I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1776 

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to carry out a program to improve 

roadway safety infrastructure in all States to enhance the safety of 

older drivers and pedestrians, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 5, 2011 

Mr. ALTMIRE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to carry out a 

program to improve roadway safety infrastructure in all 

States to enhance the safety of older drivers and pedestrians, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Older Driver and Pe5 destrian Safety and Roadway Enhancement Act of 2011’’. 


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1 TITLE I—ROADWAY SAFETY EN2 HANCEMENT PROGRAM FOR 

3 OLDER DRIVERS AND PEDES4 TRIANS 

5 SEC. 101. ROADWAY SAFETY ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM FOR 

6 OLDER DRIVERS AND PEDESTRIANS. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Secretary 

8 of Transportation shall establish and implement a pro9 gram, to be known as the roadway safety enhancement 

10 program for older drivers and pedestrians, to improve 

11 roadway safety infrastructure in all States in a manner 

12 consistent with the recommendations included in the pub13 lication of the Federal Highway Administration entitled 

14 ‘‘Highway Design Handbook for Older Drivers and Pedes15 trians’’ (FHWA–RD–01–103), dated May 2001 or as sub16 sequently revised and updated pursuant to section 103 (in 

17 this Act referred to as the ‘‘Handbook’’). 

18 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the roadway safety 

19 enhancement program for older drivers and pedestrians 

20 shall be to achieve a significant reduction in roadway fa21 talities and serious injuries among drivers and pedestrians 

22 65 years of age or older on all public roads. 

23 (c) APPORTIONMENT OF FUNDS.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—On October 1 of each fiscal 

25 year, the Secretary shall apportion the funds made 


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1 available to carry out this section for such fiscal year 

2 among the States in accordance with the following 

3 formula: 

(A) 331 4 ⁄3 percent of the apportionment in 

5 the ratio that— 

6 (i) the total vehicle miles traveled on 

7 lanes on public roads in each State; bears 

8 to 

9 (ii) the total vehicle miles traveled on 

10 lanes on public roads in all States. 

(B) 331 11 ⁄3 percent of the apportionment in 

12 the ratio that— 

13 (i) the total per capita population of 

14 individuals 65 years of age or older resid15 ing in each State in the latest fiscal year 

16 for which data is available; bears to 

17 (ii) the total per capital population of 

18 individuals 65 years of age or older resid19 ing in all States in the latest fiscal year for 

20 which data is available. 

(C) 331 21 ⁄3 percent of the apportionments in 

22 the ratio that— 

23 (i) the total number of fatalities and 

24 serious injuries among drivers and pedes25 trians 65 years of age or older on public 


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1 roads in each State in the latest fiscal year 

2 for which data are available; bears to 

3 (ii) the total number of fatalities and 

4 serious injuries among drivers and pedes5 trians 65 years of age or older on the pub6 lic roads in all States in the latest fiscal 

7 year for which data are available. 

8 (2) MINIMUM APPORTIONMENT.—Notwith9 standing paragraph (1), each State shall receive for 

10 a fiscal year a minimum apportionment of not less 

11 than one percent of the funds apportioned under 

12 this subsection for that fiscal year. 

13 (d) PROJECT ELIGIBILITY AND SELECTION.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State may obligate funds 

15 apportioned to the State under subsection (c) for the 

16 planning, design, and construction of infrastructure17 related projects that employ safety enhancement rec18 ommendations set forth in the Handbook— 

19 (A) to improve safety at intersections, 

20 interchanges, rail grade crossings, and roadway 

21 segments; 

22 (B) to make systemic roadway safety im23 provements on public roads; and 

24 (C) to improve roadway safety on other 

25 sections or elements of public roads that a 


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1 State transportation department identifies as 

2 hazardous for older drivers and pedestrians. 

3 (2) PROJECT IDENTIFICATION AND SELECTION

4 PRIORITIES.—To obligate funds apportioned under 

5 subsection (c) to carry out this section, a State shall 

6 have in effect, either in conjunction with a State 

7 strategic highway safety plan pursuant to section 

8 148 of title 23, United States Code, or separately, 

9 appropriate policies and procedures developed by the 

10 State transportation department to— 

11 (A) analyze and make effective use of 

12 State, regional, and local crash and fatality 

13 data, hospital reports, and other data to docu14 ment traffic-related fatalities and injuries to in15 dividuals 65 years of age or older; 

16 (B) consult with appropriate State and 

17 local transportation planning agencies, State 

18 and local safety agencies and organizations, 

19 representatives of the roadway infrastructure 

20 safety industry, and State and local organiza21 tions representing older drivers and pedestrians 

22 to identify hazardous locations, sections, and 

23 elements of public roads that constitute a dan24 ger for drivers, vehicle occupants, or pedes25 trians 65 years of age or older; 


