I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 968

To amend title 23, United States Code, to provide incentives to States 

for the development of traffic safety programs to reduce crashes related 

to driver fatigue and sleep deprivation. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 27, 2003

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

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL

To amend title 23, United States Code, to provide incentives 

to States for the development of traffic safety programs 

to reduce crashes related to driver fatigue and sleep 

deprivation.

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 ‘‘Maggie’s Law: Na5 tional Drowsy Driving Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 
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1 (1) A 1995 Federal study conservatively esti2 mated that each year—

3 (A) 100,000 police-reported motor vehicle 

4 crashes are caused by the drowsiness or fatigue 

5 of the operator; 

6 (B) 1,550 deaths and 71,000 injuries are 

7 the direct result of a driver falling asleep at the 

8 wheel of a motor vehicle; and 

9 (C) these crashes represent at least 

10 $12,500,000,000 in diminished productivity and 

11 property loss. 

12 (2) Scientific research further demonstrates 

13 that—

14 (A) 1,000,000 crashes are caused by driver 

15 inattention each year; and 

16 (B) sleep deprivation and fatigue make 

17 such attention lapses more likely to occur. 

18 (3) An insufficient amount of statistical data 

19 and documentation concerning fatigue-related motor 

20 vehicle crashes is available. Federal statistics signifi21 cantly under-report the problem of driver fatigue be22 cause the statistics are derived primarily from police 

23 accident reports, and studies indicate that less than 

24 one-half of all crashes are reported to the police. 
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1 (4) Further complicating the collection of accu2 rate data are the following facts: 

3 (A) Most police officers are not trained to 

4 detect sleep-related crashes. 

5 (B) There is no test to determine sleepi6 ness as there is for drunk drivers. 

7 (C) There are still States that do not have 

8 proper codes for sleepiness on their crash report 

9 forms. 

10 (D) Based on clinical studies, many people 

11 are unable to accurately recognize when they 

12 have nodded-off for a short period of time 

13 (microsleep), thus raising questions about the 

14 reliability of self-reporting. 

15 (5) In 1999, a scientifically conducted national 

16 survey of Americans found that 23 percent of re17 spondents reported that they personally know some18 one who crashed in the past year due to falling 

19 asleep at the wheel. 

20 (6) In 2001, a scientifically conducted national 

21 survey of Americans found that in the past year—

22 (A) 53 percent of all adults reported driv23 ing while drowsy; 

24 (B) 19 percent reported that they had ac25 tually dozed off while driving; and 
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1 (C) one percent reported that they had 

2 crashed because they dozed off. 

3 (7) Studies confirm that while anyone can be at 

4 risk for drowsy driving, there are several population 

5 groups that are significantly at higher risk—

6 (A) young people under the age of 26, who 

7 tend to stay up late, sleep too little, and drive 

8 at night, represent about 55 percent of all fall 

9 asleep crashes; 

10 (B) there are over 20,000,000 shift work11 ers in America and studies suggest that 20 per12 cent to 30 percent of individuals with nontradi13 tional work schedules have had a fatigue-related 

14 driving mishap in the last year; 

15 (C) commercial drivers are susceptible to 

16 fatigue-related crashes due to their driving 

17 schedules and the amount of miles they drive 

18 during the year; 

19 (D) commercial drivers have a high preva20 lence of a sleep and breathing disorder called 

21 sleep apnea; and 

22 (E) 40,000,000 Americans suffer from 

23 sleep disorders; left untreated, disorders such as 

24 sleep apnea can increase crash risk 3 to 7 

25 times.
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1 (8) In 1995, a study found that some roads, 

2 such as high-speed, long, boring, rural highways, are 

3 more dangerous than others for sleep-deprived mo4 torists. The New York State Police estimated that 

5 40 percent of all fatal crashes along the New York 

6 Thruway were the result of a driver falling asleep at 

7 the wheel. 

8 (9) Studies, such as the following, indicate that 

9 continuous shoulder rumble strips are effective coun10 termeasures to drift-off-the-road crashes, which are 

11 characteristic of drowsy driving, and fall-asleep 

12 crashes—

13 (A) New York State reports that accidents 

14 caused by drivers falling asleep at 13 sites on 

15 the New York Thruway were reduced by 84 

16 percent following the installation of continuous 

17 shoulder rumble strips. 

18 (B) Pennsylvania reports a reduction of 

19 guard rail or embankment accidents at 5 sites 

20 on the Pennsylvania Turnpike following rumble 

21 strip installation. 

22 (C) In 1995, an expert panel consisting of 

23 university and federal researchers convened to 

24 assess the current research regarding the effec25 tiveness of continuous shoulder rumble strips 
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1 and to make recommendations about their use. 

2 The panel concluded that rumble strips reduce 

3 drift-off-the-road crashes anywhere from 15 to 

4 70 percent depending on road type and rumble 

5 strip design being used. 

6 SEC. 3. DROWSY DRIVING EDUCATION PROGRAMS. 

7 Chapter 4 of title 23, United States Code, is amended 

8 by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 412. DROWSY DRIVING EDUCATION PROGRAMS. 

10 ‘‘(a) AWARDS.—The Secretary may enter into con11 tracts or cooperative agreements with, and may make 

12 grants to, State highway offices and other experienced 

13 drowsy driving safety organizations to obtain and dis14 tribute national, State, and local drowsy driving education 

15 programs and supporting educational materials. 

