Information Collection Request Supporting Statement: Part B
Countermeasures That Work
OMB Control Number 2127-0727
Abstract: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of the U.S. Department of Transportation is seeking approval to reinstate with modification a previously approved information collection (OMB Control No. 2127-0727) to (1) collect user feedback on the NHTSA guides, Countermeasures That Work (10th edition – Venkatraman et. al., 20211) and Countermeasures At Work (1st edition to be published in 2022), and (2) collect program information from program administrators to develop countermeasure case studies for Countermeasures At Work (2nd edition to be published in 2023).
This information collection request (ICR) seeks approval to conduct a survey and structured interviews that will inform the development of the 12th edition of Countermeasures That Work and the 2nd edition of Countermeasures At Work. The Countermeasures That Work guide was developed for State Highway Safety Offices (SHSOs) to assist them in developing programs for implementing safety countermeasures in ten program areas including (1) alcohol- and drug-impaired driving, (2) seat belts and child restraints, (3) speeding and speed management, (4) distracted driving, (5) drowsy driving, (6) motorcycle safety, (7) young drivers, (8) older drivers, (9) pedestrian safety, and (10) bicycle safety. The Countermeasures That Work guide covers each of these program areas in separate chapters that include a short background section relaying current data trends, which is followed by a description of applicable countermeasures, and an explanation of their effectiveness, use, costs, and time to implement. The Countermeasures At Work companion guide expands on the most effective countermeasures contained in the Countermeasures That Work guide by providing real world examples and details on localities where specific countermeasures were put into place. The countermeasure descriptions include details about locality size, implementation issues, cost, stakeholders, challenges, evaluation, and outcomes.
NHTSA proposes to conduct an end user feedback survey of up to 120 representatives from SHSOs and/or local jurisdictions, in addition to representatives from the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), State Coordinators from across the United States, and other important stakeholders. While previous feedback surveys (with the most recent in 2018) were conducted via phone, the proposed feedback survey will be administered using an online platform. Participation by respondents would be voluntary. This collection only asks respondents to report their answers; there are no record-keeping costs to the respondents. Responses will not be publicly reported, but NHTSA will use the aggregated information to revise and improve the Countermeasures That Work and Countermeasures At Work guides. Specifically, feedback will be used to determine which aspects of the guides should be improved and if there are features or topics that the guides do not currently have that users would like to have included.
NHTSA also proposes to conduct up to 60 structured in-person or phone interviews with representatives from jurisdictions that currently administer effective countermeasures. The findings of interviews conducted for Countermeasures At Work will be reported separately for each individual locality so that the reader can get an idea about the size and type of the featured locality and issues specific to that locality. The Countermeasures At Work guide will include general contact information for the locality (i.e., State DOT or SHSO office) or the contact information of key individuals (only if permission is granted by the interview participant), so that readers of the document can follow-up, if desired, with the locality to obtain more information about the countermeasure.
The respondents for the end user feedback survey and structured interviews will be selected based on job position, knowledge of domain, management of effective countermeasure implementations as noted in the literature, and recommendation from NHTSA or GHSA Subject Matter Experts with the intent to reach regular users of the documents to help improve the documents and to reach program administrators of effective countermeasures to help populate and enrich countermeasure descriptions. Respondents for the feedback survey and structured interviews will be contacted once over the course of the project. The survey and interviews were determined to be exempt from IRB review. The project reports will be shared with SHSOs, local governments, and those who develop traffic safety programs that aim to change problematic behaviors with the goal of reducing crashes and the resulting injuries and fatalities. The total estimated burden for contacting 120 traffic safety representatives for the feedback survey (50 hours) and 60 traffic safety representatives for the program case studies (79 hours) is 129 hours. When NHTSA last received approval of this information collection in 2017, the estimated burden was 375 hours. The decrease in burden of 246 hours for the proposed collection is a result of significantly reducing the number of structured interviews for the case studies because NHTSA is only collecting responses for one planned edition of Countermeasures At Work instead of the two editions that were included in the last ICR. Additional reduction in burden is a result of reducing the collection time required to complete the feedback survey as the current survey will use a computerized survey delivery system instead of a phone survey.
B.1. Describe the potential respondent universe and any sampling or other respondent selection method to be used.
