NHTSA Seeks Comment on Fatality Analysis Reporting System

Content

ACTION:

Notice and request for comments on a request for reinstatement without change of a previously approved information collection.

SUMMARY:

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), this notice announces that the Information Collection Request
(ICR) summarized below will be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. The ICR describes
the nature of the information collection and its expected burden. This document describes a currently approved collection
of information for which NHTSA intends to seek approval from OMB for extension with modification on NHTSA's Fatality Analysis
Reporting System (FARS) and Non-Traffic Surveillance (NTS). A
Federal Register
Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following information collection was published on November
18, 2025. Twenty-four comments were received.

DATES:

Comments must be submitted on or before April 23, 2026.

ADDRESSES:

Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information collection, including suggestions for reducing burden, should
be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget at www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. To find this particular information collection, select “Currently under Review—Open for Public Comment” or use the search
function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

For additional information or access to background documents, contact Barbara Rhea, State Data Reporting Systems Division
(NSA-120), (202) 560-6724, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Room W43-313, U.S. Department of Transportation,
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington DC 20590. Please identify the relevant collection of information by referring to its
OMB Control Number (2127-0006).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Under the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), a Federal agency must receive approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) before it collects certain information
from the public and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information by a Federal agency unless the collection
displays a valid OMB control number. In compliance with these requirements, this notice announces that the following information
collection request will be submitted OMB.

Title: Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and Non-Traffic Surveillance (NTS).

OMB Control Number: 2127-0006.

Form Number: NHTSA Form 2100.

Type of Request: Request for extension of a currently approved collection of information.

Type of Review Requested: Regular.

Length of Approval Requested: Three years from date of approval.

Summary of the Collection of Information: NHTSA is authorized by 49 U.S.C. 30182 and 23 U.S.C. 402, 403 & 405, the Cameron Gulbransen Kids Transportation Safety Act
of 2007 (K.T. Safety Act) (Pub. L 110-189) to collect data on motor vehicle traffic crashes to aid in the identification of
issues and the development, implementation, and evaluation of motor vehicle and highway safety countermeasures to reduce fatalities
and the property damage associated with motor vehicle crashes. Using this authority, NHTSA established the Fatal Analysis
Reporting System (FARS) and the Non-Traffic Surveillance (NTS), which collect data on fatal motor vehicle traffic crashes.
Among other things, the information aids in the establishment and enforcement of motor vehicle regulations and highway safety
programs.

The FARS data collection started in 1975 and is a census of all defined crashes involving fatalities in the country. The FARS
collects annual data from all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico under cooperative agreements. State employees
collect and process information from existing State documents including police crash reports as well as driver license, vehicle
registration, highway roadway classification, death certificates, toxicology reports and Emergency Medical Service reports.
NHTSA uses FARS data for research and analysis in support of motor vehicle regulations and highway safety programs. This supports
NHTSA's mission by providing the agency vital information about fatal crashes. The FARS data comprises a national database
that tracks trends in fatalities and quantifying problems in highway safety.

The Non-Traffic Surveillance (NTS) is an automated data collection effort for collecting information about non-traffic crashes
and non-crash incidents. The NTS data provide counts and details regarding fatalities and injuries that occur in non-traffic
crashes and in non-crash incidents. The NTS non-traffic crash data are obtained through NHTSA's data collection efforts for
the Crash Report Sampling System (CRSS), the Crash Investigation Sampling System (CISS), and FARS. NTS also includes data
outside of NHTSA's own data collections. NTS' non-crash injury data are based upon emergency department records from a special
study conducted by the Consumer Product Safety Commission's National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) All Injury
Program. NTS non-crash fatality data are derived from death certificate information from the Centers for Disease Control's
National Vital Statistics System. This ICR only seeks approval for the collection of NTS data for NTS that comes from the
FARS data collection effort.

Description of the Need for the Information and Proposed Use of the Information: NHTSA's mission is to save lives, prevent injuries, and reduce economic losses resulting from motor vehicle crashes. In order
to accomplish this mission, NHTSA needs high-quality data on motor vehicle crashes. The FARS supports this mission by providing
the agency with vital information about all crashes involving fatalities that occur on our nation's roadways. The FARS does
this by collection national fatality information directly from existing State files and documents and aggregate them for research
and analysis.

