H. Res. 841 
In the House of Representatives, U. S., 
November 17, 2009. 
Whereas motor vehicle travel is the primary means of trans-
portation in the United States; 
Whereas the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 
(NHTSA) estimates that 37,313 people, or more than 
100 drivers a day, were killed in motor vehicle traffic 
crashes in 2008; 
Whereas the term ‘‘distracted driving’’ refers to anything 
that takes your eyes, hands, or mind away from driving, 
including food and beverages, traffic accidents, adjusting 
the radio, children, pets, objects moving in the vehicle, 
talking or texting on a cell phone, smoking, putting on 
makeup, shaving, and reading; 
Whereas the NHTSA researched driver distraction with re-
spect to both behavioral and vehicle safety counter-
measures in an effort to understand and mitigate crashes 
associated with distracted driving; 
Whereas, on September 30, 2009, the Department of Trans-
portation (DOT) Secretary Ray LaHood announced new 
research findings by the NHTSA that show nearly 6,000 
people died in 2008 in crashes involving a distracted or 
inattentive driver, and more than half a million were in-
jured;
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Whereas distracted driving was reported to have been in-
volved in 16 percent of all fatal crashes in 2008 accord-
ing to data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System 
(FARS); 
Whereas the age group with the greatest proportion of dis-
tracted drivers was the under-20 age group, 16 percent 
of all under-20 drivers in fatal crashes were reported to 
have been distracted while driving; 
Whereas an estimated 22 percent of injury crashes were re-
ported to have involved distracted driving, according to 
data from the General Estimates System (GES); 
Whereas crashes in which the critical reason for the crash 
was attributed to the driver, approximately 18 percent in-
volved distraction, according to the National Motor Vehi-
cle Crash Causation Survey (NMVCCS); 
Whereas during the 100-Car Naturalistic Driving Study, 
driver involvement in secondary tasks contributed to over 
22 percent of all crashes; 
Whereas everyone traveling on the roads and highways needs 
to drive safer to reduce deaths and injuries resulting 
from motor vehicle accidents; 
Whereas driver behavior can be effectively changed through 
education and awareness; and 
Whereas the Sunday after Thanksgiving is the busiest high-
way traffic day of the year and would be appropriate to 
designate as ‘‘Drive Safer Sunday’’: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) encourages— 
(A) high schools, colleges, universities, admin-
istrators, teachers, primary schools, and secondary
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schools to launch campus-wide educational cam-
paigns to urge students to be careful about safety 
when driving; 
(B) national trucking firms to alert their driv-
ers to be especially focused on driving safely during 
the heaviest traffic day of the year, and to publicize 
the importance of the day using Citizen’s Band 
(CB) radios and in truck stops across the Nation; 
(C) clergy to remind their members to travel 
safely when attending services and gatherings; 
(D) law enforcement personnel to remind driv-
ers and passengers to drive safer; and 
(E) all people of the United States to use this 
as an opportunity to educate themselves about the 
dangers of distracted driving and highway safety; 
and 
(2) supports the designation of ‘‘Drive Safer Sun-
day’’. 
Attest: 
Clerk.