\ They stated their view that incentives for 
intelligent speed adaptation outlined in the National Transportation 
Safety Board's (NTSB) Reducing Speeding-Related Crashes Involving 
Passenger Vehicles safety report was a more effective use of 
resources.\4\
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    \1\ 84 FR 45827.
    \2\ National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Federal 
Highway Administration, & Federal Motor Carrier Safety 
Administration. (2014, May). Speed management program plan (Report 
No. DOT HS 812 028). Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration. Available at http://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.dot.gov/files/812028-speedmgtprogram.pdf.
    \3\ Richard, C.M., Magee, K., Bacon-Abdelmoteleb, P., & Brown, 
J. L. (2018, April). Countermeasures that work: A highway safety 
countermeasure guide for State Highway Safety Offices, Ninth edition 
(Report No. DOT HS 812 478). Washington, DC: National Highway 
Traffic Safety Administration. Available at https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/36719.
    \4\ National Transportation Safety Board. (2017, July). Reducing 
Speeding-Related Crashes Involving Passenger Vehicles (Safety Study 
NTSB/SS-17/01). Washington, DC: National Transportation Safety 
Board. Available at https://www.ntsb.gov/safety/safety-studies/Documents/SS1701.pdf.
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    We appreciate the comments from IIHS and thank them for 
thoughtfully considering the described collection. We agree with IIHS 
that stand-alone education programs that are not part of a larger 
comprehensive approach tend to have limited effects. However, as IIHS 
points out, NHTSA has a Speed Management Program Plan that includes an 
education component as well as a variety of other strategies. The 
program associated with this collection is one potential education 
program that could be part of a larger speeding management strategy 
that includes many of the additional elements IIHS describes. NHTSA's 
Countermeasures that Work indicates that communications and outreach 
supporting speeding enforcement is a promising strategy (p. 3-31), and 
NTSB's Reducing Speeding-Related Crashes Involving Passenger Vehicles 
concluded that ``traffic safety campaigns that include highly 
publicized, increased enforcement can be an effective speeding 
countermeasure'' (p. 55). Additionally, NTSB recommended that NHTSA 
``collaborate with other traffic safety stakeholders to develop and 
implement an ongoing program to increase public awareness of speeding 
as a national traffic safety issue'' (p. 57).
    A 2011 meta-analysis by Phillips, Ulleberg, and Ross found that 
traffic safety public information and education campaigns reduced 
crashes by 9% on average but that campaigns focused on speeding did not 
indicate a statistically significant reduction.\5\ Many of the 
education programs described by IIHS and included in the meta-analysis 
above are public awareness campaigns where messages are delivered 
through mass media or at the roadside. These education programs are not 
focused on drivers who speed but rather on all drivers. These broad 
education programs may appear less effective, especially on their own, 
because many drivers who receive the messages do not tend to speed. 
Education focused on people who have already received a

[[Page 68293]]