FARS data is used extensively by NHTSA program and research offices, other DOT modes, States, and local jurisdictions. The
highway research community uses the FARS data for trend analysis, problem identification, and program evaluation. Congress
uses the FARS data for making decisions concerning safety programs. The FARS data are also available upon request to anyone
interested in highway safety.

60-Day Notice

A
Federal Register
notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting public comments on the following information collection was published on November
18, 2025 (90 FR 51812).

During the comment period, NHTSA received a total of twenty-four comments from various stakeholders, which are listed below
in the order they were received:

1. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS),

2. Families for Safe Streets (FSS),

3. DRIVE SMART Virginia,

4. American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA),

5. WhoPoo App: two identical comments were submitted,

6. Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE),

7. The League of American Bicyclists,

8. Traffic Injury Research Foundation USA, Inc. (TIRF USA),

9. American Trucking Associations (ATA),

10. American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA),

11. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University—Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI),

12. Truck Safety Coalition (TSC), Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways (CRASH), and Parents Against Tired Truckers (P.A.T.T.):
    three organizations are represented together,

13. National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO),

14. Motorcycle Riders Foundation,

15. AARP,

16. Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT),

17. Smart Growth America (SGA),

18. National Safety Council (NSC),

19. Association of Transportation Safety Information Professionals (ATSIP),

20. Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility (Responsibility.org) and National Alliance to Stop Impaired Driving (NASID),

21. Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, which includes American Automobile Association (AAA), Governors Highway Safety
    Association, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), NSC, Safe Kids Worldwide,

22. Alliance for Automotive Innovation,

23. Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT).

The majority of the comments were strongly supportive of the proposed FARS and NTS information collection. The comments deemed
the data collection is a critical tool for understanding and improving road safety. FARS provides a comprehensive census of
fatal motor vehicle crashes in the United States and it's essential for research, policy development and evaluation of safety
countermeasures, and necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Department.

WhoPoo App submitted two identical comments that are not relevant to the proposed FARS and NTS data collection. Therefore,
they were not taken under advisement.

Fourteen of the comments (IIHS, FSS, ITE, The League of American Bicyclists, Traffic Injury Research Foundation USA, Inc.,
VTTI, NACTO, Motorcycle Riders Foundation, AARP, CTDOT, SGA, ATSIP, Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility (Responsibility.org) and NASID and CDOT) noted delays in public release of FARS annual datasets. NHTSA is committed to working with States, the
District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico to investigate innovative collection methods, aiming to enhance efficiencies within
data collection systems.

Six of the comments (IIHS, ITE, The League of American Bicyclists, NACTO, Motorcycle Riders Foundation and AARP) requested
to be involved through public comments on substantial proposed changes to the data collection system. NHTSA thanks the commenters
for their interest. The current proposed changes process is a culmination of feedback from stakeholders including public comments
throughout the year. NHTSA continues to review the effectiveness of current data elements and will explore future solicitation
to improve the utility and accuracy of the data collection systems.

Three of the comments (CTDOT, ATSIP, and Alliance for Automotive Innovation) were in response to the NHTSA's estimate of the
burden of the proposed information collection. CTDOT stated the burden was underestimated given revised documents and updated
case information. ATSIP stated it is a burden for agencies to report with limited resources and more complex data elements.
Alliance for Automative Innovation responded the proposed burden estimates appear reasonable given the long-standing nature
of both FARS and NTS. After reviewing these comments, NHTSA decided to change the burden hours for EDT manual case entry from
two hours per case to three hours per case. Upon further review, additional consideration was taken for overall burden hours
for FARS Manual Protocol Case Entry Process given the complexities of supporting case materials, increasing quality control
analyses and additional data requirements the burden hours were changed from 4.25 hours per case to five hours per case.

ATSIP mentioned “data deserts” that are important for commerce. These are US and state-owned roadways with shared jurisdiction
and may run through tribal areas that have limited law enforcement presence or are managed by multiple agencies and where
data is not shared efficiently. The FARS data collection is limited to what is available and shared within State data owners
to the designated State FARS unit. This collaboration is critical for the collection, analysis and completeness of supporting
FARS case material.

The League of American Bicyclists requested NHTSA have the ability to capture emerging vehicles such as electrically-assisted
bicycles and autonomous vehicles. NHTSA continues to review the effectiveness of current data elements and will explore future
solicitation to improve the utility and accuracy of the data collection systems.

The Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility (Responsibility.org), NASID, VTTI, and ITE submitted comments that extend beyond the scope of this ICR. These comments addressed potential enhancements
to FARS, including improved drug toxicology data, a more comprehensive approach to data collection for crash causation, and
stronger linkages with other safety datasets. While these suggestions fall outside the immediate scope of this collection
request, NHTSA will continue to explore opportunities to enhance the quality, breadth, and integration of the information
collected in FARS.

Affected Public: States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 52.

Frequency: On Occasion.

NHTSA has established cooperative agreements with the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico to report a standard
set of data on each fatal crash in their jurisdictions. State respondents report based on the occurrence of crashes involving
fatalities. When a fatal crash occurs, State employees extract and transcribe information from existing files and input the
information into FARS, with the frequency of reporting determined by the frequency of fatal crashes occurring in the respondent's
jurisdiction.

Estimated Number of Responses: 38,581.

Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 152,211.

For both FARS and NTS, there are 52 respondents (50 States, the District of Columbia (DC), and Puerto Rico (PR)) reporting
on approximately 38,536 fatal crash cases per year. Of these cases, 37,981 are reported to FARS and approximately 600 are
identified and reported as non-traffic fatal crashes (NTS).

The annual burden has increased from when NHTSA last sought approval for this collection from 107,209 to 152,211 hours (an
increase of 45,002 hours). The adjustment in burden hours is due to the increase in the complexity of coding the FARS cases
and an increase in the number of fatal crashes across most States. The increase also accounts for the time to process the
non-traffic fatalities for NTS. Furthermore, while time for manually inputting data has decreased with States implementing
systems to electronically transfer police report data that prepopulate NHTSA's data systems, including FARS, (1) the overall burden increased because, over the past three years, there has been an increase in staff turnover at the State
level, adding an increase in administrative hours, training, and coding assistance to continue operations.

The State employee (or employees depending on the number of fatal crashes per year occurring in the jurisdiction) acquires
and codes the required information, as fatal crashes occur, in the FARS records-based system. For FARS, although there is
only one information collection, NHTSA calculates the total burden using four burden categories: (1) FARS Manual Protocol
Case Entry, (2) overhead burden for FARS in States without EDT, (3) FARS coding in States with EDT, and (4) FARS EDT mapping
maintenance.

FARS Manual Protocol Case Entry

NHTSA estimates that there are currently 30 States providing crash reports (including case materials) via manual protocol.
For these respondents after considering the comments for the 60-day
Federal Register
notice, NHTSA estimates that it takes analysts approximately 5 hours (an increase of 0.75 hour) to collect fatal crash information
and code a FARS case entry in the FARS data entry system. This estimate is based on historical knowledge of the average number
of analysts, full- and part-time, back-up analysts, FARS supervisors, and coding assistance respondents needed to complete
an annual FARS file. NHTSA estimates that, on average, 18,007 cases are collected and coded annually using this access method.
Therefore, NHTSA estimates the total annual burden associated with FARS Manual Protocol case entry to be approximately 90,035
hours annually (18,007 cases × 5 hours = 90,035 hours).

FARS Manual Protocol In-Kind Process Support

In addition to the time for each crash entry, some respondents using the FARS Manual Protocol are also expected to incur overhead
burden time. NHTSA estimates that 8 States provide overhead support and that the total annual burden for this support is 2,000
hours, or an average of 250 hours per respondent. This burden includes hours spent by supervisors and State managers responding
to and supporting FARS operations that are not accounted for in the coding hours every year, including supporting data acquisition
and other associated tasks.

FARS EDT Mapping Maintenance

NHTSA estimates that there are approximately 22 States already participating in Electronic Data Transfer (EDT). For these
respondents, PCR data are automatically transferred from the State's centralized crash database to NHTSA's CDAN system. The
crash data are then prepopulated in NHTSA's crash data systems, including FARS.

NHTSA estimates the burden to maintain the protocol is estimated at two hours per State (respondent) or a total of 44 hours
per year (22 States × 2 hours). This represents time to monitor case quality and timeliness, conduct quality control processes,
and maintain communications with NHTSA and its contractors to ensure accurate data transfer. The specific task associated
with this maintenance of effort is referred to as “mapping”. Upon becoming an EDT State, the respondent participates in an
initial mapping process. The process requires an alignment between the State Specific Coding Instructions and the FARS Coding
and Validation guidance. (2) During quality control processes, which are conducted year-round, data anomalies may be detected, at which time action must
be taken to review and ultimately correct the shifts in the data. This process, while managed by the Office of Data Acquisition,
requires concurrence from the respondent, which is what the burden represents.

