The Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2010 (PSEA) requires NHTSA to conduct a rulemaking to establish a Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) requiring an alert sound for pedestrians to be emitted by electric vehicles or hybrid vehicles (EVs and HVs) that allows blind and other pedestrians to reasonably detect a nearby EV or HV.
Further, 49 U.S.C. 30111, 30112 and 30117 of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 specify that the Secretary shall prescribe standards that are practicable, meet the safety need for motor vehicle safety, and are stated in objective terms. The Secretary is authorized to issue, amend and revoke such rules and regulations as she/he deems necessary to carry out these sub-chapters. The Secretary is also authorized to require manufacturers to provide information to first purchasers of motor vehicle equipment when the vehicle or equipment is purchased, in a printed matter placed in the vehicle or attached to or accompanying the equipment.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in prescribing a FMVSS, is to consider available relevant motor vehicle safety data, consult with appropriate agencies, and obtain safety comments from the responsible agencies, states, safety commissions, public and other related parties. Further, the Act mandates that in issuing any FMVSS, the agency considers whether the standard is "reasonable, practicable and appropriate for the particular type of motor vehicle or item of motor vehicle equipment for which it is prescribed," and whether such standards will contribute to carrying out the purpose of the Act.
Dear Ms. Achanta:
Pursuant to Office of Management and Budget procedures established at 5 CFR Part 1320, Controlling Paperwork Burdens on the Public, I ask that the following collection of
information, "Recruitment ofHuman Subjects for Observational Experiments regarding Vehicle Sound" be processed pursuant to section 1320.13 Emergency processing.
I have determined that this information must be collected prior to the expiration of the time periods established under Part 1320, and that this information is essential to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) mission to establish Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No.l41 pursuant to the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act (PSEA) of 2010.
This new standard will require an alert sound to be emitted by electric or hybrid vehicles allowing visually impaired and other pedestrians to reasonably detect them. As discussed in detail in the agency's supporting statement, this collection of voluntary information to identify participants is essential to complete a human factors observational study.
The PSEA established a statutory deadline for prescribing final requirements by
January 4, 2014. In order to meet this deadline the observational study needs to start
as soon as possible. The results of this study will assist in the refinement of the performance requirements for pedestrian alert sounds and assist in our response to anticipated comments to the NPRM. Because of the deadlines established by Congress, the agency is not in a position to wait until comments are received in order to initiate testing and still meet the statutory deadline for a final rule. Therefore, the agency cannot comply with the normal ICR clearance procedures without delaying the schedule to publish the final rule.
Please approve or disapprove the collection of information by December 12, 2012.
NHTSA has taken all practicable steps to consult with other agencies and members of the public in order to minimize the burden of this collection of information. These efforts are described in detail in the Supporting Statement Part A under A8.
If you have any questions, please contact the NHTSA Chief Counsel, Kevin Vincent, at
(202) 366-9511.
Sincerely yours,
Christopher Bonanti
This is a new information collection, resulting in a program change of adding 11 burden hours to NHTSA's overall burden hour total.
$991
No
No
No
No
No
Uncollected
Lisandra Garay-Vega 202 366-1412
No
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
Form NHTSA Form 1173 Recruitment of Human Subjects for Observational Experiments Regarding Vehicle Sounds
Letter Requesting Emergency Clearance_11292012.pdf
Supporting_Statement_NHTSA_PSEA_01_29.doc
Recruitment of Human Subjects for Observational Experiments Regarding Vehicle Sounds