I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1895 

To provide driver safety grants to States with graduated driver licensing 

laws that meet certain minimum requirements. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 2, 2009 

Mr. BISHOP of New York (for himself and Mr. CASTLE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and 

Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To provide driver safety grants to States with graduated 

driver licensing laws that meet certain minimum requirements. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Safe Teen and Novice 

5 Driver Uniform Protection Act of 2009’’ or the 

6 ‘‘STANDUP Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The National Highway Traffic Safety Ad2 ministration has reported that— 

3 (A) motor vehicle crashes are the leading 

4 cause of death of Americans between 15 and 20 

5 years of age; 

6 (B) from 1995 to 2006, over 76,000 Amer7 icans between the 15 and 20 years of age died 

8 in motor vehicle crashes, an average of 122 

9 teenage deaths per week; 

10 (C) teenage drivers between 16 and 20 

11 years of age have a fatality rate that is 4 times 

12 the rate for drivers between 25 and 70 years of 

13 age; and 

14 (D) teenage drivers who are 16 years of 

15 age have a motor vehicle crash rate that is al16 most ten times the crash rate for drivers be17 tween 30 and 60 years of age. 

18 (2) According to the American Automobile As19 sociation, teenage drivers comprise slightly more 

than 1 20 ⁄3 of all fatalities in motor vehicle crashes in 

which they are involved and nearly 2 21 ⁄3 of all fatalities 

22 in those crashes are other drivers, passengers, and 

23 pedestrians. 

24 (3) According to the Insurance Institute for 

25 Highway Safety, the chance of a crash by a 16- or 


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1 17-year-old driver is doubled if there are 2 peers in 

2 the vehicle and quadrupled with 3 or more peers in 

3 the vehicle. 

4 (4) According to the National Highway Traffic 

5 Safety Administration, the cognitive distraction 

6 caused by hands free and hand-held cellular phones 

7 is significant enough to degrade a driver’s perform8 ance, particularly teenage drivers between 15 and 20 

9 years of age. 

10 (5) Although only 20 percent of driving by teen11 age drivers occurs at night, more than 50 percent of 

12 the motor vehicle crash fatalities involving teenage 

13 drivers occur at night. 

14 (6) In 1997, the first full year of its graduated 

15 driver licensing system, Florida experienced a 9 per16 cent reduction in fatal and injurious crashes among 

17 teenage drivers between the ages of 15 and 18, com18 pared with 1995, according to the Insurance Insti19 tute for Highway Safety. 

20 (7) The Journal of the American Medical Asso21 ciation reports that crashes involving 16-year-old 

22 drivers decreased between 1995 and 1999 by 25 per23 cent in Michigan and 27 percent in North Carolina. 

24 Comprehensive graduated driver licensing systems 

25 were implemented in 1997 in these States. 


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1 (8) In California, according to the Automobile 

2 Club of Southern California, teenage passenger 

3 deaths and injuries resulting from crashes involving 

4 16-year-old drivers declined by 40 percent from 

5 1998 to 2000, the first 3 years of California’s grad6 uated driver licensing program. The number of at7 fault collisions involving 16-year-old drivers de8 creased by 24 percent during the same period. 

9 (9) The National Transportation Safety Board 

10 reports that over 40 States and the District of Co11 lumbia have implemented 3-stage graduated driver 

12 licensing systems. Many States have not yet imple13 mented other basic safety features of graduated 

14 driver licensing laws to protect the lives of teenage 

15 and novice drivers. 

16 (10) A 2001 Harris Poll indicates that— 

17 (A) 95 percent of Americans support a re18 quirement of 30 to 50 hours of practice driving 

19 with and adult; 

20 (B) 92 percent of Americans support a 6- 

21 month learner’s permit period; and 

22 (C) 74 percent of Americans support lim23 iting the number of teenage passengers in a car 

24 with a teenage driver and supervised driving 

25 during high-risk driving periods, such as night. 