FARS EDT Manual Case Entry for Supporting Case Materials

Participation in EDT reduces but does not eliminate the manual entry of data into FARS. Although information from PCRs is
pre-populated into the system, EDT State respondents must still collect and enter supporting case materials, such as driver
records, toxicology reports, death certificate information, and coroner's/medical examiners reports to complete a FARS case.
After considering the comments for the 60-day
Federal Register
notice, NHTSA estimates that completing each case entry in an EDT States takes 3 hours (an increase of 1 hour), which is approximately
half the time the process is estimated to take for non-EDT States. On average, NHTSA estimates that 19,944 FARS cases for
the 22 EDT States will have pre-populated data. Accordingly, NHTSA estimates the total burden associated with completing the
FARS case entries for these cases to be 59,832 hours (19,944 cases × 3 hours = 59,832 hours).

Total Burden for FARS

The collective and cumulative efforts of all 52 respondents results in an estimated annual burden of 151,911 hours (90,035
hours + 2,000 hours + 44 hours + 59,832 hours). Table 1 provides a summary of the burden associated with FARS.

| Burden category | Number of
responses | Number of
respondents | Burden hours per
response | Total annual
burden hoursper burdencategory |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| FARS EDT (mapping maintenance) | 22 | 22 | 2 | 44 |
| FARS EDT Manual Case Entry (supporting case materials) | 19,944 | 22 | 3 | 59,832 |
| FARS Manual Protocol Case Entry Process (including supporting case materials) | 18,007 | 30 | 5 | 90,035 |
| FARS Manual Protocol In-kind Process Support | 8 | 8 | 250 | 2,000 |
| Total | 37,981 | 3 52 | 4.0 | 151,911 |

NTS Data Collection

Non-traffic

  fatal crashes are collected by approximately 25 States as part of the FARS data collection process. NHTSA estimates that it
  takes twelve hours per respondent annually to account for NTS cases. Therefore, NHTSA estimates that the total burden for
  NTS case identification and coding is 300 hours annually (25 respondents × 12 hours).

Burden for FARS and NTS

NHTSA estimates the total annual burden for the two information collections, FARS and NTS, is 152,211 hours per year (151,911
hours + 300 hours). Table 2 provides a summary of the burdens for the two information collections.

| Information collection | Responses | Respondents | Burden per
response(hours) | Hours per
respondent | Total burden
hours |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| FARS | 37,981 | 52 | 4.0 | 2,921.37 | 151,911 |
| NTS | 600 | 25 | 0.5 | 12 | 300 |
| Total | 38,581 | | | | 152,211 |
To estimate the labor costs associated with the two information collections, NHTSA looked primarily at the annualized reimbursements
NHTSA provides to States under the FARS Cooperative Agreements and the amount of “in-kind” kind funding provided by the States.
Annually, NHTSA provides approximately $7.1 million to States to go toward the labor costs associated with this information
collection. Additionally, because collecting fatal information is mutually beneficial to the Federal Government and the respondents,
eight State respondents have provided “in-kind funding” to cover State overhead costs associated with managing FARS operations.
While “in-kind funding” varies from respondent to respondent, the average annualized labor costs are estimated at $50,000
per in-kind respondent, for a total of $400,000 in annual in-kind contributions (8 States × $50,000). Therefore, NHTSA estimates
the total cost associated with labor hours to be approximately $7.5 million per year ($7.1 million + $400K), or $49.27 per
hour ($7.5 million ÷ 152,211 hours).

Estimated Total Annual Burden Cost: $0.

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 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) 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
appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information
technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses.

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

Chou-Lin Chen, Associate Administrator for the National Center for Statistics and Analysis. [FR Doc. 2026-05687 Filed 3-23-26; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4910-59-P

Footnotes

(1) The EDT information collection is assigned OMB Control No. 2127-0753.

(2) The burden associated with this task is accounted for under NHTSA ICR that covers EDT (OMB Control Number 2127-0753).

(3) This includes the 50 State, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

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