SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), before an agency submits a proposed collection of information to OMB for approval, it must first publish a document in the Federal Register providing a 60-day comment period and otherwise consult with members of the public and affected agencies concerning each proposed collection of information. The OMB has promulgated regulations describing what must be included in such a document. Under OMB's regulation (at 5 CFR 1320.8(d)), an agency must ask for public comment on the following—(a) 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; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (c) how to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) how to minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g. permitting electronic submission of responses. In compliance with these requirements, NHTSA asks for public comments on the following proposed collection of information for which the agency is seeking approval from OMB.

Title: Assessment of Contextual Driver Monitoring Systems (DMS).

OMB Control Number: New.

Form Number(s): There are multiple forms for this new information collection including

• NHTSA Form 2235—Advertisement
• NHTSA Form 2243—Eligibility Questionnaire & Availability Form
• NHTSA Form 2249—Scheduling Form
• NHTSA Form 2236—Appointment Reminder Form
• NHTSA Form 2246—Informed Consent Document
• NHTSA Form 2238—Demographics Questionnaire
• NHTSA Form 2251—Simulator Sickness Questionnaire
• NHTSA Form 2239—Acceptance Questionnaire 1
• NHTSA Form 2240—Acceptance Questionnaire 2
• NHTSA Form 2241—Acceptance Questionnaire 3
• NHTSA Form 2242—Acceptance Questionnaire 4
• NHTSA Form 2237—Debrief & Honorarium Confirmation Form

Type of Request: New information collection. ( printed page 35297)

Type of Review Requested: Regular.

Requested Expiration Date of Approval: Three years from date of approval.

Summary of the Collection of Information: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is proposing a new information collection consisting of a single, one-time experimental research study that involves voluntary participation from members of the public. The purpose of this research is to develop and evaluate a prototype contextual DMS, which fuses data gathered from driver attention ( e.g., gaze location), physiological state ( e.g., heart rate variability), vehicle kinematics ( e.g., lateral lane position) and environmental sensors ( e.g., time to collision). The research goals are to examine the efficacy of a contextual DMS with respect to safety-critical events and assess driver response and acceptance. Data collection will occur as needed, and results will be shared with NHTSA for eventual publication in the National Transportation Library for public access. The final report will include a literature review and a supplementary report documenting the down-selection process of candidate DMS systems and scenarios. This information collection is for reporting purposes.

This information collection will be a one-time effort to recruit 48 participants from the public to address NHTSA's research questions on the effectiveness of a contextual DMS. Recruitment will occur via Westat's internal participant database and social media posts, with sex and age balanced among experimental groups. No specific experience is required to participate, but generally, participants must be at least 18 years old, possess a valid driver's license, and drive at least 3000 miles per year. Participation is voluntary and individuals may withdraw at any time. This research will require Westat's institutional review board (IRB) approval.

Participant attrition is acknowledged, and specific measures are being taken to ensure the target sample size is achieved. Participants will complete a series of four drives in a driving simulator using either a contextual or conventional DMS. The conventional DMS will consist of either a research or production-grade DMS model that uses standard practices at classifying driver distraction ( e.g., gaze direction, head pose). The contextual DMS will retain all the capabilities of the conventional DMS but will also factor in driver physiological state ( e.g., heart rate variability), vehicle handling ( i.e., kinematics), and driver interactions with the driving environment ( e.g., extended glances towards hazards). While completing the driving scenarios, participants will perform a secondary task in which they recite number strings displayed on an adjacent tablet, mimicking distraction from a smartphone or infotainment system, in order to assess the performance of the DMS during distracting events.

Each of the four drives will be approximately ten minutes in length to allow for sufficient data collection. All drives will consist of typical highway driving environments and speeds. The first three drives will have one of three safety-relevant events ( i.e., events that could cause a crash) occur at randomized drive portions. The last drive will consist of a safety-critical scenario that requires drivers to perform an action ( e.g., brake) to avoid a collision, such as a covered-to-revealed road obstruction. The first three drives will be counterbalanced to control for order effects, however due to the potential for significant behavioral changes, the safety-critical scenario will always occur last.

