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.
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 ‘‘Maggie’s Law: Na-
tional Drowsy Driving Act of 2003’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following:
(1) A 1995 Federal study conservatively esti-
mated that each year—
(A) 100,000 police-reported motor vehicle 
crashes are caused by the drowsiness or fatigue 
of the operator; 
(B) 1,550 deaths and 71,000 injuries are 
the direct result of a driver falling asleep at the 
wheel of a motor vehicle; and 
(C) these crashes represent at least 
$12,500,000,000 in diminished productivity and 
property loss. 
(2) Scientific research further demonstrates 
that—
(A) 1,000,000 crashes are caused by driver 
inattention each year; and 
(B) sleep deprivation and fatigue make 
such attention lapses more likely to occur. 
(3) An insufficient amount of statistical data 
and documentation concerning fatigue-related motor 
vehicle crashes is available. Federal statistics signifi-
cantly under-report the problem of driver fatigue be-
cause the statistics are derived primarily from police 
accident reports, and studies indicate that less than 
one-half of all crashes are reported to the police.
(4) Further complicating the collection of accu-
rate data are the following facts: 
(A) Most police officers are not trained to 
detect sleep-related crashes. 
(B) There is no test to determine sleepi-
ness as there is for drunk drivers. 
(C) There are still States that do not have 
proper codes for sleepiness on their crash report 
forms. 
(D) Based on clinical studies, many people 
are unable to accurately recognize when they 
have nodded-off for a short period of time 
(microsleep), thus raising questions about the 
reliability of self-reporting. 
(5) In 1999, a scientifically conducted national 
survey of Americans found that 23 percent of re-
spondents reported that they personally know some-
one who crashed in the past year due to falling 
asleep at the wheel. 
(6) In 2001, a scientifically conducted national 
survey of Americans found that in the past year—
(A) 53 percent of all adults reported driv-
ing while drowsy; 
(B) 19 percent reported that they had ac-
tually dozed off while driving; and
(C) one percent reported that they had 
crashed because they dozed off. 
(7) Studies confirm that while anyone can be at 
risk for drowsy driving, there are several population 
groups that are significantly at higher risk—
(A) young people under the age of 26, who 
tend to stay up late, sleep too little, and drive 
at night, represent about 55 percent of all fall 
asleep crashes; 
(B) there are over 20,000,000 shift work-
ers in America and studies suggest that 20 per-
cent to 30 percent of individuals with nontradi-
tional work schedules have had a fatigue-related 
driving mishap in the last year; 
(C) commercial drivers are susceptible to 
fatigue-related crashes due to their driving 
schedules and the amount of miles they drive 
during the year; 
(D) commercial drivers have a high preva-
lence of a sleep and breathing disorder called 
sleep apnea; and 
(E) 40,000,000 Americans suffer from 
sleep disorders; left untreated, disorders such as 
sleep apnea can increase crash risk 3 to 7 
times.
(8) In 1995, a study found that some roads, 
such as high-speed, long, boring, rural highways, are 
more dangerous than others for sleep-deprived mo-
torists. The New York State Police estimated that 
40 percent of all fatal crashes along the New York 
Thruway were the result of a driver falling asleep at 
the wheel. 
(9) Studies, such as the following, indicate that 
continuous shoulder rumble strips are effective coun-
termeasures to drift-off-the-road crashes, which are 
characteristic of drowsy driving, and fall-asleep 
crashes—
(A) New York State reports that accidents 
caused by drivers falling asleep at 13 sites on 
the New York Thruway were reduced by 84 
percent following the installation of continuous 
shoulder rumble strips. 
(B) Pennsylvania reports a reduction of 
guard rail or embankment accidents at 5 sites 
on the Pennsylvania Turnpike following rumble 
strip installation. 
(C) In 1995, an expert panel consisting of 
university and federal researchers convened to 
assess the current research regarding the effec-
tiveness of continuous shoulder rumble strips
and to make recommendations about their use. 
The panel concluded that rumble strips reduce 
drift-off-the-road crashes anywhere from 15 to 
70 percent depending on road type and rumble 
strip design being used. 
SEC. 3. DROWSY DRIVING EDUCATION PROGRAMS. 
Chapter 4 of title 23, United States Code, is amended 
by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 412. DROWSY DRIVING EDUCATION PROGRAMS. 
‘‘(a) AWARDS.—The Secretary may enter into con-
tracts or cooperative agreements with, and may make 
grants to, State highway offices and other experienced 
drowsy driving safety organizations to obtain and dis-
tribute national, State, and local drowsy driving education 
programs and supporting educational materials. 
‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds provided under a con-
tract, cooperative agreement, or grant under subsection 
(a) shall be used—
‘‘(1) to implement drowsy driving programs 
which are designed to prevent deaths and injuries 
due to drivers who are impaired by fatigue and sleep 
deprivation and which—
‘‘(A) educate the public in all aspects of 
the dangers of driving while impaired by fatigue 
or drowsiness as a result of sleep deprivation,
untreated sleep disorders, sedating medications, 
and alcohol use; 
‘‘(B) educate the public to recognize the 
signs of fatigue while driving and how to take 
appropriate countermeasures to avoid fall-asleep 
crashes; 
‘‘(C) train and retrain traffic safety profes-
sionals, police officers, fire and emergency med-
ical personnel, and other educators in all as-
pects of drowsy driving prevention; and 
‘‘(B) train police officers and accident re-
constructionists to identify fatigue impairment 
among drivers and as a factor in motor vehicle 
crashes; 
‘‘(2) to develop a standardized, scientifically ac-
curate curriculum on the risks and prevention of 
drowsy driving and fall-asleep motor vehicle crashes 
and take steps to—
‘‘(A) develop and integrate a drowsy driv-
ing curriculum component into all driver’s edu-
cation courses under the purview of a State’s 
transportation department; 
‘‘(B) ensure that State departments of 
transportation, health and education work to-
gether to include a drowsy driving component in
all driver’s education and health education cur-
ricula; and 
‘‘(C) the State departments of transpor-
tation shall develop a curriculum on drowsy 
driving for training the instructors who teach 
any course covering driver education or traffic 
safety. 
‘‘(3) to consult and collaborate with existing na-
tional drowsy driving campaigns to foster the dis-
tribution of scientifically-based information and edu-
cational messages regarding drowsy driving and fall-
asleep crashes and to review existing State model 
programs for experience and guidance; 
‘‘(4) to adopt formal policy statements and 
work plans for the installation and expansion of con-
tinuous shoulder rumble strips during highway re-
surfacing and new construction programs for inter-
state highways and submit a report to the Secretary 
each fiscal year describing the number of highway 
miles and locations where continuous shoulder rum-
ble strips have been installed on their state highway 
system; 
‘‘(5) to adopt formal codes on motor vehicle ac-
cident report forms to report fatigue-related or fall-
asleep crashes;
‘‘(6) to provide enforcement personnel training 
in the detection and reporting of drowsy driving as 
a factor in motor vehicle crashes; and 
‘‘(7) provide education programs to the police 
and the courts regarding the sanctions available for 
drowsy driving accidents. 
‘‘(d) APPLICATIONS.—An entity desiring a contract, 
cooperative agreement, or grant under subsection (a) shall 
submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in 
such manner, and accompanied by such information as the 
Secretary may reasonably require. 
‘‘(e) REPORTS TO SECRETARY.—An entity which re-
ceives a contract, cooperative agreement, or grant under 
subsection (a) shall prepare and submit to the Secretary 
an annual report during the period in which it receives 
funds under such contract, cooperative agreement, or 
grant. Such a report shall contain such information as the 
Secretary may require and shall, at a minimum, describe 
the program activities undertaken with such funds, includ-
ing—
‘‘(1) any drowsy driving education program 
that has been developed directly or indirectly by 
such entity and the target population of such pro-
gram;
‘‘(2) support materials of such a program that 
have been obtained by such entity and the method 
by which the entity distributed such materials; and 
‘‘(3) any initiatives undertaken by such entity 
to develop public-private partnerships to secure non-
Federal support for the development and distribu-
tion of drowsy driving education programs and ma-
terials. 
‘‘(f) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary shall 
prepare and submit to the appropriate committees of Con-
gress an annual report on the implementation of this sec-
tion, which includes a description of the programs under-
taken and materials developed and distributed by entities 
receiving funds under subsection (a). 
‘‘(g) In this section, the following definitions apply: 
‘‘(1) 
DROWSY
DRIVER
EDUCATION
PRO-
GRAMS.—The term ‘drowsy driving education pro-
grams’ includes publications, audiovisual, presen-
tations, and demonstrations. 
‘‘(2) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means any 
State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 
the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United 
States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the 
Northern Mariana Islands, and any other territory 
or possession of the United States.
‘‘(3) STATE
MODEL
PROGRAMS.—The term 
‘State model programs’ means the State of New 
York’s Break for Safety program and New York 
Task Force on Drowsy Driving efforts. 
‘‘(4) NATIONAL
PROGRAMS.—The term ‘na-
tional 
programs’ 
means 
the 
DRIVE 
ALERT...ARRIVE ALIVE, the National Sleep 
Foundation’s Campaign on Drowsy Driving and 
other programs operated by non-profit organizations. 
‘‘(5) 
CONTINUOUS
SHOULDER
RUMBLE 
STRIP.—The term ‘continuous shoulder rumble strip’ 
means raised or grooved patterns inserted on the 
shoulder of a highway to alert drivers drifting off 
the road that they are doing so. 
‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the 
purpose of carrying out this section, there are authorized 
to be appropriated to the Secretary $5,000,000 for the 
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for each 
of fiscal years 2004 through 2009, of which not more than 
$350,000 may be spent in any fiscal year for administra-
tive costs.’’. 
SEC. 4. FEDERAL RESEARCH ON THE SCOPE OF THE PROB-
LEM. 
(a) STUDY.—The Secretary of Transportation shall 
conduct a study on the scope of the problem of fatigue-
related automobile crashes amongst the general driving 
public. 
(b) REPORT.—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 study.
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