[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 205 (Wednesday, October 25, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49473-49475]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-23124]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2017-0081]


Traffic Records Program Assessment Advisory; Public Comment

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

ACTION: Request for public comment.

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SUMMARY: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is 
in the process of reviewing the Traffic Records Program Assessment 
Advisory, DOT HS 811 644, (Advisory) and requests comments to determine 
if updates or improvements are appropriate. States need timely, 
accurate, complete, and uniform traffic records to identify and 
prioritize traffic safety issues and to choose appropriate safety 
countermeasures and evaluate their effectiveness. The Advisory provides 
information on the contents, capabilities, and data quality attributes 
of an effective traffic records system, and includes assessment 
questions that qualified independent assessors use to evaluate the 
capabilities of a State's traffic records systems. Based on the input 
received in response to this notice, and NHTSA's experience in applying 
the previous Advisory to conduct assessments in the past, we anticipate 
issuing a revised Advisory by June 2018.

DATES: Written comments may be submitted to this agency and must be 
received no later than December 26, 2017.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by DOT Docket ID number 
NHTSA-2017-0081 by any of the following methods:
    Electronic Submissions: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow 
the online instructions for submitting comments.
    Fax: 202-366-2746.
    Mail: Docket Management Facility, M-30 U.S. Department of 
Transportation, West Building, Ground floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New 
Jersey Ave. SE., Washington, DC 20590.
    Hand Delivery or Courier: Docket Management Facility, M-30, U.S. 
Department of Transportation, West Building, Ground floor, Room W12-
140, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE., Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 
5 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
    Regardless of how you submit your comments, you should identify the 
Docket number of this notice.

[[Page 49474]]

    Instructions: For detailed instructions on submitting comments and 
additional information, see http://www.regulations.gov. Note that all 
comments received will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided. 
Please read the ``Privacy Act'' heading below.
    Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all 
contents received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual 
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf 
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review DOT's 
complete Privacy Statement in the Federal Register published on April 
11, 2000 (65 FR 19477-78) or you may visit http://docketsInfo.dot.gov.
    Confidential Information: If you wish to submit any information 
under a claim of confidentiality, you should submit three copies of 
your complete submission, including the information you claim to be 
confidential business information, to the Chief Counsel, NHTSA, 1200 
New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590-0001. In addition, you 
should submit two copies, from which you have deleted the claimed 
confidential business information, to Docket Management at the address 
given above under
    When you send a comment containing information claimed to be 
confidential business information, you should include a cover letter 
setting forth the information specified in our confidential business 
information regulation. (49 CFR part 512) Docket: For access to the 
docket to read background documents or comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov or the street address listed above. Follow the 
online instructions for accessing the dockets.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov at any time or to 
West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 
Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday through 
Friday, except Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For programmatic issues: John Siegler, 
Office of Traffic Records and Analysis, NVS-423, National Highway 
Traffic Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, 
DC 20590. Telephone (202) 366-1268. For legal issues: Megan Brown, 
Office of Chief Counsel, NCC-113, National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590. 
Telephone (202) 366-1834.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: States need timely, accurate, complete, and 
uniform traffic records data to identify and prioritize traffic safety 
issues, and choose appropriate safety countermeasures and evaluate 
their effectiveness. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 
published the Traffic Records Program Assessment Advisory (DOT HS 811 
644) in 2012 to provide guidance on the peer review of States' crash, 
driver, vehicle, roadway, citation and adjudication, and injury 
surveillance systems.
    The Advisory describes the capabilities of an ideal traffic records 
system and includes a set of questions, which are the basis for an in-
depth review of State highway safety data and State traffic records 
systems. Specifically, these questions examine how the State Highway 
Safety Office (SHSO), State Traffic Records Coordinating Committee 
(TRCC), and the representative TRCC agencies plan, collect, manage, and 
integrate information from the crash, driver, vehicle, roadway, 
citation and adjudication, and injury surveillance data systems.
    In order to qualify for a State Traffic Safety Information System 
Improvements grant under 23 U.S.C. 405(c), a State must certify that 
``an assessment of the State's highway safety data and traffic records 
system was conducted or updated during the preceding 5 years.'' \1\ The 
2012 Advisory was created in response to a GAO recommendation that 
``NHTSA take steps to ensure state traffic records assessments are 
complete and consistent to provide an in-depth evaluation of all state 
traffic safety data systems across all performance measures''.\2\
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    \1\ 23 U.S.C. 405(c)(3)(E).
    \2\ U.S. Gov't Accountability Office, GAO-10-454, Traffic Safety 
Data: State Data System Quality Varies and Limited Resources and 
Coordination Can Inhibit Further Progress 41 (2010), available at 
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-0-454.
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    The Advisory is divided into nine topical areas: Traffic records 
coordinating committee, strategic planning for traffic records systems, 
crash data system, vehicle data system, driver data system, roadway 
data system, citation and adjudication systems, injury surveillance 
systems, and data use and integration. Each of these modules is further 
subdivided into submodules: Description and contents, applicable 
guidelines, data dictionaries, procedures and process flows, interface 
with other traffic records components, and data quality and control. 
Each assessment question is supplemented by ``suggested evidence'' and 
linked to the associated narrative description of the ideal traffic 
records system.
    Between 2012 and 2017, NHTSA conducted 55 traffic records 
assessments where independent subject matter expert assessors evaluated 
the response to each question and rated State responses as either (1) 
meeting the description of the ideal traffic records system, (2) 
partially meeting the description, or (3) not meeting the description. 
These assessments identified the strengths and opportunities of each 
component of the State's traffic records systems and provided States 
with recommendations to improve their traffic records programs.
    During the first five-year assessment cycle (2012-2017), NHTSA 
received feedback on the assessment process from State coordinators and 
respondents as well as the assessment facilitators and assessors. NHTSA 
intends to consider this feedback in addition to comments received on 
this notice to update the Advisory. Specifically, NHTSA will revise as 
appropriate the questions and evidence for the nine topical areas. 
Based on the feedback received during the first assessment cycle, 
anticipated changes may include updates to the ideal traffic records 
system description, expansion of suggested evidence notes, alteration 
and/or elimination of questions--particularly regarding performance 
measures--and a restructuring of the Injury Surveillance System 
section.
    NHTSA is seeking comment on the description of the ideal traffic 
records system and associated assessment questions in the Advisory to 
provide greater clarity and ease for both State respondents and 
assessment teams. In undertaking this update to the Advisory, NHTSA 
seeks to minimize the level of effort required by States while still 
ensuring a robust evaluation of State traffic safety data systems that 
States can use to inform improvements to traffic safety data systems. 
The most helpful comments will suggest potential procedural changes 
that will streamline the process or will provide feedback on how to 
improve a specific question, its suggested evidence, and/or the 
associated text found in the module introduction. The full text of the 
Traffic Records Program Assessment Advisory, DOT HS 811 644, is 
available at http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811644.pdf. NHTSA will 
consider all comments received as part of its revision of the Advisory. 
Comments will be addressed in a subsequent Federal Register notice that 
announces the final version of the Advisory.


[[Page 49475]]


    Authority:  23 U.S.C. Section 405(c)(3)(E).

    Issued in Washington, DC.
Terry T. Shelton,
Associate Administrator, National Center for Statistics and Analysis.
[FR Doc. 2017-23124 Filed 10-24-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-59-P