Participants in this study will be a sample of voluntary representatives from the SHSOs and/or local jurisdictions, representatives from the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), State Coordinators from across the United States, and other important stakeholders. The potential respondent universe is all State and local practitioners who are end-users/readers of the Countermeasures That Work guide as well as practitioners in localities that are contacted for countermeasure specific information for the Countermeasures At Work guide. The respondents for the end user feedback survey and structured interviews will be selected based on their job position, knowledge of domain, management of effective countermeasure implementations as noted in the literature, and recommendation from NHTSA or GHSA Subject Matter Experts. These criteria will be used with the intent to reach regular users of the documents to help improve the documents and to reach program administrators of effective countermeasures to help populate and enrich countermeasure descriptions.
End User Feedback Survey
The results from the data collected from the end user feedback survey conducted for Countermeasures That Work and Countermeasures At Work will not be published, and will only be used for internal purposes – i.e., to plan the update and development of next editions of the Countermeasures That Work and Countermeasures At Work guides.
A maximum of 120 end user respondents will be surveyed for feedback on the Countermeasures That Work and Countermeasures At Work guides. One objective for this information collection is to engage participants from the 10 NHTSA regions and a variety of different States. The engagement of participants from multiple parts of the United States as well as different types of States (population, size, climate, traffic safety issues) is intended to capture some of the differences in use of the document and challenges faced by traffic safety professionals.
Structured Interviews
For the Countermeasures At Work countermeasure case studies, a maximum of 60 respondents will be interviewed. The Countermeasures At Work guide will provide detailed information about localities that have implemented approximately 15 of the countermeasures with 3-star ratings. In addition to including 3-star countermeasures, NHTSA will update the 4- and 5-star countermeasures with new examples of successful implementations of a countermeasure. The Countermeasures At Work guide will provide real world examples and details on localities where specific countermeasures were put into place. For each of the 15 countermeasures, localities will be selected that provide a variety of perspectives on implementation, funding, stakeholder involvement, public perception, evaluation outcomes, locality size, etc. We anticipate interviewing up to 4 respondents for each of the 15 countermeasures.
B.2. Describe the procedures for the collection of information.
End User Feedback Survey
End users will be identified with help from the NHTSA program specialists at the 10 NHTSA Regional Offices. The program specialists will recommend a list of potential end users and local practitioners that will then be approached by the contractor (UNC Highway Safety Research Center (HSRC)) to participate in the survey. HSRC will include information in the email invitation so that the respondent is familiar with the objectives of the survey and the types of questions that will be asked.
End user data will be collected using an online platform, allowing participants to complete the survey at a time and place of their convenience. The survey will include a combination of fixed-response and open-ended questions. As in previous years, the feedback survey will focus on:
How the guide is used, whether formally or informally, by SHSOs and other traffic safety professionals;
What users like about Countermeasures That Work and why;
Weaknesses/drawbacks to the current guide, including content, structure and organization;
Perceived usefulness (and accuracy) of the ratings for effectiveness, use, costs, and time;
Features or topics the guide does not currently cover that they would like to see included; and
Other suggestions for making Countermeasures That Work more useful for SHSOs.
The feedback survey will also focus on the above mentioned aspects (with the exception of ratings) for the current Countermeasures At Work guide as well as soliciting contact information for managers of effectively implemented focus countermeasures that may be highlighted as case studies in the future edition of Countermeasures At Work.
To analyze the data, we will use qualitative data analysis techniques such as content analysis to identify persistent themes in the responses. Other more structured data, such as categorical data, will be tabulated.
Structured Interviews
For the future edition of Countermeasures At Work which will contain countermeasure case studies, up to 60 structured interviews will be conducted with representatives from jurisdictions who currently administer effective countermeasures. Invitation materials will inform participants about the study and how to arrange an interview. HSRC will administer these interviews in person or by telephone. During the structured interview, program managers will be asked to describe their program’s history, size, scope, and operation of the program, funding sources, stakeholder involvement, media coverage (if appropriate), evaluation efforts, and other key aspects of the program.
The findings of the program manager interviews conducted for Countermeasures At Work will be reported separately for each individual locality so that the reader can get an idea about the size and type of the featured locality and issues specific to that locality. The next edition of the guide will include approximately 60 additional localities that have implemented successful countermeasures. The Countermeasures At Work guide will include general contact information for the locality (i.e., State DOT or SHSO office) or the contact information of key individuals (if permission is granted by the interview participant), so that readers of the document can follow-up, if desired, with the locality to obtain more information about the countermeasure. The case studies will also highlight challenges encountered in the process of implementing and sustaining countermeasures.
