I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 588

To amend title 23, United States Code, relating to drunk driving.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 19, 1995

Mr. NEAL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Transportation and Infrastructure

A BILL

To amend title 23, United States Code, relating to drunk

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.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Marion Malley Walsh

5 Drunk Driving Act of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress makes the following findings:

8 (1) Drunk driving crashes cost the United

9 States health care system approximately

10 $6,000,000,000 in 1993.
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1 (2) Drunk driving crashes cost American busi2 nesses and workers approximately $25,000,000,000

3 in lost wages in 1993.

4 (3) It is estimated that alcohol was involved in

5 45 percent of fatal motor vehicle crashes and in 7

6 percent of all motor vehicle crashes in 1992.

7 (4) The 17,699 fatalities in alcohol-related

8 motor vehicle crashes during 1992 represent an av9 erage of 1 alcohol-related fatality every 30 minutes.

10 (5) About 355,000 persons were injured in

11 motor vehicle crashes where police reported that al12 cohol was present—an average of 1 person injured

every 11 13 ⁄2 minutes.

14 (6) More than 1,800,000 drivers were arrested

15 in 1991 for driving under the influence of alcohol or

16 narcotics—an arrest rate of 1 for every 92 licensed

17 drivers in the United States.

18 (7) In 1992, an average of 35.2 percent of all

19 fatal motor vehicle crashes during a week were alco20 hol-related, compared to 58.2 percent on weekends.

21 SEC. 3. DRUNK DRIVING.

22 Chapter 1 of title 23, United States Code, is amended

23 by adding at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘§ 161. Drunk driving

2 ‘‘(a) TRANSFER OF APPORTIONMENTS FOR NON3 COMPLIANCE.—

4 ‘‘(1) FIRST FISCAL YEAR.—On the first day of

5 the first fiscal year succeeding the first fiscal year

6 beginning after September 30, 1996, throughout

7 which a State does not meet the requirements of

subsection (b), the Secretary shall transfer 11 8 ⁄2 per9 cent of the funds apportioned to the State under

10 each of paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of section

11 104(b) for such fiscal year to the apportionment of

12 the State under section 402 of this title.

13 ‘‘(2) AFTER FIRST FISCAL YEAR.—On the first

14 day of each fiscal year after the second fiscal year

15 beginning after September 30, 1996, throughout

16 which a State does not meet the requirements of

17 subsection (b), the Secretary shall transfer 3 percent

18 of the funds apportioned to the State under each of

19 paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of section 104(b) for

20 such fiscal year to the apportionment of the State

21 under section 402 of this title.

22 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.—A State meets the require23 ments of this paragraph if the State has enacted and is

24 enforcing a law that provides for 4 or more of the follow25 ing:
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1 ‘‘(1) Any individual with a blood alcohol con2 centration of 0.08 percent or greater when driving a

3 motor vehicle shall be deemed to be driving while

4 under the influence of alcohol.

5 ‘‘(2) Any individual under age 21, driving with

6 a blood alcohol concentration of 0.02 percent or

7 greater, shall be deemed to be driving while under

8 the influence of alcohol, and a blood alcohol content

9 of at least 0.02 percent, but less than 0.08 percent,

10 will be punishable by a fine of up to $500 and a 6-

11 month driver’s license suspension.

12 ‘‘(3) With respect to the impoundment of motor

13 vehicles, the State law provides the following:

14 ‘‘(A) If an individual’s license has been

15 suspended or revoked for an alcohol-related of16 fense and the individual is thereafter caught

17 driving, the vehicle the individual is driving will

18 be immediately impounded or immobilized for

19 30 days. The court can impound the vehicle for

20 an additional 90 days following conviction.

21 ‘‘(B) The owner of the vehicle (other than

22 the driver) may petition the court for release of

23 the vehicle.

24 ‘‘(C) Any individual who knowingly permits

25 operation of their motor vehicle by a person
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1 known to have a revoked or suspended driver’s

2 license for an alcohol-related offense can be

3 charged with a Class 1 misdemeanor.

4 ‘‘(4) Establishment of an expedited driver’s li5 cense suspension or revocation system for persons

6 who operate motor vehicles while under the influence

7 of alcohol which requires that—

8 ‘‘(A) when a law enforcement officer has

9 probable cause under State law to believe a per10 son has committed an alcohol-related traffic of11 fense and such person is determined, on the

12 basis of a chemical test, to have been under the

13 influence of alcohol while operating the motor

14 vehicle or refuses to submit to such a test as

15 proposed by the officer, the officer shall serve

16 such person with a written notice of suspension

17 or revocation of the driver’s license of such per18 son and take possession of such driver’s license;

19 ‘‘(B) the notice of suspension or revocation

20 referred to in subparagraph (A) shall provide

21 information on the administrative procedures

22 under which the State may suspend or revoke

23 in accordance with the objectives of this section

24 a driver’s license of a person for operating a

25 motor vehicle while under the influence of alco-
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1 hol and shall specify any rights of the operator

