[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1536 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1536
To amend title 23, United States Code, to reduce the amount of Federal
highway funding available to States that do not enact a law prohibiting
an individual from writing, sending, or reading text messages while
operating a motor vehicle.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 29, 2009
Mr. Schumer (for himself, Mr. Menendez, Mrs. Hagan, and Ms. Landrieu)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Environment and Public Works
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 23, United States Code, to reduce the amount of Federal
highway funding available to States that do not enact a law prohibiting
an individual from writing, sending, or reading text messages while
operating a motor vehicle.
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 ``Avoiding Life-Endangering and
Reckless Texting by Drivers Act of 2009'' or the ``ALERT Drivers Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) cell phones and other electronic devices are not only
instrumentalities and channels of interstate commerce, but
products of interstate commerce;
(2) for those reasons, regulation of the use of cellular
telephones or other electronic devices to send text messages is
covered by the power of Congress to regulate interstate
commerce as enumerated in article I, section 8 of the
Constitution;
(3) additionally, the Supreme Court held in South Dakota v.
Dole, 483 U.S. 203 (June 23, 1987), that Congress may condition
Federal highway funding on State compliance with certain
conditions;
(4) people in the United States are using cellular
telephones and other personal electronic devices to send text
messages or emails, more commonly known as ``texting'', with
increasing frequency;
(5) according to the New York Times, more than
110,000,000,000 text messages were sent in the United States
during the month of December 2008 alone, a tenfold increase in
just 3 years;
(6) texting and portable email are valuable to consumers,
businesses, and private individuals throughout the United
States, but those services also create an extreme risk when
used by individuals while operating motor vehicles;
(7) a 2008 study by Nationwide Insurance found that 20
percent of drivers in the United States send text messages
while operating motor vehicles;
(8) according to a study by Car and Driver Magazine,
texting while driving is more dangerous than driving while
intoxicated;
(9) a recent study by the Virginia Tech Transportation
Institute found operators of motor vehicles who sent text
messages while driving had a collision risk that was 23 times
greater while texting as compared to the risk when the
operators were not texting;
(10) another study by the University of Utah found that
college students using a driving simulator were 8 times more
likely to have an accident while texting;
(11) after a serious accident occurred on the Boston public
trolley system in May 2009, the trolley operator was found to
have been texting at the time of the accident;
(12) the problem of texting while driving has been
recognized across the United States;
(13) as of the date of enactment of this Act, 14 States and
the District of Columbia ban all drivers from texting while
operating motor vehicles, and 11 other States have a modified
ban on texting while driving;
(14) the risks created by texting while driving are
increasing nationwide as the use of texting increases
nationwide;
(15) it is necessary for Congress to act to protect the
safety of all people in the United States on highways and roads
in the United States; and
(16) a Federal law to address the problem of texting while
driving is necessary to ensure minimum standards of protection
across the United States, in the same manner as the national
minimum drinking age provides a uniform standard of protection.
SEC. 3. OPERATION OF MOTOR VEHICLES WHILE TEXTING.
(a) In General.--Chapter 1 of title 23, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 167. Operation of motor vehicles while texting
``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Hand-held mobile telephone.--
``(A) In general.--The term `hand-held mobile
telephone' means a mobile telephone or other portable
electronic communication device with which a user
engages in a call or writes, sends, or reads a text
message using at least 1 hand.
``(B) Exclusion.--The term `hand-held mobile
telephone' does not include a voice-activated device.
``(2) Motor vehicle.--The term `motor vehicle' means--
``(A) a vehicle driven or drawn by mechanical power
and manufactured primarily for use on public highways;
and
``(B) a railcar or other component of a fixed
guideway system that is not subject to regulation by
the Federal Railroad Administration.
``(3) Text message.--The term `text message' includes a
text-based message, instant message, electronic message, and
email.
``(4) Writing; sending; reading.--The terms `writing',
`sending', and `reading', with respect to a text message, mean
the manual entry, sending, or retrieval of a text message,
respectively, to communicate with any person or device.
``(b) Withholding of Apportionments for Noncompliance.--
``(1) In general.--On October 1 of the second fiscal year
beginning after the date of promulgation of the regulations
under subsection (d), and annually thereafter, the Secretary
shall withhold 25 percent of the amount required to be
apportioned to any State under each of paragraphs (1), (3), and
(4) of section 104(b) for the fiscal year if the Secretary
determines that the State does not meet the requirement under
paragraph (2) as of that date.
``(2) Requirement.--A State shall meet the requirement
under this paragraph if the State has enacted and is enforcing
a law that--
``(A) except in the event of an emergency,
prohibits an operator of a moving motor vehicle from
writing, sending, or reading a text message using a
hand-held mobile telephone; and
``(B) requires, upon conviction of a violation of
that prohibition, the imposition of penalties in
accordance with the requirements for minimum penalties
described in the regulations promulgated under
subsection (d).
``(c) Recovery of Funds Withheld.--All funds withheld under this
section from apportionment to a State for 1 or more fiscal years shall
be available for apportionment to the State immediately upon a
determination by the Secretary that the State meets the requirement
under paragraph (2).
``(d) Regulations.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this section, the Secretary shall promulgate regulations
to carry out this section, including requirements for minimum penalties
for violations of the prohibition under subsection (b)(2)(A) that--
``(1) specify a minimum penalty for a first offense; and
``(2) stipulate that penalties shall be graduated for
repeated offenses.''.
(b) Conforming Amendment.--The analysis for title 23, United States
Code, is amended by adding at the end of the items relating to chapter
1 the following:
``167. Operation of motor vehicles while texting.''.
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