Eligibility screening will be completed through an online questionnaire (NHTSA Form 2243—Eligibility Questionnaire & Availability Form) hosted by Qualtrics, a secure online survey administration platform. Form display and branching logic will ensure respondents see the minimal number of questions required to determine eligibility by ending the questionnaire early if criteria are not met at different points in time. The components include (1) a PRA statement informing participants about the rules governing federally funded research; (2) consent for the eligibility questionnaire and study introduction and description to inform participants about the study and specific data to be collected; (3) eligibility questionnaire to identify participants based on predefined criteria; and (4) contact information for scheduling purposes.

The landing page of the questionnaire will contain a forced response question asking if the respondent is above 18 years old, then (if yes) branching logic will display the consent text that contains the elements necessary for eligibility consent. Participants will provide consent to the online questionnaire when they answer “yes” to both the consent and study interest questions. These questions will be set to force response. Respondents who are less than 18 years old, or those who do not give consent to provide responses to the online eligibility questionnaire, or who are not interested in the study will be directed to a message informing them they are not eligible and thanking them for their time. Everyone else will be directed to complete the questionnaire. The questionnaire will ask potential participants about their ability to adhere to study requirements, driving qualifications, and general health history.

If criteria are not met, participants will be directed to a message thanking them for their time and telling them they are not eligible. If criteria are met, participants will be asked to provide their contact information and general availability. They will be informed this would link their questionnaire responses to their name. If a participant meets study criteria, a researcher will schedule the study session using participant information provided in the eligibility questionnaire and confirmed by a scheduling phone call, where the participant's name, study date and time is recorded as part of recruitment record keeping (NHTSA Form 2249—Scheduling Form), until all slots have been filled. Approximately 24 hours before the participant's study session, NHTSA Form 2236—Appointment Reminder Form will be sent (via email) along with a copy of the informed consent document for their records. This email will also serve to remind participants to abstain from alcohol and recreational substance use (including marijuana) 24 hours before their study session. The email also requests that participants verify they have no current symptoms of illness, do not feel unwell, that they have experienced no changes to their health or mobility since completion of the eligibility questionnaire and to respond to the email confirming their attendance, which will be recorded by researchers as part of recruitment recordkeeping. Note that recruitment record keeping will be kept separate from any data collected during the study to maintain confidentiality.

Participants will be quasi-randomly assigned to complete four simulated driving scenarios using either a conventional or contextual DMS. Researchers will attempt to balance age and sex across groups. All data will be anonymized such that any data linking study data to participant eligibility criteria will be kept separate and secured on Westat systems that are only accessible by the research team. Only participants who complete the study will have their data retained for three years per OMB data storage requirements. All other data will be destroyed after the project period of performance.

Upon arrival at the study location, participants will be greeted and led to ( printed page 35298) a private room where data collection will occur. Researchers will review the participant's driver's license to ensure validity, age and sex for participation eligibility and condition balancing. Participants will then complete NHTSA Form 2246—Informed Consent Document, which will be presented physically for both the participant and researcher to sign. If individuals agree to participate, they will then proceed with the Intake Procedures, completing the NHTSA Form 2238—Demographic Questionnaire on a tablet using Qualtrics. If participants decline to participate, they will be thanked for their interest and escorted out.

The second component of the Intake Procedures consists of driving simulator training to determine if participants can complete study procedures ( i.e., no simulator sickness). Participants will be directed to the driving simulator, where a researcher will describe how to operate the driving simulator, and give an overview of the DMS functions and alerts. Participants will receive the same explanation for the DMS functionality regardless of DMS type to enable group comparisons across self-report measures. Next, participants will receive an explanation of the secondary task, called the Numbers Task, which will be displayed on a tablet next to the driving simulator designed to replicate smartphone or infotainment center distraction. Researchers will inform participants that their recitations will be scored for accuracy to encourage consistent engagement with the secondary task while driving. Once all procedures have been explained, participants will be instrumented with a physiological sensor suite to capture participant heart rate variability and electrodermal activity. These sensors do not interfere with participant dexterity or mobility.

After the sensors have been secured, participants will complete a 5-minute practice drive to familiarize themselves with vehicle control and secondary tasks. This drive will be similar to the study driving scenarios, including highway setting and speed ( e.g., > 45 mph). However, no safety events will occur during the practice drive. Participants can request as many practice drives as needed to feel comfortable with the driving simulator. Participants will then complete NHTSA Form 2251—Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ) to assess any symptoms that developed during the practice drive. If participants are feeling unwell, they will be provided with bottled water and a place to rest until symptoms have passed. The SSQ will be administered to participants following each study drive to continuously monitor participant wellbeing. Participants may stop driving at any point during practice or study drives.