16 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds provided under a con17 tract, cooperative agreement, or grant under subsection 

18 (a) shall be used—

19 ‘‘(1) to implement drowsy driving programs 

20 which are designed to prevent deaths and injuries 

21 due to drivers who are impaired by fatigue and sleep 

22 deprivation and which—

23 ‘‘(A) educate the public in all aspects of 

24 the dangers of driving while impaired by fatigue 

25 or drowsiness as a result of sleep deprivation, 
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1 untreated sleep disorders, sedating medications, 

2 and alcohol use; 

3 ‘‘(B) educate the public to recognize the 

4 signs of fatigue while driving and how to take 

5 appropriate countermeasures to avoid fall-asleep 

6 crashes; 

7 ‘‘(C) train and retrain traffic safety profes8 sionals, police officers, fire and emergency med9 ical personnel, and other educators in all as10 pects of drowsy driving prevention; and 

11 ‘‘(B) train police officers and accident re12 constructionists to identify fatigue impairment 

13 among drivers and as a factor in motor vehicle 

14 crashes; 

15 ‘‘(2) to develop a standardized, scientifically ac16 curate curriculum on the risks and prevention of 

17 drowsy driving and fall-asleep motor vehicle crashes 

18 and take steps to—

19 ‘‘(A) develop and integrate a drowsy driv20 ing curriculum component into all driver’s edu21 cation courses under the purview of a State’s 

22 transportation department; 

23 ‘‘(B) ensure that State departments of 

24 transportation, health and education work to25 gether to include a drowsy driving component in 
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1 all driver’s education and health education cur2 ricula; and 

3 ‘‘(C) the State departments of transpor4 tation shall develop a curriculum on drowsy 

5 driving for training the instructors who teach 

6 any course covering driver education or traffic 

7 safety. 

8 ‘‘(3) to consult and collaborate with existing na9 tional drowsy driving campaigns to foster the dis10 tribution of scientifically-based information and edu11 cational messages regarding drowsy driving and fall12 asleep crashes and to review existing State model 

13 programs for experience and guidance; 

14 ‘‘(4) to adopt formal policy statements and 

15 work plans for the installation and expansion of con16 tinuous shoulder rumble strips during highway re17 surfacing and new construction programs for inter18 state highways and submit a report to the Secretary 

19 each fiscal year describing the number of highway 

20 miles and locations where continuous shoulder rum21 ble strips have been installed on their state highway 

22 system; 

23 ‘‘(5) to adopt formal codes on motor vehicle ac24 cident report forms to report fatigue-related or fall25 asleep crashes;
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1 ‘‘(6) to provide enforcement personnel training 

2 in the detection and reporting of drowsy driving as 

3 a factor in motor vehicle crashes; and 

4 ‘‘(7) provide education programs to the police 

5 and the courts regarding the sanctions available for 

6 drowsy driving accidents. 

7 ‘‘(d) APPLICATIONS.—An entity desiring a contract, 

8 cooperative agreement, or grant under subsection (a) shall 

9 submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in 

10 such manner, and accompanied by such information as the 

11 Secretary may reasonably require. 

12 ‘‘(e) REPORTS TO SECRETARY.—An entity which re13 ceives a contract, cooperative agreement, or grant under 

14 subsection (a) shall prepare and submit to the Secretary 

15 an annual report during the period in which it receives 

16 funds under such contract, cooperative agreement, or 

17 grant. Such a report shall contain such information as the 

18 Secretary may require and shall, at a minimum, describe 

19 the program activities undertaken with such funds, includ20 ing—

21 ‘‘(1) any drowsy driving education program 

22 that has been developed directly or indirectly by 

23 such entity and the target population of such pro24 gram; 
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1 ‘‘(2) support materials of such a program that 

2 have been obtained by such entity and the method 

3 by which the entity distributed such materials; and 

4 ‘‘(3) any initiatives undertaken by such entity 

5 to develop public-private partnerships to secure non6 Federal support for the development and distribu7 tion of drowsy driving education programs and ma8 terials. 

9 ‘‘(f) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary shall 

10 prepare and submit to the appropriate committees of Con11 gress an annual report on the implementation of this sec12 tion, which includes a description of the programs under13 taken and materials developed and distributed by entities 

14 receiving funds under subsection (a). 

15 ‘‘(g) In this section, the following definitions apply: 

16 ‘‘(1) DROWSY DRIVER EDUCATION PRO17 GRAMS.—The term ‘drowsy driving education pro18 grams’ includes publications, audiovisual, presen19 tations, and demonstrations. 

20 ‘‘(2) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means any 

21 State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 

22 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United 

23 States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the 

24 Northern Mariana Islands, and any other territory 

25 or possession of the United States. 
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1 ‘‘(3) STATE MODEL PROGRAMS.—The term 

2 ‘State model programs’ means the State of New 

3 York’s Break for Safety program and New York 

4 Task Force on Drowsy Driving efforts. 

5 ‘‘(4) NATIONAL PROGRAMS.—The term ‘na6 tional programs’ means the DRIVE 

7 ALERT...ARRIVE ALIVE, the National Sleep 

8 Foundation’s Campaign on Drowsy Driving and 

9 other programs operated by non-profit organizations. 

10 ‘‘(5) CONTINUOUS SHOULDER RUMBLE

11 STRIP.—The term ‘continuous shoulder rumble strip’ 

12 means raised or grooved patterns inserted on the 

13 shoulder of a highway to alert drivers drifting off 

14 the road that they are doing so. 

15 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the 

16 purpose of carrying out this section, there are authorized 

17 to be appropriated to the Secretary $5,000,000 for the 

18 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for each 

19 of fiscal years 2004 through 2009, of which not more than 

20 $350,000 may be spent in any fiscal year for administra21 tive costs.’’. 

22 SEC. 4. FEDERAL RESEARCH ON THE SCOPE OF THE PROB23 LEM. 

24 (a) STUDY.—The Secretary of Transportation shall 

25 conduct a study on the scope of the problem of fatigue-
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1 related automobile crashes amongst the general driving 

2 public. 

3 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

4 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall transmit 

5 to Congress a report containing the results of the study.

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