Notice2026-02598
Agency Information Collection Activities; Notice and Request for Comment; Distraction: Modern Voice Command Interfaces
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Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
February 10, 2026
Issuing agencies
Transportation DepartmentNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Abstract
NHTSA invites public comments about the Agency's intention to request approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for a new information collection. Before a federal agency can collect certain information from the public, it must receive approval from OMB. Under procedures established by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, before seeking OMB approval, federal agencies must solicit public comment on proposed collections of information, including extensions and reinstatement of previously approved collections. This document describes a collection of information for which NHTSA intends to seek OMB approval to conduct research on safety-related aspects of voice command interfaces (VCIs), specifically how VCIs affect distracted driving behavior and cognitive workload.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 27 (Tuesday, February 10, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 27 (Tuesday, February 10, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5984-5988]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-02598]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. NHTSA-2025-0059]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Notice and Request for
Comment; Distraction: Modern Voice Command Interfaces
AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),
Department of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice and request for comments on a request for approval of a
new collection of information.
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SUMMARY: NHTSA invites public comments about the Agency's intention to
request approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for a
new information collection. Before a federal agency can collect certain
information from the public, it must receive approval from OMB. Under
procedures established by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, before
seeking OMB approval, federal agencies must solicit public comment on
proposed collections of information, including extensions and
reinstatement of previously approved collections. This document
describes a collection of information for which NHTSA intends to seek
OMB approval to conduct research on safety-related aspects of voice
command interfaces (VCIs), specifically how VCIs affect distracted
driving behavior and cognitive workload.
DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before April 13, 2026.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by the Docket No. NHTSA-
2025-0059 through any of the following methods:
<bullet> Electronic submissions: Go to the Federal eRulemaking
Portal at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>. Follow the online instructions
for submitting comments.
<bullet> Fax: (202) 493-2251.
<bullet> Mail or Hand Delivery: Docket Management, U.S. Department
of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building, Room W12-
140, Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through
Friday, except on Federal holidays. To be sure someone is there to help
you, please call (202) 366-9322 before coming.
Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and
docket number for this notice. Note that all comments received will be
posted without change to <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>, including any
personal information provided. Please see the Privacy Act heading
below.
Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all
comments received into any of the Agency's dockets by the name of the
individual submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted
on behalf of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may
review DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register
published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477-78) or you may visit <a href="https://www.transportation.gov/privacy">https://www.transportation.gov/privacy</a>.
Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or
comments received, go to <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a> or the street
address listed above. Follow the online instructions for accessing the
dockets via internet.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information or access
to background documents, contact Jeffrey Dressel Office of Vehicle
Safety Research, Human Factors/Engineering Integration Division NSR-
310, West Building, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey
Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590; <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#afc5cac9c9ddcad681cbddcadcdccac3efcbc0db81c8c0d9"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="3c56595a5a4e594512584e594f4f59507c585348125b534a">[email protected]</span></a>; 202-493-0492.
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
[[Page 5985]]
comments on the following proposed collection of information for which
the agency is seeking approval from OMB.
Title: Distraction: Modern Voice Command Interfaces.
OMB Control Number: New data collection.
Form Number(s):
<bullet> NHTSA Form 2071: Eligibility Questionnaire
<bullet> NHTSA Form 2072: Scheduling Form
<bullet> NHTSA Form 2073: Pre-Study Materials
<bullet> NHTSA Form 2074: Appointment Confirmation Form
<bullet> NHTSA Form 2075: Informed Consent Document
<bullet> NHTSA Form 2076: Daily Health Survey
<bullet> NHTSA Form 2077: Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ)
<bullet> NHTSA Form 2078: Task Novelty Assessment
<bullet> NHTSA Form 2079: Debrief
Type of Request: New information collection.
Type of Review Requested: Regular.
Requested Expiration Date of Approval: 3 years from date of
approval.