Participants will then complete a series of four driving scenarios, all of which consist of standard highway driving and will take ten minutes to complete as part of Data Collection Activities. These drives are 10-minutes long to ensure adequate distraction data is captured from both DMS. The first three scenarios will not contain a safety-critical scenario due to potential behavioral changes resulting from the near crash and will be counterbalanced to control for order effects. The safety-critical scenario will occur in the final drive ( e.g., a covered-to-revealed road obstruction). No other vehicle maneuvers will prevent a crash from occurring. The secondary task will be coordinated with the safety-critical event such that participants will be engaged in the task immediately preceding the safety-critical event to ensure consistency in assessment of the DMS. After each drive, participants will complete NHTSA Form 2239—Acceptance Questionnaire 1, which consists of survey questions focused on the usefulness, annoyance, predictability, timing, and perceived accuracy of the DMS. After all drives have been completed, participants will complete NHTSA Form 2240—Acceptance Questionnaire 2, which asks two questions about the participant's comfort level with being monitored by the DMS and their preference for having such a system in their vehicle ( i.e., their acceptance of the DMS). This questionnaire is administered once after all drives to ensure that participants have sufficient exposure to the system, providing more consistent and well-informed feedback regarding their experiences .

Next, participants proceed to System Comparison Activities. To help participants understand the differences between the two DMS types, they will watch four videos, one for each driving scenario, accompanied by explanations highlighting how the systems differ. The DMS will be labeled as System A (conventional DMS) and System B (contextual DMS) to avoid biasing participants. As the contextual DMS is a prototype of a new technology, it is critical to examine how a deeper understanding with its functionality influences participant opinions. After each set of videos (a total of four), participants will complete NHTSA Form 2241—Acceptance Questionnaire 3. The questionnaire will ask participants to rate the systems side-by-side on factors of usefulness, annoyance, predictability, timing, and perception of system accuracy of the system's distraction detection for a total of four repetitions. Participants will watch the videos in the order they experienced the driving scenario. However, the presentation of System A and System B videos will be counterbalanced across drives to control order effects. After all sets of videos have been watched, participants will complete a final survey (NHTSA Form 2242—Acceptance Questionnaire 4) to assess their comfort with DMS monitoring and their acceptance of the two DMS. They will be asked to indicate their system preference, if they have one.

Once the study is completed, participants will complete NHTSA Form 2237—Debrief & Honorarium Confirmation Form where researchers will discuss the purpose of the study and answer any remaining questions. As part of this process, participants will complete a document acknowledging receipt of the honorarium. Participants will receive $120 for completing the study, which is anticipated to last approximately two hours.

Description of the Need for the Information and Proposed Use of the Information: NHTSA's mission is to save lives, prevent injuries, and reduce the economic costs of road traffic crashes through education, research, safety standards, and enforcement activity. As vehicle technologies advance, they have the potential to dramatically reduce the loss of life from roadway crashes. Alternatively, the systems may not reach this potential or could potentially decrease safety when drivers do not understand how to safely interact with the systems or do not understand the capabilities and limitations. This new information request is for a driving simulator study designed to assess a new type of driver monitoring system that uses external sensor data to identify potential hazards, determine driver distraction based on whether they observed the hazard and modify countermeasures based on this joint understanding of driver distraction and the driving environment. The following components will be used to obtain the necessary information to achieve this purpose.

