II 112th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 510 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES March 8, 2011 Mr. Udall of New Mexico (for himself, Mr. Corker, Mr. Brown of Ohio, Mr. Begich, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Franken, Mr. Rockefeller, and Mr. Schumer) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To prevent drunk driving injuries and fatalities, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Research of Alcohol Detection Systems for Stopping Alcohol-related Fatalities Everywhere Act of 2011 or the ROADS SAFE Act of 2011.

2.

Findings

Congress finds the following: (1)Alcohol-impaired driving fatalities represent approximately 1/3 of all highway fatalities in the United States in a given year. (2)In 2009, there were 10,839 alcohol-impaired driving fatalities. (3)An estimated 9,000 road traffic deaths could be prevented every year if alcohol detection technologies were more widely used to prevent alcohol-impaired drivers from operating their vehicles. (4)The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has partnered with automobile manufacturers to develop alcohol detection technologies that could be installed in vehicles to prevent drunk driving. (5)Alcohol detection technologies will not be widely accepted by the public unless they are moderately priced, absolutely reliable, and set at a level that would not prevent a driver whose blood alcohol content is less than the legal limit from operating a vehicle.

3.

Driver alcohol detection system for safety research

Section 410 of title 23, United States Code, is amended— (1)by redesignating subsections (h) and (i) as subsections (i) and (j), respectively; (2)by inserting after subsection (g) the following: (h)

Driver alcohol detection system

(1)

In general

The Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shall carry out a collaborative research effort under chapter 301 of title 49 to continue to explore the feasibility and the potential benefits of, and the public policy challenges associated with, more widespread deployment of in-vehicle technology to prevent alcohol-impaired driving. (2)

Report

The Administrator shall annually submit a report to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives that— (A)describes progress in carrying out the collaborative research effort; and (B)includes an accounting of the use of Federal funds obligated or expended in carrying out that effort. (3)

Application with other laws

Nothing in this subsection may be construed to modify or otherwise affect any Federal, State, or local government law (civil or criminal), with respect to the operation of a motor vehicle. (4)

Funding

(A)

In general

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, $12,000,000 of any amounts made available to the Secretary under section 406 for each of the fiscal years 2012 through 2016 shall be made available to carry out this subsection in place of any other amounts that are otherwise available to carry out this section. (B)

Limitation

No amount of funding shall be made available under this paragraph for any fiscal year in which no funds are made available to carry out any program authorized under section 406. ; and (3)in subsection (j), as redesignated— (A)by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (7); (B)by redesignating paragraph (2) as paragraph (3); (C)by redesignating paragraphs (4) and (5) as paragraphs (5) and (4), respectively; (D)by inserting after paragraph (1) the following: (2)

Alcohol-impaired driving

The term alcohol-impaired driving means operation of a motor vehicle (as defined in section 30102(a)(6) of title 49) by an individual whose blood alcohol content is at or above the legal limit. ; and (E)by inserting after paragraph (5), as redesignated, the following: (6)

Legal limit

The term legal limit means a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent or greater (as specified by chapter 163 of this title) or such other percentage limitation as may be established by applicable Federal, State, or local law. .