[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1337 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1337

To establish an incentive program to promote effective safety belt laws 
                     and increase safety belt use.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 25, 2003

   Mr. Smith introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To establish an incentive program to promote effective safety belt laws 
                     and increase safety belt use.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Safe, Efficient Automobile Travel to 
Better Ensure Lives in Transit
(SEATBELT) Act of 2003''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) According to the National Highway Traffic Safety 
        Administration (NHTSA), motor vehicle crashes are responsible 
        for 95 percent of all transportation-related deaths and 99 
        percent of all transportation-related injuries.
            (2) Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death 
        for Americans between the ages of 1 and 34.
            (3) It is estimated that, in 2002, 42,850 people were 
        killed and approximately 3,000,000 people were injured in 
        vehicle crashes.
            (4) NHTSA estimates that if safety belt use were to 
        increase from 75 percent to 90 percent, nearly 4,000 lives 
        would be saved each year.

SEC. 3. SAFETY BELT INCENTIVE GRANTS.

    (a) Requirements for Grant Programs.--
            (1) In general.--Chapter 4 of title 23, United States Code, 
        is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 412. Safety belt incentive grants
    ``(a) Primary Enforcement Safety Belt Use Law Incentive Grants.--
            ``(1) Eligibility.--The Secretary shall make a grant to 
        each State that, as determined by the Secretary, has in effect 
        a primary enforcement safety belt use law.
            ``(2) Amount of grant.--The amount of a grant for which a 
        State qualifies under this subsection shall equal the amount of 
        funds allocated to the State under section 402 of this title 
        for fiscal year 2003 multiplied by 2.
            ``(3) Distribution of funds.--Funds awarded to a State 
        under this subsection shall be distributed over a 2-year 
        period.
            ``(4) Funds available for grant program.--Forty percent of 
        the funds made available to carry out the occupant protection 
        programs under section 405 of this title in a fiscal year shall 
        be available for grants under this subsection during such 
        fiscal year.
            ``(5) Disposition of unused funds.--Any funds available for 
        grants under this subsection that have not been awarded by the 
        end of fiscal year 2008 shall be made available for the safety 
        belt usage grant program under subsection (b).
    ``(b) Safety Belt Usage Award Grants.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall carry out a program 
        for making safety belt usage award grants to eligible States. 
        The program shall be designed to--
                    ``(A) maximize the effectiveness of the awarded 
                funds and the fairness of the distribution of such 
                funds;
                    ``(B) increase the national seat belt usage rate as 
                expeditiously as possible;
                    ``(C) reward States that maintain a seat belt usage 
                rate above 85 percent (as determined by the National 
                Highway Traffic Safety Administration); and
                    ``(D) reward States that demonstrate an increase in 
                their seat belt usage rates.
            ``(2) Funds available for grant program.--Sixty percent of 
        the funds made available to carry out the occupant protection 
        programs under section 405 of this title in a fiscal year shall 
        be available for grants under this subsection during such 
        fiscal year.
    ``(c) Use of Funds.--Grants awarded under this section may be used 
to carry out activities under this title.
    ``(d) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Passenger motor vehicle.--The term `passenger motor 
        vehicle' has the meaning given the term in section 405(f)(5) of 
        this title.
            ``(2) Primary enforcement safety belt use law.--The term 
        `primary enforcement safety belt use law' means a law that 
        meets the criteria for suchlaws published by the Secretary in a 
        rule relating to the grant program under this section.
            ``(3) Safety belt.--The term `safety belt' has the meaning 
        given the term in section 405(f)(6) of this title.''.
            (2) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections at the 
        beginning of that chapter is amended by inserting after the 
        item relating to section 411 the following new item:

``412. Safety belt incentive grants.''.
    (b) Interim Final Rule.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall 
publish an interim final rule listing the criteria for awarding grants 
pursuant to section 412 of title 23, United States Code, as added by 
subsection (a), including the criteria to be used by the Secretary in 
determining whether a law is a primary enforcement safety belt use law 
for purposes of such section.
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