• NHTSA Form 2235—Advertisement —This form is necessary to recruit potential participants. This document's content will be published on Westat's intranet and social media channels, as well as distributed via email to a database of former participants expressing interest in future research. Participants who are interested ( printed page 35299) in participating will be redirected to NHTSA Form 2243—Eligibility Questionnaire & Availability Form to determine eligibility.
• NHTSA Form 2243—Eligibility Questionnaire & Availability Form —Determining participant eligibility is critical both for completing the study objectives as well as the health and wellbeing of participants. This process will involve online screening and diverse outreach efforts, such as social media advertisements and intranet postings, to assemble a representative participant pool. At the end of the eligibility questionnaire, participants will also provide their contact information, days of the week and session times they are available to participate so researchers may contact them to schedule their study session.
• NHTSA Form 2249—Scheduling Form —The next step in the enrollment process involves calling eligible individuals to schedule their appointment.
• NHTSA Form 2236—Appointment Reminder Form —Sending a reminder email 24 hours before scheduled sessions is a critical step to ensure smooth coordination and minimize participant no-shows. Participants will be asked to confirm their intention to attend their session, which will be noted by researchers. This form will include essential information such as the session time, location, materials to bring, and instructions to confirm their attendance. In addition, the email provides an opportunity for participants to ask any last-minute questions or inform the research team of scheduling conflicts. This step is designed to reinforce participant preparedness, reduce logistical issues, and enhance overall study efficiency.
• NHTSA Form 2246—Informed Consent Document —Obtaining informed consent upon arrival is an essential step to ensure compliance with ethical research standards.
• Intake Procedures —The purpose of the intake procedures is to collect important demographic information from participants for reporting purposes. Afterward, participants under driving simulator training to learn how to operate the driving simulator, respond to the secondary task, and to ensure that participants can complete the study drives without experiencing motion sickness.

○ NHTSA Form 2238—Demographics Questionnaire —Collecting participant demographics is an integral part of communicating sample characteristics and ensuring representativeness and generalizability. Participants will complete an online survey that focuses on only the most important demographic characteristics needed to describe the sample, including age, sex, ethnicity, highest level of education level completed and income. Age and sex are collected a second time to ensure balance among experimental conditions.

○ Driving Simulator Training —This step is necessary for preparing participants for driving in the simulator. Simulator driving may feel different from regular driving and requires an adjustment period to successfully control the vehicle. In addition, participants who experience simulator sickness can withdraw from the study. Before entering the vehicle, participants will receive training on the operation of the vehicle, the DMS, and the secondary task on an adjacent tablet. Participants will then enter the vehicle and receive additional training. Next, participants will complete a 5-minute familiarization drive to practice driving, experience the DMS, and practice completing a secondary task.

• NHTSA Form 2251—Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ) —This form is required to ascertain whether participants feel well enough to continue after the driving simulator training and after each of the four subsequent study drives (administered five times). The SSQ is important to administer after the last drive because some participants may feel motion sickness due to vehicle control or the safety-critical event and would require monitoring from study staff until the symptoms pass.
• Data Collection Activities —This process is required because it captures the information necessary to answer NHTSA's research questions regarding acceptance and the valuation of the contextual DMS. It is composed of two subcomponents: study drives, and a DMS acceptance form. Each subcomponent is discussed in greater detail below.

○ Driving Scenario Test Drives —These driving scenarios will serve as the main source of data collection. Measures will include data gathered from the driving simulator that relate to vehicle control ( e.g., standard deviation of lane position, velocity), driver behavior ( e.g., gaze location, head and body pose data) gathered from the DMS, and driver physiological data ( e.g., electrodermal activity, heart rate variability) gathered from a sensor secured to the driver's wrist and fingers. Participants will complete four driving scenarios using either a conventional or contextual DMS. All drives mimic standard highway settings and speed. The first three driving scenarios will have non-crash imminent events ( e.g., passing vehicles, merging) and will be counterbalanced to control for order effects. The last drive will have a crash-imminent event ( e.g., a covered-to-revealed road obstruction). The secondary task will be synchronized with the simulator such that participants will be distracted approaching the hazard to ensure validity of the DMS assessment.

○ NHTSA Form 2239—Acceptance Questionnaire 1 This questionnaire is critical as it directly answers NHTSA's research question regarding how a contextual DMS affects driver acceptance of the DMS. The questionnaire will be administered after each study drive and consist of five questions related to the participant's perception of the DMS's usefulness, annoyance, predictability, timing and perceived accuracy.

• NHTSA Form 2240—Acceptance Questionnaire 2: This questionnaire is critical as it directly answers NHTSA's research question regarding how a contextual DMS affects driver acceptance of the DMS. Two questions will be collected focusing on the participant's comfort with DMS monitoring and their acceptance of the system. These items were not added to NHTSA Form 2239—Acceptance Questionnaire 1 because these address long term factors which require more experience with the systems before participants can form meaningful conclusions.
• System Comparison Activities: This process is required because it contains the information necessary to answer NHTSA's research questions regarding acceptance. It is composed of two subcomponents: a review of conventional and contextual DMS drives and completing a DMS acceptance form. Each subcomponent is discussed in greater detail below.

