II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3039 

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

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 25, 2010 

Mr. UDALL of New Mexico (for himself and Mr. CORKER) 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. 

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 ‘‘Research of Alcohol 

5 Detection Systems for Stopping Alcohol-related Fatalities 

6 Everywhere Act of 2010’’ or the ‘‘ROADS SAFE Act of 

7 2010’’. 

8 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

9 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Alcohol-impaired driving fatalities represent 

approximately 1 2 ⁄3 of all highway fatalities in the 

3 United States in a given year. 

4 (2) In 2008, there were 11,773 alcohol-im5 paired driving fatalities. 

6 (3) An estimated 9,000 road traffic deaths 

7 could be prevented every year if alcohol detection 

8 technologies were more widely used to prevent alco9 hol-impaired drivers from operating their vehicles. 

10 (4) The National Highway Traffic Safety Ad11 ministration has partnered with automobile manu12 facturers to develop alcohol detection technologies 

13 that could be installed in vehicles to prevent drunk 

14 driving. 

15 (5) Alcohol detection technologies will not be 

16 widely accepted by the public unless they are mod17 erately priced, absolutely reliable, and set at a level 

18 that would not prevent a driver whose blood alcohol 

19 content is less than the legal limit from operating a 

20 vehicle. 

21 SEC. 3. DRIVER ALCOHOL DETECTION SYSTEM FOR SAFETY 

22 RESEARCH. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Na24 tional Highway Traffic Safety Administration shall carry 

25 out a collaborative research effort under section 301 of 


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1 title 49, United States Code, to continue to explore the 

2 feasibility and the potential benefits of, and the public pol3 icy challenges associated with, more widespread deploy4 ment of in-vehicle technology to prevent alcohol-impaired 

5 driving. 

6 (b) REPORTS.—The Administrator shall submit a re7 port annually to the Senate Committee on Commerce, 

8 Science, and Transportation and the House of Represent9 atives Committee on Energy and Commerce— 

10 (1) describing progress in carrying out the col11 laborative research effort; and 

12 (2) including an accounting for the use of Fed13 eral funds obligated or expended in carrying out that 

14 effort. 

15 SEC. 4. DEFINTIONS. 

16 In this Act: 

17 (1) ALCOHOL-IMPAIRED DRIVING.—The term 

18 ‘‘alcohol-impaired driving’’ means operation of a 

19 motor vehicle (as defined in section 30102(a)(6) of 

20 title 49, United States Code) by an individual whose 

21 blood alcohol content is at or above the legal limit. 

22 (2) LEGAL LIMIT.—The term ‘‘legal limit’’ 

23 means a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent 

24 or greater (as specified by section 163 of title 23, 

25 United States Code) or such other percentage limitaVerDate Nov 24 2008 06:49 Feb 26, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3039.IS S3039

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1 tion as may be established by applicable Federal, 

2 State, or local law. 

3 SEC. 5. APPLICATION WITH OTHER LAWS. 

4 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to modify or 

5 otherwise affect any Federal, State, or local government 

6 law, civil or criminal, with respect to the operation of a 

7 motor vehicle. 

8 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro10 priated out of the Highway Trust Fund (other than the 

11 Mass Transit Account) $12,000,000 for each of fiscal 

12 years 2011 through 2015 to carry out the collaborative 

13 research effort under section 3(a). 

14 (b) EXCESS FUNDS.—Any amounts appropriated 

15 pursuant to subsection (a) that are not needed to carry 

16 out collaborative research under section 3(a) may be used 

17 by the Secretary of Transportation for highway safety re18 search in accordance with section 301 of title 49, United 

19 States Code, and section 403 of title 23, United States 

20 Code. 

Æ 


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