II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1938 

To establish a program to reduce injuries and deaths caused by cellphone 

use and texting while driving. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 27, 2009 

Mr. ROCKEFELLER (for himself, Mrs. HUTCHISON, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mr. 

SCHUMER, Mr. THUNE, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, and Mr. VITTER) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Environment and Public Works 

OCTOBER 29, 2009 

Committee discharged; referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

Transportation 

A BILL 

To establish a program to reduce injuries and deaths caused 

by cellphone use and texting while driving. 

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Distracted Driving Prevention Act of 2009’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 


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Sec. 2. Distracted driving incentive grants. 

Sec. 3. Distracted driving national education program. 

Sec. 4. Research and data collection. 

Sec. 5. Research program. 

Sec. 6. FCC report on distracted driving technology. 

Sec. 7. Provision of information to States. 

Sec. 8. Commercial motor vehicles and school buses. 

Sec. 9. Funding. 

1 SEC. 2. DISTRACTED DRIVING INCENTIVE GRANTS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 4 of title 23, United 

3 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘§413. Distracted driving incentive grants 

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make a 

7 grant under this section to any State that enacts and im8 plements a statute that meets the requirements of sub9 sections (b) and (c) of this section. 

10 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION ON TEXTING WHILE DRIVING.— 

11 A State statute meets the requirements of this subsection 

12 if the statute— 

13 ‘‘(1) prohibits the use of a personal wireless 

14 communications device by a driver for texting while 

15 driving; 

16 ‘‘(2) makes violation of the statute a primary 

17 offense; 

18 ‘‘(3) establishes— 

19 ‘‘(A) a minimum fine for a first violation 

20 of the statute; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) increased fines for repeat violations; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(4) provides increased civil and criminal pen4 alties than would otherwise apply if a vehicle acci5 dent is caused by a driver who is using such a device 

6 in violation of the statute. 

7 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITION ON HANDHELD CELLPHONE USE

8 WHILE DRIVING.—A State statute meets the require9 ments of this subsection if the statute— 

10 ‘‘(1) prohibits a driver from holding a personal 

11 wireless communications device to conduct a tele12 phone call while driving; 

13 ‘‘(2) allows the use of hands-free devices that 

14 enable a driver, other than a driver who has not at15 tained the age of 18, to initiate, conduct, or receive 

16 a telephone call without holding the device; 

17 ‘‘(3) makes violation of the statute a primary 

18 offense; 

19 ‘‘(4) requires distracted driving issues to be 

20 tested as part of the State driver’s license examina21 tion; 

22 ‘‘(5) establishes— 

23 ‘‘(A) a minimum fine for a first violation 

24 of the statute; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) increased fines for repeat violations; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(6) provides increased civil and criminal pen4 alties than would otherwise apply if a vehicle acci5 dent is caused by a driver who is using such a device 

6 in violation of the statute. 

7 ‘‘(d) PERMITTED EXCEPTIONS.—A statute that 

8 meets the requirements of subsections (b) and (c) may 

9 provide exceptions for— 

10 ‘‘(1) use of a personal wireless communications 

11 device by a driver to contact emergency services; 

12 ‘‘(2) manipulation of such a device by a driver 

13 to activate, deactivate, or initialize the hands-free 

14 functionality of the device; 

15 ‘‘(3) use of a personal wireless communications 

16 device by emergency services personnel while oper17 ating an emergency services vehicle and engaged in 

18 the performance of their duties as emergency serv19 ices personnel; and 

20 ‘‘(4) use of a device by an individual employed 

21 as a commercial motor vehicle driver, or a school bus 

22 driver, within the scope of such individual’s employ23 ment if such use is permitted under the regulations 

24 promulgated pursuant to section 31152 of title 49. 


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1 ‘‘(e) GRANT YEAR.—The Secretary shall make a 

2 grant under this section to a State in any year in which 

3 the State— 

4 ‘‘(1) enacts a law that meets the requirements 

5 of subsections (b) and (c) before July 1; or 

6 ‘‘(2) maintains a statute, that meets the re7 quirements of subsections (b) and (c), enacted in a 

8 previous year that is in effect through June 30th of 

9 the grant year. 

10 ‘‘(f) DISBURSEMENT AND APPORTIONMENT.—Grants 

11 to qualifying States shall be disbursed after July 1 each 

12 year according to the apportionment criteria of section 

13 402(c). 

14 ‘‘(g) USE OF GRANT FUNDS.—A State that receives 

15 a grant under this section— 

16 ‘‘(1) shall use at least 50 percent of the 

17 grant— 

18 ‘‘(A) to educate and advertise to the public 

19 information about the dangers of texting or 

20 using a cellphone while driving; 

21 ‘‘(B) for traffic signs that notify drivers 

22 about the distracted driving law of the State; 

23 ‘‘(C) for law enforcement of the distracted 

24 driving law; or 

25 ‘‘(D) for a combination of such uses; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) may use up to 50 percent of the grant for 

2 other projects that improve traffic safety and that 

3 are consistent with the criteria in section 402(a). 

