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[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 510 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 510

    To prevent drunk driving injuries and fatalities, and for other 
                               purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 8, 2011

 Mr. Udall of New Mexico (for himself, Mr. Corker, Mr. Brown of Ohio, 
      Mr. Begich, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Franken, Mr. 
Rockefeller, and Mr. Schumer) introduced the following bill; which was 
  read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
                             Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
    To prevent drunk driving injuries and fatalities, and for other 
                               purposes.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Research of Alcohol Detection 
Systems for Stopping Alcohol-related Fatalities Everywhere Act of 
2011'' or the ``ROADS SAFE Act of 2011''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Alcohol-impaired driving fatalities represent 
        approximately \1/3\ of all highway fatalities in the United 
        States in a given year.
            (2) In 2009, there were 10,839 alcohol-impaired driving 
        fatalities.
            (3) An estimated 9,000 road traffic deaths could be 
        prevented every year if alcohol detection technologies were 
        more widely used to prevent alcohol-impaired drivers from 
        operating their vehicles.
            (4) The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has 
        partnered with automobile manufacturers to develop alcohol 
        detection technologies that could be installed in vehicles to 
        prevent drunk driving.
            (5) Alcohol detection technologies will not be widely 
        accepted by the public unless they are moderately priced, 
        absolutely reliable, and set at a level that would not prevent 
        a driver whose blood alcohol content is less than the legal 
        limit from operating a vehicle.

SEC. 3. DRIVER ALCOHOL DETECTION SYSTEM FOR SAFETY RESEARCH.

    Section 410 of title 23, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsections (h) and (i) as subsections 
        (i) and (j), respectively;
            (2) by inserting after subsection (g) the following:
    ``(h) Driver Alcohol Detection System.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Administrator of the National 
        Highway Traffic Safety Administration shall carry out a 
        collaborative research effort under chapter 301 of title 49 to 
        continue to explore the feasibility and the potential benefits 
        of, and the public policy challenges associated with, more 
        widespread deployment of in-vehicle technology to prevent 
        alcohol-impaired driving.
            ``(2) Report.--The Administrator shall annually submit a 
        report to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
        Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and 
        Commerce of the House of Representatives that--
                    ``(A) describes progress in carrying out the 
                collaborative research effort; and
                    ``(B) includes an accounting of the use of Federal 
                funds obligated or expended in carrying out that 
                effort.
            ``(3) Application with other laws.--Nothing in this 
        subsection may be construed to modify or otherwise affect any 
        Federal, State, or local government law (civil or criminal), 
        with respect to the operation of a motor vehicle.
            ``(4) Funding.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Notwithstanding any other 
                provision of law, $12,000,000 of any amounts made 
                available to the Secretary under section 406 for each 
                of the fiscal years 2012 through 2016 shall be made 
                available to carry out this subsection in place of any 
                other amounts that are otherwise available to carry out 
                this section.
                    ``(B) Limitation.--No amount of funding shall be 
                made available under this paragraph for any fiscal year 
                in which no funds are made available to carry out any 
                program authorized under section 406.''; and
            (3) in subsection (j), as redesignated--
                    (A) by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph 
                (7);
                    (B) by redesignating paragraph (2) as paragraph 
                (3);
                    (C) by redesignating paragraphs (4) and (5) as 
                paragraphs (5) and (4), respectively;
                    (D) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:
            ``(2) Alcohol-impaired driving.--The term `alcohol-impaired 
        driving' means operation of a motor vehicle (as defined in 
        section 30102(a)(6) of title 49) by an individual whose blood 
        alcohol content is at or above the legal limit.''; and
                    (E) by inserting after paragraph (5), as 
                redesignated, the following:
            ``(6) Legal limit.--The term `legal limit' means a blood 
        alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent or greater (as specified 
        by chapter 163 of this title) or such other percentage 
        limitation as may be established by applicable Federal, State, 
        or local law.''.
                                 <all>
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