View Information Collection Request (ICR) Package

Abstract: This information collection request (ICR) is for an information collection that will require manufacturers of motor vehicles and equipment and operators of motor vehicles to submit incident reports for certain crashes involving Automated Driving Systems (ADS) and Level 2 Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS). Standing General Order 2021-01 (General Order) will require vehicle and equipment manufacturers and operators of vehicles equipped with ADS or Level 2 ADAS to report crashes that meet specified criteria to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). ADS and ADAS are new technologies that fundamentally alter the task of driving a motor vehicle by automating certain driver inputs (e.g., steering, acceleration, and braking) and decision making (e.g., path following and obstacle avoidance) that would otherwise be left to human control. Given the rapid evolution of these technologies and testing of new technologies and features on publicly accessible roads, it is critical for NHTSA to exercise its robust oversight over potential safety defects in vehicles operating with ADS and Level 2 ADAS. Crashes involving these vehicles have already resulted in multiple fatalities and serious injuries, and NHTSA anticipates that the number of these crashes will continue to grow in the near future given the increased number of vehicles on the road equipped with these technologies and the increased number of vehicle and equipment manufacturers in the market. The Standing General Order will provide the agency with critical and timely safety data, which will assist the agency in identifying potential safety issues resulting from the operation of advanced technologies on public roads. Access to this crash data may show whether there are common patterns in driverless vehicle crashes or systematic problems with specific vehicles or systems, any of which may reflect a potential defect. The reporting entities will be required to report crashes where the ADS or Level 2 ADAS was engaged or in use immediately (≤ 30 seconds) before the crash. A manufacturer will be required to report any crash involving an ADS or Level 2 ADAS equipped vehicle that results in any individual being transported to a hospital for medical treatment, a fatality, a vehicle tow-away, or an air bag deployment or that involves a vulnerable road user. The manufacturer must report within one day after the reporting entity receives notice of the crash; an updated report will be due 10 days after receiving notice. The 10-day report utilizes the same form and requests the same information as the 1-day reports. The 10-day report is a required follow up to the 1-day report because it is anticipated that, for some of these crashes, the reporting entity will have minimal information on the day after it receives notice. The proposed General Order therefore requires both the 1-day report, to give the agency prompt notice of a crash that may justify immediate follow up, and the 10-day report, to give the reporting entity more time to gather information required by the incident report form. No additional or incremental information is required for the 10-day report. A report regarding any crash involving an ADS equipped vehicle that does not meet the previous criteria but nonetheless involves personal injury or property damage will be due on the fifteenth day of the month after the reporting entity receives notice of the crash. A reporting entity that receives new material or materially different information regarding a crash previously reported to NHTSA will be required to file an updated report the following month. A reporting entity that has no new or updated crash reports for a given month will be required to file a report stating so on the fifteenth day of the following month.

Emergency Justfication: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) requests emergency processing of a request for approval of a collection of information concerning crash reporting for vehicles equipped with Automated Driving Systems (ADS) and SAE Level 2 Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS). NHTSA seeks emergency clearance for this information collection request for the maximum permissible period under 5 C.F.R. § 1320.13(f). NHTSA requests that emergency approval be granted within one (1) business day after it submits this request for emergency approval. NHTSA is requesting emergency processing of this request because the proposed collection of information (1) is needed prior to the expiration of the time periods established under 5 C.F.R. Part 1320, (2) is essential to NHTSA’s mission, and (3) public harm is reasonably likely to result if normal clearance procedures are followed. See 44 U.S.C. § 3507(j); 5 C.F.R. § 1320.13(a). The proposed collection involves crash data relating to ADS and ADAS equipped vehicles to assist the agency in identifying potential defects. Absent the information sought through this proposed collection, the agency will be limited in ability to “protect[] the public against unreasonable risk of accidents occurring because of the design, construction, or performance of a motor vehicle and against unreasonable risk of death or injury in an accident.” 49 U.S.C. § 30102(a)(9). Recent crashes involving ADS and/or Level 2 ADAS equipped vehicles have resulted in fatalities and serious injuries, and public harm is reasonably likely to result absent emergency approval. Upon receipt of the emergency approval, NHTSA will issue a Standing General Order requiring manufacturers and operators of vehicles equipped with ADS or Level 2 ADAS to report crashes where the systems were engaged or in use immediately before the crash. Specifically, NHTSA’s Order will require the specified companies to report certain crashes within one day of learning of them, update those reports within ten days, and update reports of crashes and report certain other ADS crashes monthly. The Order will provide the agency with critical and timely safety data and help it understand the extent to which incidents are potentially a result of safety defects, including whether manufacturers have failed to appropriately design their systems based on their foreseeable 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 misuse. Access to ADS data may show whether there are common patterns in driverless vehicle crashes or systematic problems in operation. Accordingly, this Order will enable NHTSA to collect information necessary for the agency to identify unreasonable safety risks requiring recalls, even as the technology deployed continues to evolve. NHTSA has taken all practicable steps to consider the interests of other interested agencies and members of the public in order to minimize the burden of the collection of information. NHTSA requests that OMB approve or disapprove the collection of information no later than the following business day.

View ICR - OIRA Conclusion