23 U.S.C. § 403: Highway safety research and development

a government-owned, government-operated laboratory; and a government-owned, contractor-operated laboratory. vehicle, highway, driver, passenger, motorcyclist, bicyclist, and pedestrian characteristics; crash causation and investigations; communications; and emergency medical services, including the transportation of the injured; driver education; impaired driving; and distracted driving; an evaluation of the effectiveness of countermeasures to increase highway and traffic safety, including occupant protection and alcohol- and drug-impaired driving technologies and initiatives; the development of technologies to detect drug impaired drivers; research on, evaluations of, and identification of best practices related to driver education programs (including driver education curricula, instructor training and certification, program administration, and delivery mechanisms) and make recommendations for harmonizing driver education and multistage graduated licensing systems; and the effect of State laws on any aspects, activities, or programs described in subparagraphs (A) through (E). independently; in cooperation with other Federal departments, agencies, and instrumentalities and Federal laboratories; by entering into contracts, cooperative agreements, and other transactions with the National Academy of Sciences, any Federal laboratory, State or local agency, authority, association, institution, foreign government (in coordination with the Department of State) or person (as defined in chapter 1 of title 1); or by making grants to the National Academy of Sciences, any Federal laboratory, State or local agency, authority, association, institution, or person (as defined in chapter 1 of title 1). non-Federal entities, including State and local governments, foreign governments, colleges, universities, corporations, partnerships, sole proprietorships, organizations, and trade associations that are incorporated or established under the laws of any State or the United States; and Federal laboratories. In carrying out this subsection, the Secretary may enter into cooperative research and development agreements (as defined in section 12 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 ( 15 U.S.C. 3710a )) in which the Secretary provides not more than 50 percent of the cost of any research or development project under this subsection. The research, development, or use of any technology pursuant to an agreement under this subsection, including the terms under which technology may be licensed and the resulting royalties may be distributed, shall be subject to the provisions of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 ( 15 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.). In furtherance of the purposes set forth in section 402, the Secretary may vest title to equipment purchased for demonstration projects with funds authorized under this section to State or local agencies on such terms and conditions as the Secretary determines to be appropriate. Any report of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or of any officer, employee, or contractor of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, relating to any highway traffic crash or the investigation of such crash conducted pursuant to this chapter or chapter 301 of title 49 may only be made available to the public in a manner that does not identify individuals. Notwithstanding the apportionment formula set forth in section 402(c)(2), $3,500,000 of the total amount available for apportionment to the States for highway safety programs under section 402(c) in each fiscal year shall be available for expenditure by the Secretary, acting through the Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, for a cooperative research and evaluation program to research and evaluate priority highway safety countermeasures. shall be administered by the Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; and shall be jointly managed by the Governors Highway Safety Association and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration may participate and cooperate in international activities to enhance highway safety. The term “alcohol-impaired driving” means the operation of a motor vehicle (as defined in section 30102(a) of title 49 ) by an individual whose blood alcohol content is at or above the legal limit. The term “legal limit” means a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent or greater (as set forth in section 163(a)) or such other percentage limitation as may be established by applicable Federal, State, or local law. The Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shall carry out a collaborative research effort under chapter 301 of title 49 on in-vehicle technology to prevent alcohol-impaired driving. The Secretary shall obligate from funds made available to carry out this section for the period covering fiscal years 2022 through 2025, not more than $45,000,000 to conduct the research described in paragraph (2). The Administrator shall not develop requirements for any device or means of technology to be installed in an automobile intended for retail sale that records a driver’s blood alcohol concentration. describes the progress made in carrying out the collaborative research effort; and includes an accounting for the use of Federal funds obligated or expended in carrying out that effort. The Secretary shall establish procedures and guidelines to ensure that any person participating in a program or activity that collects data on drug or alcohol use by drivers of motor vehicles and is carried out under this section is informed that the program or activity is voluntary. The Federal share of the cost of any project or activity carried out under this section may be not more than 100 percent. The Secretary shall carry out an education campaign to reduce the incidence of vehicular heatstroke of children left in passenger motor vehicles (as defined in section 30102(a) of title 49 ). The Secretary may use, or authorize the use of, funds made available to carry out this section to pay for the development, production, and use of broadcast and print media advertising and Internet-based outreach for the education campaign under paragraph (1). interested State and local governments; private industry; and other parties, as determined by the Secretary. The term “motor vehicle” has the meaning given the term in section 30102(a) of title 49 . for which a notification by a manufacturer has been provided under section 30119 of title 49 ; and that has not been remedied under section 30120 of that title. The term “program” means the program established under paragraph (2)(A). The term “registration” means the process for registering a motor vehicle in a State (including registration renewal). The term “State” has the meaning given the term in section 101(a). Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this subsection, the Secretary shall establish a program under which the Secretary shall provide grants to States for use in developing and implementing State processes for informing each applicable owner and lessee of a motor vehicle of any open recall on the motor vehicle at the time of registration of the motor vehicle in the State, in accordance with this paragraph. submit to the Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may require; and to notify each owner or lessee of a motor vehicle presented for registration in the State of any open recall on that motor vehicle; and the open recall information for the motor vehicle; and such other information as the Secretary may require. identifying open recalls on a motor vehicle; informing each owner and lessee of a motor vehicle of an open recall; and informing owners and lessees of open recalls; and remedying open recalls. A grant provided under the program shall require a performance period of 2 years. Not later than 90 days after the date of completion of the performance period under subparagraph (D), each State that receives a grant under the program shall submit to the Secretary a report that contains such information as the Secretary considers to be necessary to evaluate the extent to which open recalls have been remedied in the State. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary shall not be required to issue any regulations to carry out the program. Chapter 35 of title 44 (commonly known as the “Paperwork Reduction Act”) shall not apply to information collected under the program. For each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026, the Secretary shall obligate from funds made available to carry out this section $1,500,000 to carry out the program. To ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, that all amounts described in subparagraph (A) are obligated each fiscal year, the Secretary, before the last day of any fiscal year, may reallocate any of those amounts remaining available to increase the amounts made available to carry out any other activities authorized under this section. In conducting research under this section, the Secretary shall evaluate the effectiveness of innovative behavioral traffic safety countermeasures, other than traffic enforcement, that are considered promising or likely to be effective for the purpose of enriching revisions to the document entitled “Countermeasures That Work: A Highway Safety Countermeasure Guide for State Highway Safety Offices, Ninth Edition” and numbered DOT HS 812 478 (or any successor document). The research described in paragraph (1) shall be in addition to any other research carried out under this section. Not later than 3 months after the date of enactment of this Act [ June 9, 1998 ], the Secretary shall offer to enter into an agreement with the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences to conduct, subject to the availability of appropriations, a study of the safety issues attendant to the transportation of school children to and from school and school-related activities by various transportation modes. in consultation with the National Transportation Safety Board, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, and other relevant entities, available crash injury data; vehicle design and driver training requirements, routing, and operational factors that affect safety; and other factors that the Secretary considers to be appropriate; if the data referred to in paragraph (1)(A) is unavailable or insufficient, the Transportation Research Board shall recommend a new data collection regimen and implementation guidelines; and highway safety organizations; school transportation; mass transportation operators; employee organizations; and bicycling organizations; academic and policy analysts; and other interested parties. Not later than 12 months after the Secretary enters into an agreement under subsection (a), the Secretary shall transmit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives a report that contains the results of the study. There are authorized to be appropriated to the Department of Transportation to carry out this section $200,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $200,000 for fiscal year 2001. Such sums shall remain available until expended.” The Secretary, acting through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, shall establish a regional program for implementation of drug recognition programs and for training law enforcement officers (including enforcement officials under the motor carrier safety assistance program) to recognize and identify individuals who are operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or one or more controlled substances or other drugs. The Secretary shall establish a citizens advisory committee that shall report to Congress annually on the progress of the implementation of subsection (a). Members of the committee shall include 1 member of each of the following: Mothers Against Drunk Driving; a narcotics control organization; American Medical Association; American Bar Association; and such other organizations as the Secretary deems appropriate. The committee shall be subject to the provisions of the [Federal] Advisory Committee Act [see 5 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.] and shall terminate 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act [ Dec. 18, 1991 ]. There is authorized to be appropriated out of the Highway Trust Fund (other than the Mass Transit Account) to carry out this section $4,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1992 through 1997. For purposes of this section, the term ‘controlled substance’ means any controlled substance, as defined under section 102(6) of the Controlled Substances Act ( 21 U.S.C. 802(6) ), whose use the Secretary has determined poses a risk to transportation safety.” The Secretary shall design, within 9 months after the date of the enactment of this Act [ Nov. 18, 1988 ], and implement, within 15 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, a pilot State grant program for the purpose of testing individuals described in subsection (e)(1) to determine whether such individuals have used, without lawful authorization, a controlled substance. The Secretary shall solicit the participation of States from those States interested in participating in such a program not more than 4 States to participate in the program. One of the States shall be a western State which is one of the 3 most populous States, with numerous large cities, with at least one city exceeding 7,000,000 people. The State should have a diverse demographic population with larger than average drug use according to reliable surveys. One of the remaining States should be a southern State, one a northeastern State, and one a central State. One of the remaining States should be mainly rural and among the least populous States. One of the remaining States should have less than average drug use according to reliable surveys. The pilot program authorized by this section shall continue for a period of 1 year. The Secretary shall consider alternative methodologies for implementing a system of random testing of such individuals. are applicants seeking the privilege to drive, and have never been issued a driver’s license by any State. prior to issuance of driver’s licenses, and during the first year following the date of issuance of such licenses. Each State participating in the test program shall deny an individual driving privileges if drug testing required by paragraph (1) indicates that such individual has used illicit drugs, with such denial lasting for a period of at least 1 year following such test or subsequent confirmatory test. The program described in paragraph (3) may allow for reinstitution of driving privileges after a period of 3 months if such reinstitution is accompanied by a requirement that the individual be available for a period of 9 months for drug testing on a regular basis. If any such test indicates that the individual has used illicit drugs, then driving privileges must be denied for 1 year following such test or confirmatory test. The Secretary may issue regulations to assist States in implementing the programs described in subsection (e) and to grant temporary exceptions in appropriate circumstances. Not later than 30 months after the date of the enactment of this Act [ Nov. 18, 1988 ], the Secretary shall prepare and transmit to Congress a comprehensive report setting forth the results of the pilot program conducted under this section. Such report shall include any recommendations of the Secretary concerning the desirability and implementation of a system for random testing of such operators of motor vehicles. For purposes of carrying out this test program, there is authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000 for fiscal year 1990. The term ‘controlled substance’ means any controlled substance as defined under section 102(6) of the Controlled Substance Act ( 21 U.S.C. 802(6) ) whose use the Secretary has determined poses a risk to transportation safety. The term ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary of Transportation. The term ‘State’ has the meaning such term has when used in chapter 1 of title 23, United States Code.”