Summary of the Collection of Information: The National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is seeking approval to collect
information from the public as part of an effort to understand the
effects of currently or near-to-deployed (modern) voice command
interfaces (VCIs) in vehicles. The research compares multiple tasks
across prominent VCI systems to identify both positive and negative
effects on cognitive workload and distraction. The research involves
one study session at Dynamic Research, Inc. (DRI) to complete a series
of drives in a driving simulator. Participants will complete tasks
using a voice command interface (VCI) system that they are familiar
with in a vehicle they drive regularly. Data collection will involve
human-subjects data collection, and all data collection procedures will
be approved by DRI's Institutional Review Board (IRB). Data collection
will only begin upon receipt of PRA clearance. Data collection will
occur in four phases, one phase for each vehicle that must be installed
and instrumented in the driving simulator.
Data from a final sample of 144 participants will be used to
compare the six VCI systems, resulting in 24 participants per VCI
system group. We anticipate participant attrition at several steps of
the recruitment process. First, a recruitment survey (NHTSA Form 2071:
Eligibility Questionnaire) will be sent to potential respondents in
DRI's participant database as well as posted on social media sites to
aid in the recruitment process (n = 1330 respondents). Next, 198
individuals will be identified based on eligibility and
counterbalancing criteria and invited to schedule a session and
complete pre-study forms. We anticipate an attrition rate of 10 percent
with 178 participants completing NHTSA Form 2072: Scheduling Form,
NHTSA Form 2073: Pre-Study Materials, and NHTSA Form 2074: Appointment
Confirmation Form. Upon arriving to the study session, we expect
approximately 17 participants will experience simulator sickness based
on prior research, resulting in a sample size of 160 for completion of
the study. Informed by previous research, approximately 16 participants
(10 percent) are expected to be removed from the final dataset due to
problems with data quality, leaving a final sample size of 144
participants.
As indicated, participants will be recruited from DRI's participant
database, as well as the general populace as needed. Participants will
be restricted to individuals who have experience with the targeted
system/vehicle being evaluated in the data collection, possess normal
or corrected-to-normal vision and hearing, are 18-70 years old, are
fluent in English, possess a valid driver's license, drive a predefined
number of miles per year, are able to participate in the study for 2.5
hours, can abstain from alcoholic, recreational, and illicit substances
for the 12 hours before the data collection session, have no medical
condition that limits or restricts driving, are not susceptible to
motion sickness (based on self-report), require no special driving
equipment, have had no seizures within 6 months, are not using
sedatives or psychotropic medications, and are not pregnant.
Sociodemographic characteristics will be balanced between groups as
outlined in the Visual-Manual NHTSA Driver Distraction Guidelines for
In-Vehicle Electronic Devices.
Participants will physically sign NHTSA Form 2075: Informed Consent
Document the day of their session before beginning the experiment.
Participants will complete Intake Procedures, including NHTSA Form
2076: Daily Health Survey to ensure that participants are feeling well
enough to participate, correctly reported their age and sex (for
balancing of conditions), and complete a driving simulator
familiarization drive. The study involves participants driving a
vehicle (in a simulated environment) that they are familiar with and
using a VCI and a manual interface to accomplish a series of tasks.
Currently, nine drives are planned, including one simulator
familiarization drive and eight study drives. Study drives consist of
seven task drives and one safety-critical event (SCE) drive. The task
drives will be counterbalanced to control for order effects. Due to the
possibility of subsequent driver behavior change after the SCE, the SCE
drive will occur last. Participants will also be randomized into
completing a VCI task or visual-manual task during the SCE. The SCE
event is anticipated to be a covered-to-revealed road obstruction
requiring participant intervention, such as braking to avoid a crash.
Participants will undergo training before each task drive to ensure
understanding and execution ability. Tasks will consist of three common
tasks executed with the VCI, the same three tasks executed manually
using the touchscreen interface, and one unique task that is not shared
among the other systems and only completed through the VCI. An example
task would be navigating to a nearby grocery store and adding a
waypoint to an en route gas station. After each training session,
participants will be asked one question to ascertain task novelty.
