```

[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 5 (Wednesday, January 8, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1591-1593]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-00120]

=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No. FMCSA-2024-0255]

Agency Information Collection Activities; New Information 
Collection: Study of Warning Devices for Stopped Commercial Motor 
Vehicles

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), Department 
of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, FMCSA 
announces its plan to submit the Information Collection Request (ICR) 
described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for its 
review and approval and invites public comment. This notice invites 
comments on a proposed information collection titled ``Study of Warning 
Devices for Stopped Commercial Motor Vehicles.'' It is an experimental 
study that requires data collection for evaluating whether warning 
devices meaningfully influence

[[Page 1592]]

crash-relevant aspects of human performance in the presence of a parked 
or disabled commercial motor vehicle (PDCMV), and if so, how and to 
what extent. These data collection efforts are expected to require the 
participation of 256 drivers.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be received on or before March 10, 
2025.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Docket Number FMCSA-
2024-0255 using any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail: Dockets Operations; U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building, Ground Floor, 
Washington, DC 20590-0001.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: Dockets Operations, U.S. 
Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building, 
Ground Floor, Washington, DC, 20590-0001 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, 
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. To be sure someone is 
there to help you, please call (202) 366-9317 or (202) 366-9826 before 
visiting Dockets Operations.
     Fax: (202) 493-2251.
    To avoid duplication, please use only one of these four methods. 
See the ``Public Participation and Request for Comments'' portion of 
the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for instructions on submitting 
comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Samuel White, Research Division, DOT, 
FMCSA, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building, 6th Floor, Washington, 
DC 20590; 202-366-3068; [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Instructions

    All submissions must include the Agency name and docket number. For 
detailed instructions on submitting comments, see the Public 
Participation heading below. Note that all comments received will be 
posted without change to https://www.regulations.gov, including any 
personal information provided. Please see the Privacy Act heading 
below.

Public Participation and Request for Comments

    If you submit a comment, please include the docket number for this 
notice (FMCSA-2024-0255), indicate the specific section of this 
document to which your comment applies, and provide a reason for each 
suggestion or recommendation. You may submit your comments and material 
online or by fax, mail, or hand delivery, but please use only one of 
these means. FMCSA recommends that you include your name and a mailing 
address, an email address, or a phone number in the body of your 
document so FMCSA can contact you if there are questions regarding your 
submission.
    To submit your comment online, go to https://www.regulations.gov/docket/FMCSA-2024-0255/document, click on this notice, click 
``Comment,'' and type your comment into the text box on the following 
screen.
    If you submit your comments by mail or hand delivery, submit them 
in an unbound format, no larger than 8\1/2\ by 11 inches, suitable for 
copying and electronic filing.
    Comments received after the comment closing date will be included 
in the docket and will be considered to the extent practicable.

Privacy Act

    In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT solicits comments from the 
public to better inform its regulatory process. DOT posts these 
comments, including any personal information the commenter provides, to 
www.regulations.gov as described in the system of records notice DOT/
ALL 14 (Federal Docket Management System (FDMS)), which can be reviewed 
at https://www.transportation.gov/individuals/privacy/privacy-act-system-records-notices. The comments are posted without edits and are 
searchable by the name of the submitter.

Background

    PDCMVs on the road negatively impact traffic operations and 
safety.\1\ To increase the conspicuity of PDCMVs and mitigate crash 
risk, FMCSA requires specific warning devices to be carried \2\ on all 
commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) and, except in the case of necessary 
traffic stops, be deployed \3\ near the vehicle whenever it is stopped 
on the road or shoulder. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations 
(FMCSRs) prescribe specific rules \4\ concerning how and where the 
warning devices must be placed, based on road and traffic attributes 
(e.g., whether the road is straight or curved, whether the vehicle is 
stopped in a business or residential district, whether the road is 
divided or undivided, etc.) as well as the presence of conditions 
affecting visibility (e.g., time of day, physical obstructions, etc.). 