4 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

5 ‘‘(1) DRIVING.—The term ‘driving’ means oper6 ating a motor vehicle on a public road, including op7 eration while temporarily stationary because of traf8 fic, a traffic light or stop sign, or otherwise. It does 

9 not include operating a motor vehicle when the vehi10 cle has pulled over to the side of, or off, an active 

11 roadway and has stopped in a location where it can 

12 safely remain stationary. 

13 ‘‘(2) HANDS-FREE DEVICE.—The term ‘hands14 free device’ means a device that allows a driver to 

15 use a personal wireless communications device to ini16 tiate, conduct, or receive a telephone call without 

17 holding the personal wireless communications device. 

18 ‘‘(3) PERSONAL WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS

19 DEVICE.—The term ‘personal wireless communica20 tions device’ means a device through which personal 

21 wireless services (as defined in section 

22 332(c)(7)(C)(i) of the Communications Act of 1934 

23 (47 U.S.C. 332(c)(7)(C)(i))) are transmitted. It does 

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1 ceiver used for positioning, emergency notification, 

2 or navigation purposes. 

3 ‘‘(4) PRIMARY OFFENSE.—The term ‘primary 

4 offense’ means an offense for which a law enforce5 ment officer may stop a vehicle solely for the pur6 pose of issuing a citation in the absence of evidence 

7 of another offense. 

8 ‘‘(5) PUBLIC ROAD.—The term ‘public road’ 

9 has the meaning given that term in section 402(c). 

10 ‘‘(6) TEXTING.—The term ‘texting’ means 

11 reading from or manually entering data into a per12 sonal wireless communications device, including 

13 doing so for the purpose of SMS texting, e-mailing, 

14 instant messaging, or engaging in any other form of 

15 electronic data retrieval or electronic data commu16 nication.’’. 

17 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con18 tents for chapter 4 of title 23, United States Code, is 

19 amended by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘413. Distracted driving incentive grants.’’. 

20 SEC. 3. DISTRACTED DRIVING NATIONAL EDUCATION PRO21 GRAM. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Na23 tional Highway Traffic Safety Administration shall estab24 lish and administer a program under which at least 2 

25 high-visibility education and advertising campaigns related 


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1 to distracted driving will be carried out for the purpose 

2 specified in subsection (b) for fiscal years 2010 and 2011. 

3 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of an education and ad4 vertising campaign under this section shall be to educate 

5 the public about the risks associated with distracted driv6 ing, including those associated with— 

7 (1) texting (as defined in section 413(h)(6) of 

8 title 23, United States Code) while driving; and 

9 (2) the use of personal wireless communications 

10 devices (as defined in section 413(h)(3) of that title) 

11 while driving. 

12 (c) ADVERTISING.—The Administrator may use, or 

13 authorize the use of, funds available to carry out this sec14 tion to pay for the development, production, publication, 

15 and broadcast of electronic and print media advertising 

16 in carrying out traffic safety education and advertising 

17 campaigns under this section. The Administrator— 

18 (1) shall give consideration to advertising di19 rected at non-English speaking populations, includ20 ing those who listen, read, or watch nontraditional 

21 media; and 

22 (2) may use a portion of the funds available for 

23 this program to target local jurisdictions that have 

24 enacted laws prohibiting texting or the use of per25 sonal wireless communications devices while driving. 


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1 (d) COORDINATION WITH STATES.—The Adminis2 trator may coordinate with the States to carry out the 

3 education and advertising campaigns under this section to 

4 coincide with high-visibility enforcement of State laws pro5 hibiting texting while driving or the use of personal wire6 less communications devices while driving. 

7 (e) ANNUAL EVALUATION.—The Administrator shall 

8 conduct an annual evaluation of the effectiveness of the 

9 education and advertising campaigns under this section, 

10 and report the results to the Senate Committee on Com11 merce, Science, and Transportation, and the House of 

12 Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce. 

13 SEC. 4. RESEARCH AND DATA COLLECTION. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 408(e)(2) of title 23, 

15 United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘(2) DATA ON USE OF ELECTRONIC DEVICES.— 

17 ‘‘(A) The model data elements required 

18 under paragraph (1) shall include data ele19 ments, as determined appropriate by the Sec20 retary, in consultation with the States and ap21 propriate elements of the law enforcement com22 munity, on the impact on traffic safety of the 

23 use of electronic devices while driving. 


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1 ‘‘(B) In order to meet the requirements of 

2 subparagraph (A), State and local governments 

3 shall— 

4 ‘‘(i) require that official vehicle acci5 dent investigation reports include a des6 ignated space to record whether or not the 

7 use of a personal wireless communications 

8 device (as defined in section 413(h)(3)) 

9 was in use at the time of the accident by 

10 any driver involved in the accident; 

11 ‘‘(ii) require that all law enforcement 

12 officers, as part of a vehicle accident inves13 tigation, inquire about and record the in14 formation required by clause (i); and 

15 ‘‘(iii) incorporate the information col16 lected under clause (i) into its traffic safe17 ty information system.’’. 

18 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

19 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to grants under sec20 tion 408 of title 23, United States Code, for fiscal years 

21 beginning after fiscal year 2010. 