The tasks may change slightly based on the capabilities of VCI
systems and interfaces after PRA approval; however, anticipated burden
will not change. Similarly, vehicles will be chosen based on system
availability including Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, Google Built-In as
well as the functionality of the original equipment manufacturer (OEM)
systems. We anticipate assessing six systems across four vehicles
identified based on both the annual technology scan and the ability to
recruit participants that regularly use that system. The six systems
will consist of three third-party systems (Android Auto, Apple CarPlay,
Google-Built-In) and three OEM systems.
During training prior to the task drives, we will document and
classify the types of errors made to answer one of NHTSA's research
questions. We will collect data to ascertain the effects of each task
on driver performance, distraction, and cognitive workload. Metrics of
driver performance include standard deviation of lane position (SDLP),
standard deviation of speed (SDS), and speed differential (SDf). Driver
distraction metrics are gathered from eye-tracking data, including mean
glance duration (MGD), total glance time (TGT), and the proportion of
long glances (PLG) that are longer than two seconds, all of which are
calculated per NHTSA's distraction guidelines. Cognitive workload will
be assessed via pupil diameter (PD), heart rate variability (HRV), and
miss rate and
[[Page 5986]]
response time for the tactile detection response task (TDRT).
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 each day in 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 collection request is for a single study to understand the
effects of voice command interfaces on driver cognitive workload and
distraction across the most common VCI systems. This research supports
NHTSA's mission of safety.
<bullet> NHTSA Form 2071: Eligibility Questionnaire--This
questionnaire establishes whether participants are eligible to
participate. The components include (1) a PRA statement informing
participants about the rules governing federally funded research; (2) a
privacy notice of data collected and used per California state laws;
(3) consent for eligibility questionnaire and study introduction and
description to inform participants about the study specific data to be
collected; (4) eligibility questionnaire to identify participants based
on eligibility criteria; (5) general health questionnaire to identify
potential health concerns that prevent participation; and (6) contact
information for scheduling purposes. To participate in the study,
individuals must have experience with the system/vehicle, have normal
or corrected-to-normal hearing, be 18-70 years old, meet specific
vision requirements (e.g., wear contacts while driving), have English
fluency, possess a valid driver's license, drive a predefined number of
miles per year, have the ability to participate in the study for 2.5
hours, abstain from alcoholic, recreational, or illegal substances for
12 hours before the session, have no medical conditions that limit or
restrict driving, are not susceptible to motion sickness (based on
self-report), require no special driving equipment, have no history of
seizures within 6 months, not taking sedatives or psychotropic
medications, have a valid social security number or tax identification
number, and must not be pregnant. Among those deemed eligible, we will
ensure a balanced representation of ages and sexes. We anticipate 330
responses from DRI's driver database and 1000 responses from external
sources (e.g., social media), with an average completion time of 10
minutes.
<bullet> NHTSA Form 2072: Scheduling Form--This form is required as
it serves to establish potential participant interest in participating
and scheduling a session. The data collected consists of the
participant's name, study date, and time. This is an email sent to
eligible participants to confirm their interest in participating in the
study. We anticipate contacting 198 potential participants to schedule
a session, of which 178 are expected to follow through to form
completion and session scheduling. We anticipate six minutes to
complete scheduling. This includes one minute to read the email and an
average of five minutes to review their schedule and select timeslots.
A link to the vehicle's manufacturer privacy policy per NHTSA's
connected vehicles recommendation is provided. Participants are not
required to review it, so it was not calculated into the burden
estimate.
<bullet> NHTSA Form 2073: Pre-Study Materials--This form is
required as it provides participants with (1) a privacy notice for
describing types and purposes of data collection per California state
law (read); (2) a confidentiality agreement to protect proprietary DRI
information and technology (read and sign); (3) a copy of the informed
consent for participant records (signatures will be obtained at the
scheduled session); (4) an indemnification form to hold DRI harmless
and allow participation in the study (read and sign); and (5) a general
information questionnaire to collect participant information (i.e.,
mailing address, demographic information, health condition).
Participants will also receive a copy of the informed consent for their
records. We anticipate that it will take nine minutes to read and
complete the pre-study materials that is administered to all 178
participants.