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1 (C) determine the relative severity of haz2 ardous road and highway locations, sections, 

3 and elements for drivers and pedestrians age 65 

4 years or older through crash and injury data 

5 analysis; 

6 (D) establish priorities for obligating funds 

7 among potential projects for correction of haz8 ardous road and highway conditions, which 

9 shall include projects that— 

10 (i) involve hazardous intersection, 

11 road, or highway conditions identified in a 

12 strategic highway safety plan pursuant to 

13 section 148(c)(1)(D) as exhibiting the 

14 most severe safety needs; 

15 (ii) make use of multiple Handbook 

16 recommendations or the use of a systemic 

17 program to correct the most serious high18 way safety hazards for drivers or pedes19 trians 65 years of age or older; or 

20 (iii) are used in conjunction with 

21 other Federal programs such as the safe 

22 routes to schools program pursuant to sec23 tion 1404 of SAFETEA–LU (23 U.S.C. 

24 402 note; 119 Stat. 1228) or such other 

25 road safety design improvements or fundVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:34 May 10, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1776.IH H1776

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1 ing that enhance traffic and pedestrian 

2 safety for all roadway users; 

3 (E) establish and implement a schedule of 

4 roadway infrastructure safety improvement 

5 projects for hazard correction and hazard pre6 vention; and 

7 (F) establish an evaluation process to ana8 lyze and assess results achieved by highway 

9 safety improvement projects carried out in ac10 cordance with procedures and criteria estab11 lished by this section and report annually the 

12 results of such evaluations to the Secretary. 

13 (e) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the cost 

14 of a project carried out under this section shall be 90 per15 cent. 

16 (f) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the terms 

17 ‘‘public road’’, ‘‘State’’ and ‘‘State transportation depart18 ment’’ have the meaning such terms have in section 101 

19 of title 23, United States Code. 

20 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

22 appropriated out of the Highway Trust Fund (other 

23 than the Mass Transit Account) $500,000,000 to 

24 carry out this section for each of fiscal years 2011 

25 through 2016. 


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1 (2) APPLICABILITY OF TITLE 23.—Funds au2 thorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

3 shall be available for obligation and administered in 

4 the same manner as if such funds were appropriated 

5 under chapter 1 of title 23, United States Code, ex6 cept that such funds shall remain available until ex7 pended and shall not be transferable. 

8 SEC. 102. REGULATIONS. 

9 Not later than 9 months after the date of enactment 

10 of this Act, the Secretary shall issue regulations to carry 

11 out section 101. 

12 SEC. 103. REVISION OF THE HIGHWAY DESIGN HANDBOOK 

13 FOR OLDER DRIVERS AND PEDESTRIANS. 

14 The Secretary of Transportation shall take the fol15 lowing actions: 

16 (1) On or before the date of issuance of regula17 tions under section 102, finalize the revision of the 

18 Handbook for publication. 

19 (2) Initiate a review of applicable traffic safety 

20 research for purposes of incorporating in the Hand21 book appropriate recommendations relating to— 

22 (A) supplemental lighting at intersections, 

23 interchanges, rail-grade rail crossings and haz24 ardous sections of roadways, as appropriate, to 


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1 address visual impairments among older driv2 ers; 

3 (B) wet-night visibility of pavement mark4 ings and edgelines; and 

5 (C) design of intersection curbs and curb 

6 ramps to address physical limitations of older 

7 or disabled pedestrians. 

8 (3) Not later than 1 year after the date of en9 actment of this Act, issue a guidance memo regard10 ing the appropriateness of applying to public roads 

11 and highways pedestrian safety improvements relat12 ing to the following intersection design elements: 

13 (A) Receiving lane (throat) width for turn14 ing operations. 

15 (B) Channelization. 

16 (C) Offset (single) left-turn lane geometry, 

17 signing, and delineation. 

18 (D) Curb radius. 

19 (E) Pedestrian crossing design, operations, 

20 and control. 

21 (4) Not later than December 31, 2016, conduct 

22 ongoing research to permit revision and publication 

23 of an updated Handbook. 


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1 TITLE II—OLDER DRIVER AND 

2 PEDESTRIAN TRAFFIC SAFE3 TY AMENDMENTS AND AD4 MINISTRATIVE COORDINA5 TION 

6 SEC. 201. MISCELLANEOUS CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

7 (a) COLLECTION OF TRAFFIC INJURY AND FATALITY

8 DATA ON OLDER DRIVERS AND PEDESTRIANS.—Section 

9 148(c)(2)(D) of title 23, United States Code, is amend10 ed— 

11 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of clause (iii); 

12 (2) by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end of clause (iv); 

13 and 

14 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(v) includes a means of identifying 

16 the relative severity of hazardous locations 

17 described in clause (iii) in terms of acci18 dents, injuries, and death involving drivers, 

19 passengers, and pedestrians 65 years of 

20 age or older;’’. 

