Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Request for Comment; Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and Non-Traffic Surveillance (NTS)

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Published

March 24, 2026

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Transportation DepartmentNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Abstract

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.

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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 56 (Tuesday, March 24, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 56 (Tuesday, March 24, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14067-14070]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-05687]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2025-0721]

Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the
Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; Request for
Comment; Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and Non-Traffic
Surveillance (NTS)

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),
Department of Transportation (DOT).

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

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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
<a href="http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain">www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain</a>. 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.

[[Page 14068]]

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
(<a href="http://Responsibility.org">Responsibility.org</a>) 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 (<a href="http://Responsibility.org">Responsibility.org</a>) 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
(<a href="http://Responsibility.org">Responsibility.org</a>), 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.

[[Page 14069]]

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.
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\1\ The EDT information collection is assigned OMB Control No.
2127-0753.
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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 x 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 x 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.
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\2\ The burden associated with this task is accounted for under
NHTSA ICR that covers EDT (OMB Control Number 2127-0753).
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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 x 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.

Table 1--Burden Category Estimates and Total Burden for FARS
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Total annual
Number of Number of Burden hours burden hours
Burden category responses respondents per response per burden
category
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FARS EDT (mapping maintenance).................. 22 22 2 44
FARS EDT Manual Case Entry (supporting case 19,944 22 3 59,832
materials).....................................

[[Page 14070]]

FARS Manual Protocol Case Entry Process 18,007 30 5 90,035
(including supporting case materials)..........
FARS Manual Protocol In-kind Process Support.... 8 8 250 2,000
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Total....................................... 37,981 \3\ 52 4.0 151,911
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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 x 12
hours).
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\3\ This includes the 50 State, the District of Columbia, and
Puerto Rico.
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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.

Table 2--Summary of Burdens for FARS and NTS
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Burden per
Information collection Responses Respondents response Hours per Total burden
(hours) respondent hours
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FARS............................ 37,981 52 4.0 2,921.37 151,911
NTS............................. 600 25 0.5 12 300
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Total....................... 38,581 .............. .............. .............. 152,211
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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 x $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

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