1.This Act may be cited as the
Safe Teen and Novice Driver Uniform
Protection Act of 2006
or the STANDUP Act
.
2.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.
3.State graduated
driver licensing laws
(a)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)After
public notice and comment rulemaking the Secretary shall issue regulations
necessary to implement this section.
4.
(a)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)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)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)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 appropriationsThere 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.
5.Withholding of
funds for non-compliance
(a)
(1)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)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 thereafterThe 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, 2011Any 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, 2011Any 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)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 fundsAny 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)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.