<bullet> NHTSA Form 2074: Appointment Confirmation Form--This form
is required to remind participants of their scheduled study session,
which will be emailed 48 hours before the appointment. The email is
anticipated to take one minute to read and will be sent to all 178
participants. Participants will be asked to respond to the email
confirming their attendance, and a researcher will collect their
response and store it for reference before the study session. This
information will consist of the participant's name, whether they
affirmed attendance, and an alternative study session date and time, if
necessary. This email contains the link to the pre-study materials (see
above) and a reminder that they must be completed before the study. A
link to the vehicle's manufacturer privacy policy per NHTSA's connected
vehicles recommendation is provided. Participants are not required to
review the manufacturer privacy policy, so it was not calculated into
the burden estimate.
<bullet> NHTSA Form 2075: Informed Consent Document--This form is
required as it provides the participants with the description of the
study, informs the participants of their rights during the study, and
obtains written informed consent. The informed consent document will be
printed on paper for participants to physically sign at the beginning
of their session. We expect the informed consent process to last 17
minutes.
<bullet> Intake Procedures--The intake process is required to
ensure participant information for compensation, as well as review the
driver's license to confirm validity, confirm the driver's age, review
eligibility status, and confirm demographic information to aid in
balancing demographics across conditions per NHTSA's guidelines.
Furthermore, a daily health survey is collected to ensure the
participant is feeling well enough to participate. Finally,
participants will complete the simulator familiarization drive to
ensure they can adequately control the vehicle. The subcomponents of
burden can be seen below. The entire procedure (as seen in the burden
table below) is anticipated to take approximately 21 minutes.
[cir] Eligibility Confirmation--A subcomponent of this process,
which is required, is to verify the participant's demographic
information (i.e., age and sex) via their license to ensure proper
balancing of experimental conditions. This subcomponent is expected to
take approximately 2 minutes.
[cir] NHTSA Form 2076: Daily Health Survey--A subcomponent of this
process will contain a daily health survey that will be administered to
ensure participants are feeling well enough to participate. This
subcomponent is expected to take approximately 3 minutes to complete.
[cir] Simulator Familiarization Drive--This subcomponent 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. Additionally,
participants who experience simulator sickness can withdraw from the
study. Before entering the vehicle, participants will
[[Page 5987]]
receive training on the operation of the vehicle, VCI and manual
interface systems, and the Tactile Detection Response Task (TDRT),
which is expected to last approximately 10 minutes. Participants will
then enter the vehicle and receive additional training lasting about 2
minutes. Next, participants will complete a 3-to-5-minute (4-minute
average) familiarization drive to practice driving and responding to
the TDRT. Training on the operation of the vehicle and the
familiarization drive will take approximately 16 minutes to complete.
<bullet> NHTSA Form 2077: Simulator Sickness Questionnaire--This
form is required to ascertain whether participants feel well enough to
continue after the simulator familiarization drive and subsequent study
drives (administered 9 times). We anticipate that approximately 17
participants will experience simulator sickness and will withdraw from
the study, returning a sample size of 160 participants who complete the
study session. The SSQ is important to administer after the last drive
because some participants may feel motion sickness due the SCE and
would require monitoring from study staff until the symptoms pass. The
SSQ is anticipated to take 2 minutes to complete.
<bullet> Data Collection Activities--This process is required
because it contains the information necessary to answer NHTSA's
research questions. It is composed of three subcomponents: task
training, study drives, and a task novelty assessment form. Each
subcomponent is discussed in greater detail below. The subcomponents of
burden can be seen below. The entire procedure (as seen in the burden
table below) is completed 8 times as is anticipated to take
approximately 9 minutes per trial, resulting in overall completion time
of 72 minutes.
[cir] Task Training--Before each task drive, participants will
receive verbal training on how to complete the task from the research
staff. This is necessary because participants may not initially
comprehend the task, inhibiting task completion and therefore affecting
estimates of distraction and cognitive workload. Participants will
complete practice trials in the vehicle. Three trials must be completed
successfully before participants complete the associated task drive.