speeding citation, such as proposed in this collection, could produce 
larger effects because they are designed to address the specific issues 
found with speeding drivers. Furthermore, NHTSA's Countermeasures that 
Work chapter on Speeding and Speed Management recommends more 
comprehensive strategies for drivers already cited for speeding or 
repeat offenders and mentions several programs that included 
interventions specifically designed to teach drivers about attitudes, 
skills, and knowledge related to speeding and personality traits 
associated with the behavior. These programs showed promise in reducing 
speeding among drivers who had received citations (p. 3-10). Therefore, 
education specifically for drivers who speed as well as more broad 
education to promote public awareness of the dangers of speeding are 
part of comprehensive programming referenced throughout NHTSA's 
Countermeasures that Work and Speed Management Program Plan.
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    \5\ Phillips, R.O., Ulleberg, P., & Vaa, T. (2011). Meta-
analysis of the effect of road safety campaigns on accidents. 
Accident Analysis & Prevention, 43, 1204-1218.
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    The proposed speeding education program has two main elements that 
make it scientifically strong and likely to contribute to our ability 
to develop an effective program. The first element is that it will 
target individuals with a speeding citation instead of being broadly 
presented to all drivers. This step ensures that the audience who 
stands to benefit most from the education will receive it and that the 
content aligns with promising programs discussed in Countermeasures 
that Work. The second element is that naturalistic and objective data 
will be collected to determine if the program had an effect. Instead of 
relying on self-report, which IIHS rightly indicates can be biased, the 
proposed data collection will use instrumentation in the vehicle to 
evaluate speeding while the participants drive as they normally would 
both before and after the educational course. This step will ensure 
that conclusions drawn about the effect of the program will be based on 
objective driving data and not on reports of how people believe they 
drove or will drive in the future. By undertaking this collection, 
NHTSA will take steps towards an evidence-based education program that 
can be included in comprehensive speed management plans and contribute 
to reducing speeding-related injuries and fatalities.
    Title: Effects of Education on Speeding Behavior.
    OMB Clearance Number: New.
    Type of Review: Regular.
    Form No.: NHTSA Form 1492, NHTSA Form 1493, NHTSA Form 1494, NHTSA 
Form 1495, NHTSA Form 1496, and NHTSA Form 1497.
    Type of Information Collection Request: Approval of a new 
information collection.
    Requested Expiration Date of Approval: 3 years from date of 
approval.
    Abstract: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 
(NHTSA) of the U.S. Department of Transportation is seeking approval to 
collect information from licensed drivers who have at least one 
speeding citation or conviction in the previous three years for a one-
time voluntary study of the effects of an education course being 
developed that covers vehicle speeds, laws, and the risks of speeding 
on speeding behavior. NHTSA proposes to approach up to 250 drivers 
appearing at the Wake County, NC district court because of speeding 
infractions to ascertain their interest in participating in the study 
after their case has been adjudicated. Of those 250, we expect to 
collect information from 150 potential participants determine their 
eligibility for the study with the goal of recruiting 100 voluntary 
participants. The 100 participants will complete an informed consent 
form, three driver speeding questionnaires (before the course, right 
after the course, and one month after the course) to explore the 
effects of the course on their attitudes and beliefs regarding speeding 
as well as their tendency to speed, a course evaluation, and sensation-
seeking questionnaire to measure psychological factors related to risky 
behaviors. In addition, NHTSA will collect naturalistic driving data, 
which involves unobtrusive observation of driving in a natural, on-road 
setting using a vehicle instrumented with position, speed, and other 
sensors. This collection is solely reporting, and there are no record-
keeping costs to the respondents. NHTSA will use the information to 
produce a technical report that presents the results of the study. The 
technical report will provide aggregate (summary) statistics and tables 
as well as the results of statistical analysis of the information, but 
it will not include any personal information. The technical report will 
be shared with State highway offices, local governments, and those who 
develop driver education and traffic safety communications that aim to 
reduce speed-related crashes. The total estimated burden for recruiting 
250 participants (42 hours), for screening 150 participants (23 hours) 
and for 100 participants to complete the study (600 hours) is 665 total 
hours.
    Respondents: Participation in this study will be voluntary, and 100 
participants will be recruited from drivers that attend the Wake 
County, NC district court because of speeding infractions after their 
case has been adjudicated. An estimated 250 people will be approached 
and have the study described to them, and 150 people will be screened 
to recruit the 100 who will complete the study. Participants will be 
licensed drivers over 18 years old who have had a speeding citation in 
the past 3 years.
    Estimated Time per Participant: The estimated time for recruiting 
250 possible participants is 10 minutes per person. The estimated time 
for screening the 150 possible participants is nine minutes per person 
to complete the screener questionnaire and provide contact information. 
The estimated time for the 100 study participants is six hours per 
person to complete the informed consent, take the three-hour and 30-
minute course, complete all questionnaires, and wait for equipment to 
be installed and uninstalled from their vehicles.
    Total Estimated Burden Hours: The total estimated annual burden is 
665 hours for the project activities. Participation in this study is 
voluntary, and there are no costs to respondents beyond the time spent 
completing the questionnaires and visits to the study facility.
    Frequency of Collection: This study is one-time data collection, 
and there will be no recurrence.
    Description of the Need for the Information and Proposed Use of the 
Information: NHTSA was established to reduce 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 for the development of traffic safety programs. In 
2018, there were 9,378 fatalities in speeding-related crashes--26% of 
all traffic deaths. Public information and education are important 
elements of any effective speed management program. Recent NHTSA 
research has indicated that many drivers feel they lack sufficient 
knowledge about speeding and would like more information on stopping 
distances, laws, and risks involved. This project is designed to 
examine the effectiveness of education covering speed, laws, and risks 
of speeding in changing driver attitudes and behaviors regarding 
speeding. This information will be useful to State highway offices, 
local governments, and those who develop driver education and training 
that aim to reduce speed-related crashes.
    Public Comments Invited: You are asked to comment on any aspect of 
this information collection, including (a)

[[Page 68294]]

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 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.
Jon Krohmer,
Associate Administrator, Acting, Research and Program Development.
[FR Doc. 2019-26823 Filed 12-12-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-59-P