21 (b) REPEAL OF EXISTING LAW.—Section 1405 of 

22 SAFETEA–LU (23 U.S.C. 401 note; 119 Stat. 1230), 

23 and the item relating to such section in the table of con24 tents contained in section 1(b) of such Act, are repealed. 


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1 SEC. 202. COORDINATION AND OVERSIGHT OF OLDER DRIV2 ER SAFETY. 

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

4 shall appoint a Special Assistant for Older Driver and Pe5 destrian Safety within the Office of the Secretary to over6 see and coordinate programs operated or funded by the 

7 Department of Transportation relating to transportation 

8 safety, research, and services for individuals age 65 and 

9 older. 

10 (b) POLICY GOALS AND IMPLEMENTATION.—The 

11 Secretary shall establish, after consultation with other 

12 Federal and State transportation agencies, organizations 

13 representing individuals age 65 and older, representatives 

14 of law enforcement, and advocates for roadway safety in15 frastructure, national goals for increasing driver, pas16 senger, and pedestrian safety for persons age 65 and 

17 older, together with procedures for implementing and 

18 monitoring progress toward achieving such goals. 

19 (c) DUTIES OF THE SPECIAL ASSISTANT.—The Spe20 cial Assistant for Older Driver and Pedestrian Safety 

21 shall— 

22 (1) be responsible for planning and imple23 menting policies to achieve the national goals set 

24 forth by the Secretary pursuant to subsection (b); 

25 and 


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1 (2) in consultation with the Secretary and the 

2 Department of Transportation’s Under Secretary for 

3 Policy, shall be responsible for— 

4 (A) overseeing collection and analysis of 

5 national traffic accident, injury, and fatality 

6 data relating to individuals age 65 and older; 

7 (B) coordinating and making recommenda8 tions regarding research undertaken by the De9 partment to identify and address the safety 

10 needs of drivers, passengers, and pedestrians 

11 age 65 and older; 

12 (C) overseeing the revision of the Hand13 book, as required by section 103; 

14 (D) overseeing the conduct of research and 

15 make recommendations for inclusion in the 

16 manual on uniform traffic control devices of ap17 propriate safety features and traffic control de18 vices in the Handbook that have been deter19 mined effective in reducing injuries or fatalities 

20 among drivers, passengers, and pedestrians age 

21 65 and older; 

22 (E) overseeing research by the National 

23 Highway Traffic Safety Administration to test 

24 and implement vehicle crash dummies that 

25 more accurately reproduce and measure the seVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:34 May 10, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1776.IH H1776

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1 verity of vehicle-related injuries for occupants 

2 age 65 and older; 

3 (F) encouraging and facilitating revision of 

4 the abbreviated injury scale system of injury 

5 quantification to more accurately measure inju6 ries and fatalities to vehicle occupants age 65 

7 and older, including measuring the effect of 

8 pre-existing and chronic conditions and long9 term injury outcomes; 

10 (G) improving coordination of research 

11 sponsored by the Department to develop effi12 cient, effective, and safe mobility options for in13 dividuals age 65 and older with research con14 ducted by the National Center on Senior Trans15 portation; and 

16 (H) undertaking such other duties and re17 sponsibilities as the Secretary or the Under 

18 Secretary for Policy determines appropriate. 

19 (d) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 12 

20 months after the date of enactment of this section, and 

21 not less than annually thereafter, the Secretary shall sub22 mit to Congress a report that documents the progress 

23 made by the Department in achieving the goals set forth 

24 by the Secretary pursuant to subsection (b). The report 

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1 ments to achieving such goals, explanation of strategies 

2 or plans to address such impediments, and recommenda3 tions for additional congressional action. 

4 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

6 appropriated out of the Highway Trust Fund (other 

7 than the Mass Transit Account) $250,000 to carry 

8 out subsection (d) for each of fiscal years 2011 

9 through 2016. 

10 (2) APPLICABILITY OF TITLE 23.—Funds au11 thorized to be appropriated to carry out subsection 

12 (d) shall be available for obligation and administered 

13 in the same manner as if such funds were appro14 priated under chapter 1 of title 23, United States 

15 Code, except that such funds shall remain available 

16 until expended and shall not be transferable. 

17 SEC. 203. MINIMUM LEVELS OF RETROREFLECTIVITY FOR 

18 PAVEMENT MARKINGS. 

19 Not later than October 1, 2011, the Secretary of 

20 Transportation shall revise the manual on uniform traffic 

21 control devices to include a standard for a minimum level 

22 of retroreflectivity that must be maintained for pavement 

23 markings. Such standard shall apply to all roads open to 

24 public travel. 

Æ 


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