This subcomponent is anticipated to take 4 minutes to complete per
trial, for a total completion time of 32 minutes.
[cir] NHTSA Form 2078: Task Novelty Assessment--After training, but
before the drive, a single item form entitled Task Novelty Assessment
will be administered to assess the frequency of task completion in the
participant's daily drive. This subcomponent is anticipated to take 1
minute to complete per trial, for a total completion time of 8 minutes.
[cir] Study Drives--This set of procedures will be the source of
the primary information collection. Specifically, measures of driver
performance, distraction, and cognitive workload will be collected via
the driving simulator, TDRT, and physiological sensors (eye-tracking
and HRV). The study drives include 8 drives, which are made up of three
common VCI task drives, three common visual-manual interface task
drives, one unique VCI task drive, and one safety-critical event (SCE)
drive. The task drives will be counterbalanced to control for order
effects. Due to the potential behavior change post SCE, the SCE drive
will occur last, with a covered-to-revealed road obstruction. The
common tasks shared by VCI and visual-manual input will be tasks that
are regularly completed in vehicles, as identified by the technology
scan. The unique task drive will assess a task that many other systems
cannot perform (e.g., sending an email in Apple CarPlay). Each drive is
estimated to average 4 minutes per trial (with a range between 3 and 5
minutes), for a total completion time of 32 minutes.
<bullet> NHTSA Form 2079: Debrief--The debrief is necessary to
explain the study purpose and procedures, as well as provide the
participant an opportunity to ask questions. Participants will complete
an honorarium form after the completion of the debrief. The debrief and
honorarium confirmation is expected to last 5 minutes.
Affected Public: Individuals between 18 and 70 years old from
Torrance, California and the surrounding areas who volunteer to take
part in the driving studies or individuals who opted into receiving
research-related emails from DRI will be contacted for participation.
Respondents must meet specific eligibility criteria to be included in
this information collection. Businesses are ineligible for this sample
and will not be contacted.
Estimated Number of Respondents: We estimate 1330 respondents to
the eligibility questionnaire between DRI's participant database and
social media recruiting. The target sample is 144 valid datasets with
24 participants per system, with attrition planned due to
ineligibility, disinterest in participating, simulator sickness, and
data collection issues (e.g., equipment malfunction, participant
noncompliance).
Frequency: One-time collection.
Estimated Number of Responses: This is a one-time data collection
with 144 complete responses planned (i.e., one response per
respondent).
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: The estimated total burden
hours is 637 hours (see table below). All data collection is estimated
to occur within the same year, so the annualized hours equal the total
hours.
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Time per Frequency Burden
NHTSA form No. Information collection Number of response of hours
respondents (minutes) response \1\
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2071.................................. Eligibility Questionnaire 1,330 10 1 222
2072.................................. Scheduling Form.......... 198 6 1 20
2073.................................. Pre-Study Materials...... 178 9 1 27
2074.................................. Appointment Confirmation 178 1 1 3
Form.
2075.................................. Informed Consent Document 178 17 1 50
2076.................................. Intake Procedures 178 21 1 62
(Eligibility
Confirmation, Daily
Heath Survey, Simulator
Familiarization Drive).
2077.................................. Simulator Sickness 160 2 9 48
Questionnaire.
2078.................................. Data Collection 160 8 9 192
Activities (Task
Training, Task Novelty
Assessment, Study
Drives).
2079.................................. Debrief (Honorarium)..... 160 5 1 13
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Total Burden Hours................ ......................... ........... .......... .......... 637
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\1\ Values are rounded.
[[Page 5988]]
Estimated Total Annual Burden Cost: Participation in this study is
voluntary, and there are no costs to respondents beyond the time spent
completing the questionnaires and travel costs for the visits to the
study facility. The costs are minimal and are expected to be offset by
the compensation that will be provided to the research participants.
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.
Cem Hatipoglu,
Associate Administrator, Vehicle Safety Research.
[FR Doc. 2026-02598 Filed 2-9-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P
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