These requirements follow from the basic notion that increasing the 
conspicuity of a PDCMV makes it easier to see and recognize, thereby 
reducing the risk of a crash involving passing motorists.
    In addition, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 
(NHTSA) prescribes performance and design specifications \5\ for 
warning devices under 49 CFR 571.125 of the Federal Motor Vehicle 
Safety Standards. For instance, this standard establishes minimum 
specifications for factors affecting the conspicuity (including 
reflectivity, color, luminance) of warning triangles, the most commonly 
utilized type of warning device (due to their reusability, shelf life, 
and fire-risk safety concerns compared to flares or fuses). The purpose 
of this standard is ``to assure that the warning devices can be readily 
observed during daytime and nighttime lighting conditions, have a 
standardized shape for quick message recognition, and perform properly 
when deployed.'' \6\
    Public interest in warning device requirements for PDCMVs has 
increased in recent years for several reasons. For example, advances in 
automated driving system (ADS) technology have raised critical 
questions regarding potential barriers to regulatory compliance with 
warning device safety standards \7\ and regulations \8\ which reference 
or require a ``driver.'' In addition, alternative types of warning 
devices developed by industry, including those intended to increase 
driver safety during device deployment, have resulted in multiple 
applications for exemption from the corresponding safety 
regulations.9 10 These recent issues related to warning 
device requirements also call attention to the historically unresolved 
questions of whether the use of such devices improves traffic safety 
and, if so, how and to what extent.
    Past attempts by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) 
11 12 and other researchers \13\ to answer those questions 
yielded generally inconclusive or inconsistent results, which possibly 
influenced NHTSA's past decision not to pursue conducting its own 
research on the topic.\14\ FMCSA (previously under FHWA) itself has 
never conducted experimental research on the impact of using warning 
devices. As the only regulatory authority which still requires CMV 
operators to use warning devices, the responsibility to answer these 
questions finally and definitively is best charged to FMCSA.
    Given the increasing focus on ADS, questions surrounding the safety 
of CMV drivers when deploying warning devices, and the availability of 
new technology and alternative devices since these questions were last 
explored in the 1980s, there is a need to thoroughly evaluate the 
effectiveness of warning

[[Page 1593]]

devices under current regulations. In addition, advanced research 
instruments unavailable or not in use at the time of all past research 
on this topic are now in common use and would permit far more 
sophisticated analyses of the effects of warning devices on driver 
behavior. This includes sensors which can precisely measure and record 
the location of vehicles (e.g., differential GPS), eye-tracking devices 
which allow the researcher to determine the precise moment when a 
driver first glanced at a PDCMV, and instrumented vehicles which record 
accurate, high-frequency data related to drivers' interactions with a 
vehicle's controls.
    FMCSA plans to implement these modern tools in a controlled 
experiment at a closed-course, state-of-the-art driving research 
facility that will allow the most comprehensive examination of the 
effects of warning devices to date. The results of the study may 
support future rulemaking related to warning devices and provide 
baseline data necessary to inform Agency decisions on exemption 
applications for alternative warning device products.
    Title: Warning Devices for Stopped Commercial Motor Vehicles.
    OMB Control Number: 2126-00XX.
    Type of Request: New ICR.
    Respondents: Drivers.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 256.
    Estimated Time per Response: 2.0 to 2.5 hours.
    Expiration Date: This is a new ICR.
    Frequency of Response: Once.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 614.40 hours.
    DEFINITIONS: N/A.
    Public Comments Invited: You are asked to comment on any aspect of 
this information collection, including: (1) whether the proposed 
collection is necessary for the performance of FMCSA's functions; (2) 
the accuracy of the estimated burden; (3) ways for FMCSA to enhance the 
quality, usefulness, and clarity of the collected information; and (4) 
ways that the burden could be minimized without reducing the quality of 
the collected information. The Agency will summarize or include your 
comments in the request for OMB's clearance of this ICR.

    Issued under the authority of 49 CFR 1.87.
Thomas P. Keane,
Associate Administrator, Office of Research and Registration.
[FR Doc. 2025-00120 Filed 1-7-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-EX-P
```