[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2318 Introduced in Senate (IS)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2318

    To provide driver safety grants to States with graduated driver 
         licensing laws that meet certain minimum requirements.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 16, 2006

 Mr. Dodd (for himself and Mr. Warner) introduced the following bill; 
 which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and 
                              Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To provide driver safety grants to States with graduated driver 
         licensing laws that meet certain minimum requirements.

    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 Teen and Novice Driver Uniform 
Protection Act of 2006'' or the ``STANDUP Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has 
        reported that--
                    (A) motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of 
                death of Americans between 15 and 20 years of age;
                    (B) between 1995 and 2004, 63,851 Americans between 
                15 and 20 years of age died in motor vehicle crashes, 
                an average of 122 teenage deaths per week;
                    (C) teenage drivers between 16 and 20 years of age 
                have a fatality rate that is 4 times the rate for 
                drivers between 25 and 70 years of age; and
                    (D) teenage drivers who are 16 years of age have a 
                motor vehicle crash rate that is almost ten times the 
                crash rate for drivers aged between 30 and 60 years of 
                age.
            (2) According to the American Automobile Association, 
        teenage drivers comprise slightly more than \1/3\ of all 
        fatalities in motor vehicle crashes in which they are involved 
        and nearly \2/3\ of all fatalities in those crashes are other 
        drivers, passengers, and pedestrians.
            (3) According to the Insurance Institute for Highway 
        Safety, the chance of a crash by a 16- or 17-year-old driver is 
        doubled if there are 2 peers in the vehicle and quadrupled with 
        3 or more peers in the vehicle.
            (4) According to the National Highway Traffic Safety 
        Administration, the cognitive distraction caused by hands-free 
        and hand-held cell phones is significant enough to degrade a 
        driver's performance, particularly teenage drivers between 15 
        and 20 years of age.
            (5) Although only 20 percent of driving by teenage drivers 
        occurs at night, more than 50 percent of the motor vehicle 
        crash fatalities involving teenage drivers occur at night.
            (6) In 1997, the first full year of its graduated driver 
        licensing system, Florida experienced a 9 percent reduction in 
        fatal and injurious crashes among teenage drivers between the 
        ages of 15 and 18, compared with 1995, according to the 
        Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
            (7) The Journal of the American Medical Association reports 
        that crashes involving 16-year-old drivers decreased between 
        1995 and 1999 by 25 percent in Michigan and 27 percent in North 
        Carolina. Comprehensive graduated driver licensing systems were 
        implemented in 1997 in these States.
            (8) In California, according to the Automobile Club of 
        Southern California, teenage passenger deaths and injuries 
        resulting from crashes involving 16-year-old drivers declined 
        by 40 percent from 1998 to 2000, the first 3 years of 
        California's graduated driver licensing program. The number of 
        at-fault collisions involving 16-year-old drivers decreased by 
        24 percent during the same period.
            (9) The National Transportation Safety Board reports that 
        39 States and the District of Columbia have implemented 3-stage 
        graduated driver licensing systems. Many States have not yet 
        implemented these and other basic safety features of graduated 
        driver licensing laws to protect the lives of teenage and 
        novice drivers.
            (10) A 2001 Harris Poll indicates that--
                    (A) 95 percent of Americans support a requirement 
                of 30 to 50 hours of practice driving with an adult;
                    (B) 92 percent of Americans support a 6-month 
                learner's permit period; and
                    (C) 74 percent of Americans support limiting the 
                number of teenage passengers in a car with a teenage 
                driver and supervised driving during high-risk driving 
                periods, such as night.

SEC. 3. STATE GRADUATED DRIVER LICENSING LAWS.

    (a) Minimum Requirements.--A State is in compliance with this 
section if the State has a graduated driver licensing law that 
includes, for novice drivers under the age of 21--
            (1) a 3-stage licensing process, including a learner's 
        permit stage and an intermediate stage before granting an 
        unrestricted driver's license;
            (2) a prohibition on nighttime driving during the 
        intermediate stage;
            (3) a prohibition, during the learner's permit intermediate 
        stages, from operating a motor vehicle with more than 1 non-
        familial passenger under the age of 21 if there is no licensed 
        driver 21 years of age or older present in the motor vehicle;
            (4) a prohibition during the learner's permit and 
        intermediate stages, from using a cellular telephone or any 
        communications device in non-emergency situations; and
            (5) any other requirement that the Secretary of 
        Transportation (referred to in this Act as the ``Secretary'') 
        may require, including--
                    (A) a learner's permit stage of at least 6 months;
                    (B) an intermediate stage of at least 6 months;
                    (C) for novice drivers in the learner's permit 
                stage--
                            (i) a requirement of at least 30 hours of 
                        behind-the-wheel training with a licensed 
                        driver who is over 21 years of age; and
                            (ii) a requirement that any such driver be 
                        accompanied and supervised by a licensed driver 
                        21 years of age or older at all times when such 
                        driver is operating a motor vehicle; and
                    (D) a requirement that the grant of full licensure 
                be automatically delayed, in addition to any other 
                penalties imposed by State law for any individual who, 
                while holding a provisional license, convicted of an 
                offense, such as driving while intoxicated, 
                misrepresentation of their true age, reckless driving, 
                unbelted driving, speeding, or other violations, as 
                determined by the Secretary.
    (b) Rulemaking.--After public notice and comment rulemaking the 
Secretary shall issue regulations necessary to implement this section.