22 SEC. 5. RESEARCH PROGRAM. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transportation 

24 shall establish a research program to study distracted 

25 driving by passenger and commercial vehicle drivers. 


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1 (b) SCOPE.—The program shall include studies of— 

2 (1) driver behavior; 

3 (2) vehicle technology; and 

4 (3) portable electronic devices that are com5 monly brought into passenger or commercial vehi6 cles. 

7 (c) RESEARCH AGREEMENTS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out this section 

9 the Secretary may grant research contracts to non10 governmental entities to study distracted driving. 

11 (2) LIMITATIONS.—The Secretary may not 

12 grant a research contract under this section to any 

13 person that produces or sells— 

14 (A) electronic equipment that is used in ve15 hicles; 

16 (B) portable electronic equipment com17 monly brought into passenger or commercial ve18 hicles; or 

19 (C) passenger or commercial vehicles. 

20 SEC. 6. FCC REPORT ON DISTRACTED DRIVING TECH21 NOLOGY. 

22 Within 180 days after the date of enactment of this 

23 Act, the Federal Communications Commission shall sub24 mit a report to the Senate Committee on Commerce, 

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1 atives Committee on Energy and Commerce that identi2 fies— 

3 (1) data the Commission can collect and ana4 lyze that will assist in understanding and reducing 

5 the problem of distracted driving involving the use of 

6 personal communications devices; 

7 (2) existing and developing wireless communica8 tions technology that may be used to reduce prob9 lems associated with distracted driving; and 

10 (3) existing authority that the Commission may 

11 use to assist in reducing those problems. 

12 SEC. 7. PROVISION OF INFORMATION TO STATES. 

13 Section 30105 of title 49, United States Code, shall 

14 not apply to providing government-sponsored research and 

15 highway safety data, or providing technical assistance, re16 lating to legislative proposals addressing the dangers or 

17 potential dangers of— 

18 (1) texting while driving a passenger vehicle, 

19 school bus, or commercial vehicle; or 

20 (2) the use of personal wireless communications 

21 devices (as defined in section 413(h)(3) of title 23, 

22 United States Code) while driving a passenger vehi23 cle, school bus, or commercial vehicle. 


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1 SEC. 8. COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLES AND SCHOOL 

2 BUSES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter III of chapter 311 of 

4 title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

5 end the following: 

6 ‘‘§31152. Regulation of the use of distracting devices 

7 in commercial motor vehicles and school 

8 buses 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—No later than 1 year after the 

10 enactment of the Distracted Driving Prevention Act of 

11 2009, the Secretary of Transportation shall prescribe reg12 ulations on the use of electronic or wireless devices, includ13 ing cell phones and other distracting devices, by an indi14 vidual employed as the operator of— 

15 ‘‘(1) a commercial motor vehicle while that indi16 vidual is engaged in the performance of such individ17 ual’s duties as the operator of the commercial motor 

18 vehicle; or 

19 ‘‘(2) a school bus (as defined in section 

20 30125(a)(1)) that is a commercial motor vehicle (as 

21 defined in section 31301(4)(A)) while that individual 

22 is engaged in the performance of such individual’s 

23 duties as the operator of the school bus. 

24 ‘‘(b) BASIS FOR REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall 

25 base the regulations required by subsection (a) on accident 


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1 data analysis, the results of ongoing research, and other 

2 information, as appropriate. 

3 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITED USE.—The Secretary shall prohibit 

4 the use of such devices in circumstances in which the Sec5 retary determines that their use interferes with the driv6 er’s safe operation of a school bus or commercial motor 

7 vehicle. 

8 ‘‘(d) PERMITTED USE.—Under the regulations, the 

9 Secretary may permit the use of a device, the use of which 

10 is prohibited under subsection (c), if the Secretary deter11 mines that such use is necessary for the safety of the driv12 er or the public in emergency circumstances.’’. 

13 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con14 tents for chapter 311 of title 49, United States Code, is 

15 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

16 31151 the following: 

‘‘31152. Regulation of the use of distracting devices in commercial motor vehicles and school buses.’’. 

17 SEC. 9. FUNDING. 

18 Section 2001(a) of Public Law 109–59 is amended— 

19 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ in paragraph (4); 

20 (2) by striking ‘‘2009.’’ in paragraph (4) and 

21 inserting ‘‘2009, $94,500,000 for fiscal year 2010, 

22 and $94,500,000 for fiscal year 2011. If any amount 

23 of the funds authorized by this paragraph has not 

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1 tion 406 of title 23, United States Code, by July 1 

2 of a fiscal year beginning after fiscal year 2009, the 

3 unallocated amount shall be allocated to States 

4 meeting the criteria of section 413 of that title.’’; 

5 and 

6 (3) by redesignating paragraph (11) as para7 graph (12) and inserting after paragraph (10) the 

8 following: 

9 ‘‘(11) DISTRACTED DRIVING PROGRAM.—For 

10 carrying out section 3 of the Distracted Driving Pre11 vention Act of 2009, $30,000,000 for each of fiscal 

12 years 2010 and 2011.’’. 

Æ 


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