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1 SEC. 3. STATE GRADUATED DRIVER LICENSING LAWS. 

2 (a) MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State is in compliance 

4 with this section if the State has a graduated driver 

5 licensing law that includes, for novice drivers under 

6 the age of 21, a 2-stage licensing process described 

7 in paragraph (2) before granting an unrestricted 

8 driver’s license. 

9 (2) LICENSING PROCESS.—To comply with the 

10 required licensing process, a State shall enact licens11 ing requirement that includes— 

12 (A) a learner’s permit stage that— 

13 (i) commences at age 16 years of age 

14 or older; 

15 (ii) is at least 6 months in duration; 

16 (iii) prohibits the use of a cellular 

17 telephone or any communications device in 

18 a non-emergency situation; 

19 (iv) prohibits nighttime driving; and 

20 (v) is in effect until the commence21 ment of the intermediate stage or until a 

22 driver becomes 18 years of age or older; 

23 (B) an intermediate stage that is in effect 

24 until a driver is 18 years of age or older that— 

25 (i) commences immediately after the 

26 expiration of the learner’s permit stage; 


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1 (ii) is at least 6 months in duration; 

2 (iii) prohibits operating a motor vehi3 cle with more than one non-familial pas4 senger under the age of 21 if there is no 

5 licensed driver 21 years of age or older 

6 present in the motor vehicle; 

7 (iv) prohibits nighttime driving; and 

8 (v) prohibits the use of a cellular tele9 phone or any communications device in 

10 non-emergency situations; and 

11 (3) any other requirement that the Secretary of 

12 Transportation (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec13 retary’’) may require, including for novice drivers in 

14 the learner’s permit stage— 

15 (A) at least 40 hours of behind-the-wheel 

16 training with a licensed driver who is over 21 

17 years of age; 

18 (B) a driver training course; 

19 (C) a requirement that any such driver be 

20 accompanied and supervised by a licensed driver 

21 21 years of age or older at all times when such 

22 driver is operating a motor vehicle; and 

23 (D) a requirement that, in addition to any 

24 other penalties imposed by State law, the grant 

25 of an unrestricted driver’s license be automatiVerDate Nov 24 2008 22:11 Apr 07, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1895.IH H1895

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1 cally delayed for any individual who is convicted 

2 of an driving-related offense, such as driving 

3 while intoxicated, misrepresentation of their 

4 true age, reckless driving, unbelted driving, 

5 speeding, or other violations as determined by 

6 the Secretary, during the learner’s and inter7 mediate stages of the licensing process. 

8 (b) RULEMAKING.—After public notice and comment 

9 rulemaking the Secretary shall issue regulations necessary 

10 to implement this section. 

11 SEC. 4. INCENTIVE GRANTS. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—For each of the first 3 fiscal years 

13 beginning after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec14 retary shall award a grant to any State in compliance with 

15 section 3(a) on or before the first day of that fiscal year 

16 that submits an application under subsection (b). 

17 (b) APPLICATION.—Any State desiring a grant under 

18 this section shall submit an application to the Secretary 

19 at such time, in such manner, and containing such infor20 mation as the Secretary may require, including a certifi21 cation by the Governor of the State that the State is in 

22 compliance with section 3(a). The Secretary shall review 

23 each State application and determine whether or not the 

24 State is in compliance with subsection 3(a). 


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1 (c) GRANTS.—For such fiscal year described in sub2 section (a), amounts appropriated to carry out this section 

3 shall be apportioned to each State in compliance with sec4 tion 3(a) in an amount determined by multiplying— 

5 (1) the amount appropriated to carry out this 

6 section for such fiscal year; by 

7 (2) the ratio that the amount of funds appor8 tioned to each such State for such fiscal year under 

9 section 402 of title 23, United States Code, bears to 

10 the total amount of funds apportioned to all such 

11 States for such fiscal year under such section. 

12 (d) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts received from a grant 

13 under this section shall be used for— 

14 (1) enforcement of section 3(a); 

15 (2) training for law enforcement personnel and 

16 other relevant State agency personnel relating to the 

17 enforcement of section 3(a); 

18 (3) publishing relevant educational materials 

19 that pertain directly or indirectly to the State grad20 uated driver licensing law; and 

21 (4) other administrative activities that the Sec22 retary considers relevant to the State graduated 

23 driver licensing law. 

