National Roadside Survey

Title:  National Roadside Survey

Please Review the attached RFP, 693JJ922R000060, National Roadside Survey.  

The objective of this contract is to perform alcohol- and drugged driving research. At a minimum, the contract covers the topics below:

• A national roadside survey in 2024 to estimate the prevalence of the following on the nation’s roads. The methodology will be based on sampling drivers but the contractor shall include convenience sampling of other road users who are readily available at data collection locations. The contractor shall determine:
  • drivers and other road users at various BACs (blood alcohol concentrations),
  • drivers and other road users with the presence of various (over-the-counter, prescription, and illegal) drugs, in their system, and
  • drivers and other road users with alcohol and other drugs in their system.

• A pilot test of a methodology, including a sampling strategy, and protocol for a survey of pedestrians, bicyclists, electric scooter riders, and those with assistive aids.[1] This pilot test will not include drivers.

The Contractor shall obtain data on alcohol and drug use of drivers and other road users through breath samples and oral fluid samples. Each subject will be asked several questions regarding their general road use behavior, alcohol use, drinking and driving behavior, drug use, and drugged driving behavior.

As with the past studies, the roadside survey effort will focus on drivers. However, new for this survey, NHTSA is interested in obtaining data from other road users also already at the locations, such as pedestrians, bicyclists, electric scooter riders, and others using assistive aids. The survey is voluntary and anonymous. Although there may be some variations, in general the contractor shall plan on using the protocol from the 2013-2014 survey, as described in NHTSA’s methodology report. Data shall be collected from drivers and others in a representative selection of sites across the contiguous United States, beginning in spring 2024. To compare data to past studies, at a minimum, sampling will occur on Friday and Saturday late-nights, and Friday days. The Contractor shall obtain an oral fluid sample from a minimum of 8,000 drivers, with additional samples from the convenience sampling of other road users. The specimens shall be tested for selected over-the counter, prescription, and illegal drugs.

The Contractor shall ensure that all aspects of the study, including but not limited to, site selection, coordination with local officials, scheduling and travel, data collector training, sampling methods, data collection, specimen handling, specimen analysis, data analysis, and report(s) preparation are conducted smoothly, efficiently, and on schedule.

For the separate pilot test of methodology and protocol for a survey of pedestrians, bicyclists, electric scooter riders, and those using assistive aids, the contractor shall obtain data on alcohol and drug use through breath samples and oral fluid samples. Whereas in the roadside survey requirement presented above (which will now include convenience sampling only for other road users) at the locations selected for drivers, this pilot test is focused on other road users and will not include drivers. The methodology and protocol shall be based on these subjects. Site and location selection will be based on areas with high transit use by these road users, and questions be focused on transportation via walking, biking, scootering, and use of assistive aids. NHTSA is interested in learning whether a large-scale roadside survey of non-driver road users is feasible for the future. This will provide NHTSA and partners in traffic safety with valuable information as to needed sampling methodology, specific protocol revisions, or issues that need to be considered.

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