2 under such procedures;

3 ‘‘(C) the State shall provide, in the admin4 istrative procedures referred to in subparagraph

5 (B), for due process of law, including the right

6 to an administrative review of a driver’s license

7 suspension or revocation within the time period

8 specified in subparagraph (F);

9 ‘‘(D) after serving notice and taking pos10 session of a driver’s license in accordance with

11 subparagraph (A), the law enforcement officer

12 immediately shall report to the State entity re13 sponsible for administering drivers’ licenses all

14 information relevant to the action taken in ac15 cordance with this subparagraph;

16 ‘‘(E) in the case of a person who, in any

17 5-year period beginning after the date of enact18 ment of this section, is determined on the basis

19 of a chemical test to have been operating a

20 motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol or

21 is determined to have refused to submit to such

22 a test as proposed by the law enforcement offi23 cer, the State entity responsible for administer24 ing drivers’ licenses, upon receipt of the report

25 of the law enforcement officer—
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1 ‘‘(i) shall suspend the driver’s license

2 of such person for a period of not less than

3 90 days if such person is a first offender

4 in such 5-year period; and

5 ‘‘(ii) shall suspend the driver’s license

6 of such person for a period of not less than

7 1 year, or revoke such license, if such per8 son is a repeat offender in such 5-year pe9 riod; and

10 ‘‘(F) the suspension and revocation re11 ferred to under subparagraph (D) shall take ef12 fect not later than 30 days after the day on

13 which the person first received notice of the

14 suspension or revocation in accordance with

15 subparagraph (B).

16 ‘‘(5)(A) Establishment and maintenance of a

17 graduated licensing program consisting of the follow18 ing licensing stages for any driver under age 21

19 years:

20 ‘‘(i) An instructional license, valid for a

21 minimum period determined by the Secretary,

22 under which the licensee shall not operate a

23 motor vehicle unless accompanied in the front

24 passenger seat by the holder of a full driver’s

25 license.
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1 ‘‘(ii) A provisional driver’s license which

2 shall not be issued unless the driver has passed

3 a written examination on traffic safety and has

4 passed a roadtest administered by the driver li5 censing agency of the State.

6 ‘‘(iii) A full driver’s license which shall not

7 be issued until the driver has held a provisional

8 license for at least 6 months with a clean driv9 ing record.

10 ‘‘(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A)(iii), a

11 provisional licensee has a clean driving record if the

12 licensee—

13 ‘‘(i) has not been found, by civil or crimi14 nal process, to have committed a moving traffic

15 violation during the applicable period;

16 ‘‘(ii) has not been assessed points against

17 the license because of safety violations during

18 such period; and

19 ‘‘(iii) has satisfied such other requirements

20 as the Secretary may prescribe by regulation.

21 ‘‘(C) The Secretary shall determine the condi22 tions under which a State shall suspend provisional

23 driver’s licenses in order not to have funds trans24 ferred under subsection (a). At a minimum, the

25 holder of a provisional license shall be subject to
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1 driver control actions that are stricter than those ap2 plicable to the holder of a full driver’s license, in3 cluding warning letters and suspension at a lower

4 point threshold.

5 If the Secretary determines that a State law is substan6 tially the same as what is required under paragraph (3)

7 or (4), such law shall be treated as meeting such require8 ment.

9 ‘‘(c) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the

10 cost of any project carried out under section 402 with

11 funds transferred to the apportionment of section 402

12 under this section shall be 100 percent.

13 ‘‘(d) TRANSFER OF OBLIGATION AUTHORITY.—If the

14 Secretary transfers under this section any funds to the

15 apportionment of a State under section 402 for a fiscal

16 year, the Secretary shall allocate an amount of obligation

17 authority distributed for such fiscal year to the State for

18 Federal-aid highways and highway safety construction

19 programs for carrying out only projects under section 402

20 which is determined by multiplying—

21 ‘‘(1) the amount of funds transferred under this

22 section to the apportionment of section 402 of the

23 State of such fiscal year; by

24 ‘‘(2) the ratio of the amount of obligation au25 thority distributed for such fiscal year to the State
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1 for Federal-aid highways and highway safety con2 struction programs to the total of the sums appor3 tioned to the State for Federal-aid highways and

4 highway safety construction (excluding sums not

5 subject to any obligation limitation) for such fiscal

6 year.

7 ‘‘(e) LIMITATION ON APPLICABILITY OF HIGHWAY

8 SAFETY OBLIGATIONS.—Notwithstanding any other pro9 vision of law, no limitation on the total of obligations for

10 highway safety programs carried out by the Federal High11 way Administration under section 402 shall apply to funds

12 transferred under this section to the apportionment of sec13 tion 402.’’.

14 SEC. 4. CONFORMING AMENDMENT.

15 The analysis for chapter 1 of title 23, United States

16 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

‘‘161. Drunk driving.’’.

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