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105TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3555
To direct the Secretary of Transportation to conduct an assessment of avail-
able technologies for establishing a system to access information regard-
ing the motor vehicle driving records of all motor vehicle operators
in the United States.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 25, 1998
Mr. MORAN of Virginia (for himself, Mrs. MORELLA, Mr. WYNN, Ms.
LOFGREN, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. LAMPSON, and Mrs. LOWEY) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation
and Infrastructure
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Transportation to conduct an
assessment of available technologies for establishing a
system to access information regarding the motor vehicle
driving records of all motor vehicle operators in the
United States.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Driver Record Infor-
mation Verification System Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that—
(1) State statutory, regulatory, and adjudica-
tory procedures make it very difficult for States to
send, receive, and maintain driver conviction infor-
mation in a manner that is nationally consistent and
uniform;
(2) problem drivers can and do avoid detection
and corrective action;
(3) the federally established commercial driver
license information system and the national driver
register problem driver pointer system affect only a
small portion of the total driving population;
(4) the commercial driver license information
system does not prevent a commercial driver from
having multiple noncommercial licenses and the
problem driver pointer system encourages the disper-
sal of a person’s driving record across multiple juris-
dictions;
(5) most States do not have the infrastructure
to track citations electronically or in a timely man-
ual fashion through the court system to the driver
licensing agency;
(6) a high percentage of citations and convic-
tions are never posted or recorded on a driver’s
record, making it difficult for law enforcement, judi-
cial, and administrative agencies to obtain an indi-
vidual’s complete driving history and impairing the
ability of the agencies to identify and control prob-
lem drivers; and
(7) Congress should facilitate the creation of a
new database on driver license history that will af-
ford law enforcement, judicial, and administrative
agencies with a more effective tool to improve high-
way safety by providing for the instant retrieval of
a driver’s complete driving history and minimizing
the potential for a driver to obtain multiple valid
driver licenses.
SEC. 3. TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transportation,
in conjunction with the American Association of Motor Ve-
hicle Administrators, shall conduct an assessment of avail-
able technologies to determine the most feasible and eco-
nomical means of establishing a system to access informa-
tion regarding the motor vehicle driving record of each
motor vehicle operator in the United States.
(b) REQUIREMENTS.—With respect to each tech-
nology assessed under subsection (a), the Secretary shall
make the following determinations:
(1) Whether information from the system can
be accessed quickly, in accordance with the needs of
the States.
(2) Whether a motor vehicle operator can be ac-
curately identified on each access of the system.
(3) Whether the system can withstand the vol-
ume of inquiries that would result from full imple-
mentation of the system.
(4) The costs to States and the Federal Gov-
ernment of implementing, operating, and maintain-
ing the system.
(5) Impacts, other than costs, on States and
the Federal Government.
(c) ASSESSMENT OF USE OF SOCIAL SECURITY NUM-
BERS.—The Secretary, in consultation with the Commis-
sioner of Social Security, shall assess the usefulness and
cost-effectiveness of using the social security account num-
bers as the basis for identification of motor vehicle opera-
tors within the system.
(d) STATE PARTICIPATION.—The Secretary shall ob-
tain the motor vehicle driving records necessary for carry-
ing out the assessment from States that agree to partici-
pate in the assessment. The Secretary may use amounts
appropriated to carry out this section to reimburse States
for costs associated with such participation.
(e) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 2 years
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary
shall transmit to Congress a report containing the results
of the assessment, together with recommendations for ap-
propriate administrative and legislative actions. The re-
port shall include an estimate of Federal and State costs
of operating the database, as well as a description of other
impacts of system implementation.
(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section
$5,000,000 for fiscal years beginning after September 30,
1998.
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