II 111th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 1729 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES September 30, 2009 Mr. Schumer introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To establish driver education curriculum for teenage drivers and to provide grants to States and tribal governments to carry out driver education training for licensed teenage drivers.

1.

Continued driver education courses

(a)

Findings

Congress makes the following findings: (1)Automobile crashes are the leading cause of death of teenagers in the United States. (2)Every year, more than 5,000 teenagers die from fatal injuries suffered in automobile accidents in the United States and an additional 400,000 teenage drivers are seriously injured. (3)According to the American Automobile Association, research on the effectiveness of driver education indicates that graduates of driver education programs have 50 percent fewer accidents per capita than drivers who have not received driver education. (b)

Defined term

In this Act, the term teenager means any person who is at least 16 years of age and younger than 20 years of age. (c)

Continued driver education program

Not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall develop curriculum for continued driver education courses for teenagers, which shall include classroom and driving instruction. (d)

Continued driver education training grants

(1)

Grants authorized

Not later than 90 days after the development of curriculum under subsection (c), the Secretary of Transportation shall establish a program to award grants to States and tribal governments to provide continued driver training courses for teenagers who are licensed drivers. (2)

Application

A State or tribal government desiring a grant under this subsection shall submit an application that describes— (A)the individual who will teach the driver training course; (B)the locations at which the course will be taught; and (C)how the teaching methods that will be used in the course are consistent with the curriculum developed by the Secretary under subsection (c). (3)

Priority

In approving applications for grants submitted under paragraph (2), the Secretary shall give priority to States and tribal governments that— (A)maximize the participation of teenage drivers in the proposed driver training course; and (B)supplement the grant funds received under this subsection with additional Federal, State, tribal government, or private resources to carry out the driver training course. (4)

Authorization of appropriations

There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out the grant program authorized under this subsection.