○ Review of Conventional and Contextual DMS Drives: Participants will watch videos comparing the DMS types across driving scenarios to increase their understanding of how a contextual DMS operates. Driving scenarios will be presented in the same sequence experienced by the participants, while the order of DMS presentation will be counterbalanced to control for order effects.

○ NHTSA Form 2241 —Acceptance Questionnaire 3: After each video, researchers will ask participants to complete this survey, which consists of rating both types of DMS side-by-side on the factors of interest from NHTSA Form X—Acceptance Questionnaire 1.

• NHTSA Form 2242—Acceptance Questionnaire 4: After all sets of driving ( printed page 35300) scenario videos have been watched, participants will complete a survey comparing the conventional and contextual DMS in terms of monitoring comfort and acceptance, as well explicating indicating their preference for the conventional or contextual DMS.
• NHTSA Form 2237—Debrief & Honorarium Confirmation Form —Debriefing is an essential study component which is designed to gather participant insights and refine study outcomes. Following NHTSA Form 2242—Acceptance Questionnaire 4 completion, participants will engage in a semi-structured debriefing session where the researcher will explain the purpose of the study and participants will provide feedback on the DMS, including usability and their overall study experience. This process allows researchers to identify potential issues, capture subjective perspectives, and gain insights into interface design features ( e.g., alerts, warnings), ensuring comprehensive evaluation and improving the quality of study findings. The honorarium confirmation form will be completed after the debrief and is necessary because it ensures that participants are compensated for their time and provides a record of compensation.

Affected Public: Individuals in the Washington DC metro area who have opted to receive research-related emails through Westat's participant database will be contacted. Recruitment efforts will be supplemented by advertisements placed on Westat's intranet and via social media posts and advertisements. Respondents must meet specific eligibility criteria to be included in this information collection. Respondents must (1) be at least 18 years old, (2) possess a valid driver's license, (3) drive at least 3000 miles annually, (4) have normal or corrected-to-normal vision, (5) have normal or corrected-to-normal hearing, (6) refrain from alcohol and recreational substance use ( e.g., marijuana) for 24 hours before the session, (7) not take sedative or psychotropic medication, (8) not wear bifocal lenses while driving, (9) not require specialized driving equipment, (10) not have medical conditions that might impact their ability to get in and out of vehicles or sit for extended periods of time with intermittent driving, (11) no history of simulator sickness.

Estimated Number of Respondents: Westat estimates contacting 204 respondents to achieve a final, valid dataset consisting of 48 respondents. Of the 204 respondents anticipated, Westat anticipates contacting 68 respondents via phone call. Of the 68 respondents contacted, Westat anticipates nine percent attrition, resulting in 62 scheduled participants. Westat anticipates an attrition rate of nine percent between scheduling and study session, resulting in 56 participants attending their scheduled session. Some respondents may experience minor simulator sickness and be unable to complete the study, which Westat estimates at seven percent, resulting in 52 respondents completing the study. Finally, Westat estimates eight percent of respondent data will be unusable due to data quality problems ( e.g., equipment malfunction, non-compliance), resulting in the target dataset of 48 valid respondents.

Frequency: One-time collection.

Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: The total estimated burden is 132 hours, which can be seen in Table 1 and is the sum of the total opportunity burden hours column. All data collection is estimated to occur within the same year, so the annualized burden equals the total burden.

Estimated Total Annual Burden Cost: There will be no start-up or record-keeping costs to respondents to obtain these data. Participation is voluntary, and no one will be required to participate. Participants will be compensated for their time and effort for completing the study. The only cost burdens respondents will incur are costs related to travel to and from the research location. The costs are minimal and are expected to be offset by the honorarium that will be provided to the research participants. NHTSA estimates that each participant will travel less than 30 miles ( printed page 35301) one-way to the research location (60 miles round trip). Using the IRS standard mileage rate of $0.70 per mile, each respondent is expected to incur no more than $42.00 ($0.70 × 60 miles) in transportation costs. Therefore, estimated burden costs are no more than $2,184 ($42.00 × 52 respondents).

Public Comments Invited: You are asked to comment on any aspects of this information collection, including (a) whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Department, including whether the information will have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the Department's estimate of the burden of the proposed information collection; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) 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.

Authority —The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35, as amended; 49 CFR 1.49; and DOT Order 1351.29A.

91 FR 35296