Document ID: NHTSA-2010-0002-0031
Agency: nhtsa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals: Uniform Criteria for State Observational Surveys of Seat Belt Use
Posted Date: 2012-04-17T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 74 (Tuesday, April 17, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22844-22845]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-9197]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[NHTSA-2010-0002]

Agency Information Collection Activity Under OMB Review: Uniform 
Criteria for State Observational Surveys of Seat Belt Use

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, US DOT.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), 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 comment. The ICR 
describes the nature of the information collections and their expected 
burden. The notice of proposed rulemaking, which included a statement 
of the collection of information and a 60-day comment period, was 
published on January 28, 2009.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before May 17, 2012.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jack Oates at the National Highway 
Traffic Safety Administration, Office of Regional Operations and 
Program Delivery (NTI-200), 202-366-2730, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 
Washington, DC 20590.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

[[Page 22845]]

    Title: Uniform Criteria for State Observational Surveys of Seat 
Belt Use.
    OMB Control Number: 2127-0597.
    Requested Expiration Date of Approval: Three years from the 
approval date.
    Type of Request: Reinstatement with change of a previously approved 
collection.
    Affected Public: State Governments (the 50 States, the District of 
Columbia, Puerto Rico and 4 territories).
    Form Number: N/A.
    Abstract: The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation 
Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) (Pub. L. 109-59) provides 
that the Secretary of Transportation may not approve for Section 402 
funding a State highway safety program which does not provide 
satisfactory assurances that the State will implement an annual 
statewide seat belt use survey in accordance with criteria established 
by the Secretary to ensure that the measurements of seat belt use are 
accurate and representative. In addition, in 2008, the National Highway 
Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Governors Highway Safety 
Association (GHSA) partnered to develop a voluntary minimum set of 
performance measures to be used by States and federal agencies in the 
development and implementation of behavioral highway safety plans and 
programs. Included in the set as the core behavior measure is B-1, 
observed seat belt use for passenger vehicles, front seat outboard 
occupants. Since the original adoption of seat belt observational 
survey Uniform Criteria in 1998, NHTSA and the States have accumulated 
substantial experience in the design and implementation of these 
surveys. This experience has provided insight into factors that could 
affect survey accuracy and reliability. In addition, technological 
improvements in road inventories have made it possible to select 
observation sites in a more cost effective manner. For these reasons, 
NHTSA proposed to revise the Uniform Criteria so that future surveys 
will give States more accurate data to guide their occupant protection 
programs.
    The States themselves use the information collected in their seat 
belt use surveys to evaluate the effectiveness of their occupant 
protection countermeasures programs and to identify relatively low seat 
belt use areas and sub-populations requiring increased program 
emphasis. NHTSA uses the collected information, pooled across the 
States, to determine the relative impact of various countermeasures and 
program strategies and to provide guidance to assist the States in 
achieving the highest possible seat belt use. NHTSA also uses the 
collected information from individual States to identify those whose 
occupant protection programs would most benefit from special management 
reviews, countermeasure demonstration projects and other forms of 
technical assistance.
    The information collected for the States' seat belt observational 
surveys is to include a specification of the survey design, to be 
reassessed and, if appropriate, updated every five (5) years, or 
earlier if the State so desires. The survey design specification will 
include a description of the methodology used to select the survey 
observation sites, the selection probability of each site, the survey 
observation procedures and protocols, observer training and quality 
control procedures. In addition, each State annually is to submit the 
survey results, including, for each observation site, the number of 
front seat outboard occupants that were observed, the number observed 
to be wearing the seat belt, and the site weighting factor used to 
combine the individual site data into the measure of statewide seat 
belt use.
    The notice of proposed rulemaking, which included a statement of 
the collection of information and a 60-day comment period, was 
published on January 28, 2009. See 75 FR 4509. In the preamble to the 
final rule published on April 1, 2011, the agency explained how the 
collection of information contained in the final rule responded to any 
comments received from the public. See 76 FR 18042. The agency also 
included an identification and explanation of any modifications made in 
the rule and why it certain comments were not adopted.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 19,040 hours.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 56 (50 States, District of 
Columbia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana 
Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands).

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.
    Comments are invited on: Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information will have practical 
utility; the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed information collection; ways to enhance the quality, utility 
and clarity of the information to be collected; and ways to minimize 
the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including 
the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of 
information technology.

Mary D. Gunnels,
Associate Administrator, Regional Operations and Program Delivery.
[FR Doc. 2012-9197 Filed 4-16-12; 8:45 am]
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