IV 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 841 

Expressing support for designation of November 29, 2009, as ‘‘Drive Safer 

Sunday’’. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 15, 2009 

Mr. GERLACH (for himself, Mr. DENT, Mr. UPTON, Mrs. MILLER of Michigan, 

Mr. EHLERS, Mr. CASTLE, Mr. CAO, Mrs. BIGGERT, and Mr. BISHOP of 

New York) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing support for designation of November 29, 2009, 

as ‘‘Drive Safer Sunday’’. 

Whereas motor vehicle travel is the primary means of transportation in the United States; 

Whereas the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 

(NHTSA) estimates that 37,313 people, or more than 

100 drivers a day, were killed in motor vehicle traffic 

crashes in 2008; 

Whereas the term ‘‘distracted driving’’ refers to anything 

that takes your eyes, hands, or mind away from driving, 

including food and beverages, traffic accidents, adjusting 

the radio, children, pets, objects moving in the vehicle, 


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•HRES 841 IH 

talking or texting on a cell phone, smoking, putting on 

makeup, shaving, and reading; 

Whereas the NHTSA researched driver distraction with respect to both behavioral and vehicle safety countermeasures in an effort to understand and mitigate crashes 

associated with distracted driving; 

Whereas, on September 30, 2009, the Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Ray LaHood announced new 

research findings by the NHTSA that show nearly 6,000 

people died in 2008 in crashes involving a distracted or 

inattentive driver, and more than half a million were injured; 

Whereas distracted driving was reported to have been involved in 16 percent of all fatal crashes in 2008 according to data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System 

(FARS); 

Whereas the age group with the greatest proportion of distracted drivers was the under-20 age group, 16 percent 

of all under-20 drivers in fatal crashes were reported to 

have been distracted while driving; 

Whereas an estimated 22 percent of injury crashes were reported to have involved distracted driving, according to 

data from the General Estimates System (GES); 

Whereas crashes in which the critical reason for the crash 

was attributed to the driver, approximately 18 percent involved distraction, according to the National Motor Vehicle Crash Causation Survey (NMVCCS); 

Whereas during the 100-Car Naturalistic Driving Study, 

driver involvement in secondary tasks contributed to over 

22 percent of all crashes; 


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•HRES 841 IH 

Whereas everyone traveling on the roads and highways needs 

to drive safer to reduce deaths and injuries resulting 

from motor vehicle accidents; 

Whereas driver behavior can be effectively changed through 

education and awareness; and 

Whereas the Sunday after Thanksgiving is the busiest highway traffic day of the year and would be appropriate to 

designate as ‘‘Drive Safer Sunday’’: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) encourages— 

3 (A) high schools, colleges, universities, ad4 ministrators, teachers, primary schools, and 

5 secondary schools to launch campus-wide edu6 cational campaigns to urge students to be care7 ful about safety when driving; 

8 (B) national trucking firms to alert their 

9 drivers to be especially focused on driving safely 

10 during the heaviest traffic day of the year, and 

11 to publicize the importance of the day using 

12 Citizen’s Band (CB) radios and in truck stops 

13 across the Nation; 

14 (C) clergy to remind their members to 

15 travel safely when attending services and gath16 erings; 

17 (D) law enforcement personnel to remind 

18 drivers and passengers to drive safer; and 


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1 (E) all people of the United States to use 

2 this as an opportunity to educate themselves 

3 about the dangers of distracted driving and 

4 highway safety; and 

5 (2) supports the designation of ‘‘Drive Safer 

6 Sunday’’. 

Æ 


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