[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 35 (Wednesday, March 25, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E468-E469]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 THE DRIVER RECORD INFORMATION VERIFICATION SYSTEM ACT--THE DRIVERS ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JAMES P. MORAN

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 25, 1998

  Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, this morning, with my colleagues 
Connie Morella, Zoe Lofgren, Henry Waxman, Nick Lampson, and Nita 
Lowey, we are introducing the Driver Record Information Verification 
System Act or DRIVERS Act for short.
  This legislation is being introduced in response to the tragic and 
senseless death of a local and promising young student Benjamin Cooper. 
Last summer, a commercial truck driver with a lengthy record of driving 
violations, at least 22 in the past year and at least 31 over the past 
ten years, was permitted to get behind the wheel and continue to drive. 
On August 12th, the truck driver ran a red light, overturned and 
crashed into the car driven by Ben Cooper.
  The Washington Post in a September 3rd editorial correctly asked, 
``What Kept Him (this truck driver) on the Road?'' My own involvement 
on this issue began on August 25th, when I received a letter from one 
of Ben's classmates, Lester Feder who asked me to help develop a 
national database to ensure that drivers with a history of reckless 
behavior and numerous driving violations cannot obtain a new license. I 
very much appreciated Mr. Feder's letter and his efforts to add meaning 
to Ben Cooper's death by working to prevent a similar tragedy from ever 
occurring again.
  As I looked into the tragic circumstances in more detail, I was 
shocked to learn how easily someone can exploit loopholes in the 
current driver registration system to obtain a new, clean license that 
can effectively wipe out any past driving violations. This appears to 
be what may have occurred with the driver of the truck who killed Ben 
Cooper. The most significant problem with the present system is that 
there are fifty different systems and databases for personal driver 
licenses, one for each state, and one incomplete national system for 
commercial driver licenses.
  Unfortunately, these separate systems are often incompatible and 
cannot communicate with each other, requiring records to be updated 
manually. Moreover, not all states are doing a good job at coordinating 
and sharing information on bad drivers. Courts and law enforcement 
officers routinely lack information on a past driver's record prior to 
sentencing someone with a reckless or DWI (driving while intoxicated) 
charge. And, in turn, they lack a user-friendly system for transmitting 
their convictions to all fifty states.
  Only five states operate a database that can be shared electronically 
with other states. Forty five states transmit update information to 
other states by paper. Needless to say coordination among the states on 
current driver record information is sporadic and inefficient Records 
are often incomplete and not updated on a timely basis.
  Anyone motivated to hide their past record of violations can obtain a 
new license in a different state and obtain a clean driving record. To 
make matters worse, the commercial driver license information system, 
which was designed to establish a national database on commercial 
drivers only covers a small portion of the total driving population. 
Advancements in information management technologies, however, offers 
the promise of a simple easy to manage, real-time national database 
that can retrieve, update and manage a national database on the 
nation's 200 million licensed drivers.
  Only with a national database that includes both personal and 
commercial driver license information can we effectively thwart those 
who seek to hide their past records. Permitting this new system to use 
social security numbers, something now permitted with the commercial 
drivers' license system, will also make it more difficult to alter 
one's name or identity. The ease and potential cost savings of a 
national system offers the promise that all states will seek 
voluntarily to join the national system.
  Before we reach that stage, however, we must test its feasibility of 
the new system. The legislation we are introducing today, takes this 
first step by authorizing $5 million for the U.S. Department of 
Transportation to work with several states to develop this national 
database. Once the bugs in the new system are resolved, and I believe 
they can be, we can

[[Page E469]]

offer all states a new cost-efficient and comprehensive system they 
will all want to join.
  The legislation we are introducing today is not a panacea. It is, 
however, a step in the right direction.

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