S 1536 ISCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

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.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

July 29, 2009CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

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 WorksCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

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.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

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’.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress finds that--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) cell phones and other electronic devices are not only instrumentalities and channels of interstate commerce, but products of interstate commerce;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(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;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(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;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(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;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(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;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(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;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(7) a 2008 study by Nationwide Insurance found that 20 percent of drivers in the United States send text messages while operating motor vehicles;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(8) according to a study by Car and Driver Magazine, texting while driving is more dangerous than driving while intoxicated;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(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;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(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;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(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;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(12) the problem of texting while driving has been recognized across the United States;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(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;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(14) the risks created by texting while driving are increasing nationwide as the use of texting increases nationwide;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(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; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(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.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

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:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

‘Sec. 167. Operation of motor vehicles while texting

‘(a) Definitions- In this section:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(1) HAND-HELD MOBILE TELEPHONE-CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(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.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(B) EXCLUSION- The term ‘hand-held mobile telephone’ does not include a voice-activated device.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(2) MOTOR VEHICLE- The term ‘motor vehicle’ means--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(A) a vehicle driven or drawn by mechanical power and manufactured primarily for use on public highways; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(B) a railcar or other component of a fixed guideway system that is not subject to regulation by the Federal Railroad Administration.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(3) TEXT MESSAGE- The term ‘text message’ includes a text-based message, instant message, electronic message, and email.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(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.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(b) Withholding of Apportionments for Noncompliance-CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(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.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(2) REQUIREMENT- A State shall meet the requirement under this paragraph if the State has enacted and is enforcing a law that--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(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; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(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).CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(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).CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(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--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(1) specify a minimum penalty for a first offense; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(2) stipulate that penalties shall be graduated for repeated offenses.’.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(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:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘167. Operation of motor vehicles while texting.’.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink