I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3355 

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to carry out a program to improve 

roadway safety infrastructure in all States to enhance the safety of 

older drivers and pedestrians, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 27, 2009 

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

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to carry out a 

program to improve roadway safety infrastructure in all 

States to enhance the safety of older drivers and pedestrians, 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 ‘‘Older Driver and Pe5 destrian Safety and Roadway Enhancement Act of 2009.’’ 


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1 TITLE I—ROADWAY SAFETY EN2 HANCEMENT PROGRAM FOR 

3 OLDER DRIVERS AND PEDES4 TRIANS 

5 SEC. 101. ROADWAY SAFETY ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM FOR 

6 OLDER DRIVERS AND PEDESTRIANS. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Secretary 

8 of Transportation shall establish and implement a pro9 gram, the roadway safety enhancement program for older 

10 drivers and pedestrians, to improve roadway safety infra11 structure in all States in a manner consistent with the 

12 recommendations included in the publication of the Fed13 eral Highway Administration entitled ‘‘Highway Design 

14 Handbook for Older Drivers and Pedestrians’’ (FHWA– 

15 RD–01–103), referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Handbook’’, 

16 dated May 2001 or as subsequently revised and updated 

17 pursuant to section 103. 

18 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the roadway safety 

19 enhancement program for older drivers and pedestrians is 

20 to achieve a significant reduction in roadway fatalities and 

21 serious injuries among drivers and pedestrians 65 years 

22 of age or older on all public roads. 

23 (c) APPORTIONMENT OF FUNDS.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—On October 1 of each fiscal 

25 year, the Secretary shall apportion such funds auVerDate Nov 24 2008 01:55 Jul 28, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3355.IH H3355

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1 thorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

2 for such fiscal year among the States in accordance 

3 with the following formula: 

(A) 331 4 ⁄3 percent of the apportionment in 

5 the ratio that— 

6 (i) the total vehicle miles traveled on 

7 lanes on public roads in each State; bears 

8 to 

9 (ii) the total vehicle miles traveled on 

10 lanes on public roads in all States. 

(B) 331 11 ⁄3 percent of the apportionment in 

12 the ratio that— 

13 (i) the total per capita population of 

14 individuals 65 years of age or older resid15 ing in each State in the latest fiscal year 

16 for which data is available, bears to 

17 (ii) the total per capital population of 

18 individuals 65 years of age or older resid19 ing in all States in the latest fiscal year for 

20 which data is available. 

(C) 331 21 ⁄3 percent of the apportionments in 

22 the ratio that— 

23 (i) the total number of fatalities and 

24 serious injuries among drivers and pedes25 trians 65 years of age or older on public 


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1 roads in each State in the latest fiscal year 

2 for which data are available, bears to 

3 (ii) the total number of fatalities and 

4 serious injuries among drivers and pedes5 trians 65 years of age or older on the pub6 lic roads in all States in the latest fiscal 

7 year for which data are available. 

8 (2) MINIMUM APPORTIONMENT.—Notwith9 standing paragraph (1), each State shall receive a 

10 minimum apportionment of not less than one per11 cent of the funds apportioned under this subsection. 

12 (d) PROJECT ELIGIBILITY AND SELECTION.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State may obligate funds 

14 apportioned to the State under subsection (c) for the 

15 planning, design, and construction of infrastructure16 related projects that employ safety enhancement rec17 ommendations set forth in the Handbook— 

18 (A) to improve safety at intersections, 

19 interchanges, rail grade crossings, and roadway 

20 segments; 

21 (B) to make systemic roadway safety im22 provements on public roads; and 

23 (C) to improve roadway safety on other 

24 sections or elements of public roads that a 


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1 State transportation department identifies as 

2 hazardous for older drivers and pedestrians. 

3 (2) PROJECT IDENTIFICATION AND SELECTION

4 PRIORITIES.—To obligate funds apportioned under 

5 subsection (c) to carry out this section, a State shall 

6 have in effect, either in conjunction with a State 

7 strategic highway safety plan pursuant to section 

8 148 of title 23, United States Code, or separately, 

9 appropriate policies and procedures developed by the 

10 State transportation department to— 

11 (A) analyze and make effective use of 

12 State, regional and local crash and fatality 

13 data, hospital reports and other data to docu14 ment traffic-related fatalities and injuries to in15 dividuals 65 years of age or older; 

16 (B) consult with appropriate State and 

17 local transportation planning agencies, State 

18 and local safety agencies and organizations, 

19 representatives of the roadway infrastructure 

20 safety industry, and State and local organiza21 tions representing older drivers and pedestrians, 

22 to identify hazardous locations, sections, and 

23 elements of public roads that constitute a dan24 ger for drivers, vehicle occupants, or pedes25 trians 65 years of age or older; 


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1 (C) determine the relative severity of haz2 ardous road and highway locations, sections and 

3 elements for drivers and pedestrians age 65 

4 years or older through crash and injury data 

5 analysis; 

6 (D) establish priorities for obligating funds 

7 among potential projects for correction of haz8 ardous road and highway conditions, which 

9 shall include projects that— 

10 (i) involve hazardous intersection, 

11 road or highway conditions identified in a 

12 strategic highway safety plan pursuant to 

13 section 148(c)(1)(D) as exhibiting the 

14 most severe safety needs; 

15 (ii) make use of multiple Handbook 

16 recommendations or the use of a systemic 

17 program to correct the most serious high18 way safety hazards for drivers or pedes19 trians 65 years of age or older; or 

20 (iii) are used in conjunction with 

21 other Federal programs such as the safe 

22 routes to schools program pursuant to sec23 tion 1404 of SAFETEA–LU or such other 

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1 ing that enhance traffic and pedestrian 

2 safety for all roadway users; 

3 (E) establish and implement a schedule of 

4 roadway infrastructure safety improvement 

5 projects for hazard correction and hazard pre6 vention; and 

7 (F) establish an evaluation process to ana8 lyze and assess results achieved by highway 

9 safety improvement projects carried out in ac10 cordance with procedures and criteria estab11 lished by the section and report annually the re12 sults of such evaluations to the Secretary. 

13 (e) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the cost 

14 of a project carried out under this section shall be 90 per15 cent. 

16 (f) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the terms 

17 ‘‘public road’’, ‘‘State’’, and ‘‘State transportation depart18 ment’’ have the meaning such terms have in section 101 

19 of title 23, United States Code. 

20 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

22 appropriated out of the Highway Trust Fund (other 

23 than the Mass Transit Account) $500,000,000 to 

24 carry out this section for each of fiscal years 2010 

25 through 2015. 


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1 (2) APPLICABILITY OF TITLE 23.—Funds au2 thorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

3 shall be available for obligation in the same manner 

4 as if such funds were appropriated under chapter 1 

5 of title 23, United States Code, and such funds shall 

6 remain available until expended and shall not be 

7 transferable. 

8 SEC. 102. REGULATIONS. 

9 Not later than 9 months after the date of enactment 

10 of this Act, the Secretary shall issue regulations to carry 

11 out section 101. 

12 SEC. 103. REVISION OF THE HIGHWAY DESIGN HANDBOOK 

13 FOR OLDER DRIVERS AND PEDESTRIANS. 

14 The Secretary of Transportation shall— 

15 (1) finalize the revision of the Handbook for 

16 publication on or before the date required for 

17 issuance of regulations in section 102; 

18 (2) initiate a review of applicable traffic safety 

19 research for purposes of incorporating in the Hand20 book appropriate recommendations relating to— 

21 (A) supplemental lighting at intersections, 

22 interchanges, rail-grade rail crossings and haz23 ardous sections of roadways, as appropriate, to 

24 address visual impairments among older driv25 ers; 


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1 (B) wet-night visibility of pavement mark2 ings and edgelines; and 

3 (C) design of intersection curbs and curb 

4 ramps to address physical limitations of older 

5 or disabled pedestrians; 

6 (3) issue, not later than one year after the date 

7 of enactment of this section, a guidance memo re8 garding the appropriateness of applying to public 

9 roads and highways pedestrian safety improvements 

10 relating to the following intersection design ele11 ments: 

12 (A) receiving lane (throat) width for turn13 ing operations; 

14 (B) channelization; 

15 (C) offset (single) left-turn lane geometry, 

16 signing, and delineation; 

17 (D) curb radius; and 

18 (E) pedestrian crossing design, operations, 

19 and control; and 

20 (4) conduct ongoing research to permit revision 

21 and publication of an updated Handbook not later 

22 than December 31, 2014. 


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1 TITLE II—OLDER DRIVER AND 

2 PEDESTRIAN TRAFFIC SAFE3 TY AMENDMENTS AND AD4 MINISTRATIVE COORDINA5 TION 

6 SEC. 201. MISCELLANEOUS CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

7 (a) COLLECTION OF TRAFFIC INJURY AND FATALITY

8 DATA ON OLDER DRIVERS AND PEDESTRIANS.—Section 

9 148(c)(1)(D) of title 23, United States Code, is amend10 ed— 

11 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of clause (iii); 

12 (2) by inserting ‘‘and’’ at the end of clause (iv); 

13 and 

14 (3) by inserting after clause (iv), the following: 

15 ‘‘(v) includes a means of identifying 

16 the relative severity of hazardous locations 

17 described in clause (iii) in terms of acci18 dents, injuries, and death involving drivers, 

19 passengers, and pedestrians 65 years of 

20 age or older;’’. 

21 (b) REPEAL OF EXISTING LAW.—Section 1405 of the 

22 Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Act: 

23 A Legacy for Users (23 U.S.C. 401 note; 119 Stat. 1230), 

24 and the item relating to such section in section 1(b) of 

25 such Act, are repealed. 


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1 SEC. 202. COORDINATION AND OVERSIGHT OF OLDER DRIV2 ER SAFETY. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall appoint a 

4 Special Assistant for Older Driver and Pedestrian Safety 

5 within the Office of the Secretary to oversee and coordi6 nate programs operated or funded by the Department re7 lating to transportation safety, research, and services for 

8 individuals age 65 and older. 

9 (b) POLICY GOALS AND IMPLEMENTATION.—The 

10 Secretary shall establish, after consultation with other 

11 Federal and State transportation agencies, organizations 

12 representing individuals age 65 and older, representatives 

13 of law enforcement, and advocates for roadway safety in14 frastructure, national goals for increasing driver, pas15 senger, and pedestrian safety for persons age 65 and 

16 older, together with procedures for implementing and 

17 monitoring progress toward achieving such goals. 

18 (c) DUTIES OF THE SPECIAL ASSISTANT.—The Spe19 cial Assistant for Older Driver and Pedestrian Safety shall 

20 be responsible for planning and implementing policies to 

21 achieve the national goals set forth by the Secretary pur22 suant to subsection (b), and, in consultation with the Sec23 retary and the Undersecretary for Policy, shall also have 

24 responsibility to: 


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1 (1) oversee collection and analysis of national 

2 traffic accident, injury, and fatality data relating to 

3 individuals age 65 and older; 

4 (2) coordinate and make recommendations re5 garding research undertaken by the Department to 

6 identify and address the safety needs of drivers, pas7 sengers, and pedestrians age 65 and older; 

8 (3) oversee the revision of the Handbook, as re9 quired by section 103 of this Act; 

10 (4) oversee the conduct of research and make 

11 recommendations for inclusion in the manual on uni12 form traffic control devices of appropriate safety fea13 tures and traffic control devices in the Handbook 

14 that have been determined effective in reducing inju15 ries or fatalities among drivers, passengers, and pe16 destrians age 65 and older; 

17 (5) oversee research by the National Highway 

18 Traffic Safety Administration to test and implement 

19 vehicle crash dummies that more accurately repro20 duce and measure the severity of vehicle-related in21 juries for occupants age 65 and older; 

22 (6) encourage and facilitate revision of the ab23 breviated injury scale system of injury quantification 

24 to more accurately measure injuries and fatalities to 

25 vehicle occupants age 65 and older, including measVerDate Nov 24 2008 01:55 Jul 28, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3355.IH H3355

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1 uring the effect of pre-existing and chronic condi2 tions and long-term injury outcomes; 

3 (7) improve coordination of research sponsored 

4 by the Department to develop efficient, effective and 

5 safe mobility options for individuals age 65 and 

6 older with research conducted by the National Cen7 ter on Senior Transportation; and 

8 (8) undertake such other duties and responsibil9 ities that the Secretary or the Undersecretary for 

10 Policy shall determine appropriate. 

11 (d) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary, not later 

12 than 12 months after the date of enactment of this sec13 tion, and not less than annually thereafter, shall submit 

14 to Congress a report that documents the progress made 

15 by the Department to achieve the goals set forth by the 

16 Secretary pursuant to subsection (b), that shall include, 

17 as appropriate, descriptions of any impediments to achiev18 ing such goals, explanation of strategies or plans to ad19 dress such impediments, and recommendations for addi20 tional Congressional action. 

21 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

23 appropriated out of the Highway Trust Fund (other 

24 than the Mass Transit Account) $250,000 to carry 


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1 out subsection (d) for each of fiscal years 2010 

2 through 2015. 

3 (2) APPLICABILITY OF TITLE 23.—Funds au4 thorized to be appropriated to carry out subsection 

5 (d) shall be available for obligation in the same man6 ner as if such funds were appropriated under chap7 ter 1 of title 23, United States Code, and such funds 

8 shall remain available until expended and shall not 

9 be transferable. 

10 SEC. 203. MINIMUM LEVELS OF RETROREFLECTIVITY FOR 

11 PAVEMENT MARKINGS. 

12 Not later than October 1, 2010, the Secretary of 

13 Transportation shall revise the manual on uniform traffic 

14 control devices to include a standard for a minimum level 

15 of retroreflectivity that must be maintained for pavement 

16 markings, which shall apply to all roads open to public 

17 travel. 

Æ 


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