SEC. 4. INCENTIVE GRANTS.

    (a) In General.--For each of the first 3 fiscal years beginning 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall award a 
grant to any State in compliance with section 3(a) on or before the 
first day of that fiscal year that submits an application under 
subsection (b).
    (b) Application.--Any State desiring a grant under this section 
shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such 
manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may require, 
including a certification by the governor of the State that the State 
is in compliance with section 3(a).
    (c) Grants.--For each fiscal year described in subsection (a), 
amounts appropriated to carry out this section shall be apportioned to 
each State in compliance with section 3(a) in an amount determined by 
multiplying--
            (1) the amount appropriated to carry out this section for 
        such fiscal year; by
            (2) the ratio that the amount of funds apportioned to each 
        such State for such fiscal year under section 402 of title 23, 
        United States Code, bears to the total amount of funds 
        apportioned to all such States for such fiscal year under such 
        section 402.
    (d) Use of Funds.--Amounts received under a grant under this 
section shall be used for--
            (1) enforcement and providing training regarding the State 
        graduated driver licensing law to law enforcement personnel and 
        other relevant State agency personnel;
            (2) publishing relevant educational materials that pertain 
        directly or indirectly to the State graduated driver licensing 
        law; and
            (3) other administrative activities that the Secretary 
        considers relevant to the State graduated driver licensing law.
    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated out of the Highway Trust Fund (other than the Mass Transit 
Account) $25,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2007 through 2009 to 
carry out this section.

SEC. 5. WITHHOLDING OF FUNDS FOR NON-COMPLIANCE.

    (a) In General.--
            (1) Fiscal year 2010.--The Secretary shall withhold 1.5 
        percent of the amount otherwise required to be apportioned to 
        any State for fiscal year 2010 under each of the paragraphs 
        (1), (3), and (4) of section 104(b) of title 23, United States 
        Code, if that State is not in compliance with section 3(a) of 
        this Act on October 1, 2009.
            (2) Fiscal year 2011.--The Secretary shall withhold 3 
        percent of the amount otherwise required to be apportioned to 
        any State for fiscal year 2011 under each of the paragraphs 
        (1), (3), and (4) of section 104(b) of title 23, United States 
        Code, if that State is not in compliance with section 3(a) of 
        this Act on October 1, 2010.
            (3) Fiscal year 2012 and thereafter.--The Secretary shall 
        withhold 6 percent of the amount otherwise required to be 
        apportioned to any State for each fiscal year beginning with 
        fiscal year 2012 under each of the paragraphs (1), (3), and (4) 
        of section 104(b) of title 23, United States Code, if that 
        State is not in compliance with section 3(a) of this Act on the 
        first day of such fiscal year.
    (b) Period of Availability of Withheld Funds.--
            (1) Funds withheld on or before september 30, 2011.--Any 
        amount withheld from any State under subsection (a) on or 
        before September 30, 2011, shall remain available for 
        distribution to the State under subsection (c) until the end of 
        the third fiscal year following the fiscal year for which such 
        amount is appropriated.
            (2) Funds withheld after september 30, 2011.--Any amount 
        withheld under subsection (a)(2) from any State after September 
        30, 2011, may not be distributed to the State.
    (c) Apportionment of Withheld Funds After Compliance.--
            (1) In general.--If, before the last day of the period for 
        which funds withheld under subsection (a) are to remain 
        available to a State under subsection (b), the State comes into 
        compliance with section 3(a), the Secretary shall, on the first 
        day on which the State comes into compliance, distribute to the 
        State any amounts withheld under subsection (a) that remains 
        available for apportionment to the State.
            (2) Period of availability of subsequently apportioned 
        funds.--Any amount distributed under paragraph (1) shall remain 
        available for expenditure by the State until the end of the 
        third fiscal year for which the funds are so apportioned. Any 
        amount not expended by the State by the end of such period 
        shall revert back to the Treasury of the United States.
            (3) Effect of non-compliance.--If a State is not in 
        compliance with section 3(a) at the end of the period for which 
        any amount withheld under subsection (a) remains available for 
        distribution to the State under subsection (b), such amount 
        shall revert back to the Treasury of the United States.
                                 <all>