End User Feedback Survey
Up to 120 individuals will participate in the Countermeasures At Work end user feedback survey. At a minimum, the sampling goal is to get representation from each of the 10 NHTSA regions covering multiple States within each, which would capture some of the regional differences and challenges. The respondents for this survey will be selected based on their job position, knowledge of domain, management of effective countermeasure implementations as noted in the literature, and recommendation from NHTSA regional specialists or Governors Highway Safety Association Office subject matter experts.
Structured Interviews
Up to 60 structured interviews will be conducted for the Countermeasures At Work effective countermeasure case studies. We anticipate interviewing up to 4 respondents for each of the 15 countermeasures that will be included in the next edition of Countermeasures At Work. The respondents for the interviews will be selected based on their job position, knowledge of domain, management of effective countermeasure implementations as noted in the literature, and recommendation from NHTSA or GHSA subject matter experts.
B.3. Describe methods to maximize response rates.
End User Feedback Survey
For the feedback study, participants will be identified with help from NHTSA program specialists at the 10 NHTSA Regional Offices. The program specialists will recommend a list of potential end users of the guides who will then be approached by HSRC to participate in the survey. Participation by respondents will be voluntary. The survey will be administered using an online platform so participants can complete the survey more quickly at a time and place of their convenience. A few weeks after the initial invitation, participants will receive up to two reminder emails encouraging them to complete the survey.
Structured Interviews
For the collection of information on successful implementations of countermeasures, the participants for each State or locality countermeasure program will be identified based on recommendations from NHTSA program specialists or GHSA subject matter experts as well as their management of effective countermeasure implementations as noted in the literature. HSRC will coordinate with the NHTSA Regional Offices to identify and coordinate interviews with suitable representatives for each locality of interest. If representatives are unable to participate (e.g., key personnel are no longer with the department), then the contractor will work with NHTSA to find a suitable “stand-in” within the locality. If that is not possible, then representatives from other candidate localities for that countermeasure will be approached for an interview.
B.4. Describe any tests of procedure or methods to be undertaken.
No test of procedures or methods will be conducted for the end user feedback survey or the structured interviews. The data collected from the Countermeasures That Work/Countermeasures At Work feedback survey will be presented in graphs and tables in an aggregate manner such as cross-tabulations and bar charts. The data will not be shared publicly as the information will be used to revise and improve future editions of the two documents. The contractor has previously used surveys and interviews to investigate a wide variety of traffic safety issues (Goodwin & Foss, 2004; Goodwin, O’Brien, & Foss, 2012; Kirley, Goodwin & Foss, 2017; O’Brien, Foss, Goodwin, & Masten, 2013). In addition, HSRC has previously (most recently in 2014) surveyed Federal employee end users of Countermeasures That Work on a smaller scale and produced informative comments and suggestions.
B.5 Provide the name and telephone number of individuals consulted on statistical aspects of the design.
Kristie Johnson, Ph.D.
NHTSA Project Manager / COR
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
1200 New Jersey Ave SE, W46-498
Washington, DC 20590
Phone: (202) 366-2755
Arthur Goodwin, M.A.
Principal Investigator (Contractor)
Senior Research Associate
UNC Highway Safety Research Center
730 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, Suite 300
Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
Phone: (919) 843-5038
E-mail: [email protected]
Goodwin, A.H. & Foss, R.D. (2004). Graduated driver licensing restrictions: Awareness, compliance, and enforcement in North Carolina. Journal of Safety Research, 35, 367-374.
Goodwin, A.H., O’Brien, N.P., & Foss, R.D. (2012). Effect of North Carolina’s restriction on teenage driver cell phone use two years after implementation. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 48, 363-367.
Kirley, B., Goodwin, A., & Foss, R. (2017). Survey of North Carolina motorcyclists. Presentation at the Lifesavers National Conference on Highway Safety Priorities. Charlotte, NC.
O’Brien, N.P., Foss, R.D., Goodwin, A.H., & Masten, S.V. (2013). Supervised hours requirements in graduated driver licensing: Effectiveness and parental awareness. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 50, 330-335.
1 Venkatraman, V., Richard, C. M., Magee, K., & Johnson, K. (2021, July). Countermeasures that work: A highway safety countermeasure guide for State Highway Safety Offices, 10th edition (Report No. DOT HS 813 097). National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
Author | Jessica Cicchino |
File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
File Created | 2022-07-12 |