24 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

25 are authorized to be appropriated out of the Highway 


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1 Trust Fund (other than the Mass Transit Account) 

2 $25,000,000 for each fiscal year under section 4(a) to 

3 carry out this section. 

4 SEC. 5. WITHHOLDING OF FUNDS FOR NONCOMPLIANCE. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

6 (1) FISCAL YEAR 2011.—The Secretary shall 

7 withhold 3 percent of the amount otherwise required 

8 to be apportioned to any State for fiscal year 2011 

9 under each of the paragraphs (1), (3), and (4) of 

10 section 104(b) of title 23, United States Code, if the 

11 State is not in compliance with section 3(a) of this 

12 Act on October 1, 2010. 

13 (2) FISCAL YEAR 2012.—The Secretary shall 

14 withhold 5 percent of the amount otherwise required 

15 to be apportioned to any State for fiscal year 2012 

16 under each of the paragraphs (1), (3), and (4) of 

17 section 104(b) of title 23, United States Code, if 

18 that State is not in compliance with section 3(a) of 

19 this Act on October 1, 2011. 

20 (3) FISCAL YEAR 2013 AND THEREAFTER.—The 

21 Secretary shall withhold 10 percent of the amount 

22 otherwise required to be apportioned to any State 

23 for fiscal year beginning with fiscal year 2013 under 

24 each of the paragraphs (1), (3), and (4) of section 

25 104(b) of title 23, United States Code, if that State 


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1 is not in compliance with section 3(a) of this Act on 

2 the first day of such fiscal year. 

3 (b) PERIOD OF AVAILABILITY OF WITHHELD

4 FUNDS.— 

5 (1) FUNDS WITHHELD ON OR BEFORE SEP6 TEMBER 30, 2012.—Any amount withheld from any 

7 State under subsection (a) on or before September 

8 30, 2012, shall remain available for distribution to 

9 the State under subsection (c) until the end of the 

10 third fiscal year following the fiscal year for which 

11 such amount is appropriated. 

12 (2) FUNDS WITHHELD AFTER SEPTEMBER 30, 

13 2012.—Any amount withheld under subsection (a)(2) 

14 from any State after September 30, 2012, may not 

15 be distributed to the State. 

16 (c) APPORTIONMENT OF WITHHELD FUNDS AFTER

17 COMPLIANCE.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—If, before the last day of the 

19 period for which funds withheld under subsection (a) 

20 remain available to a State under subsection (b), the 

21 State comes into compliance with section 3(a), the 

22 Secretary shall, on the first day on which the Sec23 retary determines the State has come into compli24 ance, distribute to the State any amounts withheld 


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1 under subsection (a) that remains available for ap2 portionment to the State. 

3 (2) PERIOD OF AVAILABILITY OF SUBSE4 QUENTLY APPORTIONED FUNDS.—Any amount dis5 tributed under paragraph (1) shall remain available 

6 for expenditure by the State until the end of the 

7 third fiscal year following the year for which the 

8 funds are so apportioned. Any amount not expended 

9 by the State by the end of such period shall revert 

10 back to the Treasury of the United States. 

11 (3) EFFECT OF NON-COMPLIANCE.—If a State 

12 is not in compliance with section 3(a) at the end of 

13 the period for which any amount withheld under 

14 subsection (a) remains available for distribution to 

15 the State under subsection (b), such amount shall 

16 revert back to the Treasury of the United States. 

Æ 


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