Inside This Issue...

The National Academy of Sciences is hosting a workshop on contributions from the behavioral and social sciences in reducing and preventing teen motor crashes. This workshop will include a review of issues related to teen driving, emerging driving technology, and teen driving policy approaches, as well as presentations and discussion on adolescent development issues that may inform improved approaches to teen driving program and policy interventions.  Particular attention will be given to traditional and nontraditional strategies, and informal interventions (e.g., training, supervising, and coaching) and formal interventions (e.g., state licensing programs, law enforcement, insurance practices), as well as opportunities to incorporate this new research base into formal processes associated with screening, licensing, and regulation. The workshop takes place May 15 (8 am-5 pm) and May 16 (8 am-12 pm) at the NAS building (2100 C Street NW, Lecture Room) in Washington, DC. Register online at the National Academies Web site. If you would like to attend but are unable to register online, please contact Wendy Keenan by e-mail (wkeenan@nas.edu) or phone (202-334-1759). Space is limited to 100 participants, and therefore RSVPs will be accepted on a first-come-first-serve basis. 

AAMVA’s Electronic Verification of Vital Events Records (EVVER) pilot project recently marked its two-year milestone. AAMVA, in conjunction with FMCSA, NHTSA, and the National Association for Public Health Statistics and Information Systems (NAPHSIS), is implementing a nationwide driver's license fraud detection and prevention program that will verify the validity of birth certificates presented as proof of identity by driver's license applicants. Currently, motor vehicle agencies from Iowa and South Dakota use EVVER to do real-time verification of birth certificates issued by Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, and South Dakota vital record agencies. Colorado will begin using EVVER by late spring. Iowa’s Office of Driver Services made the following assessment of the EVVER project: “The project is going well and is laying a good foundation on which to build a system for verifying the authenticity of birth records nationwide...EVVER is an effective tool and should be continued and supported. It promotes partnership between government agencies in a mutual interest.” Jurisdictions interested in becoming part of this growing project should contact Walter Jackson, AAMVA Systems Analysis Department, at (703) 908-2828.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is withdrawing a July 30, 1998, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that would have prohibited the driver of a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) from driving onto a highway-railroad grade crossing without sufficient space to drive completely through the crossing without stopping. The NPRM was issued in response to section 112 of the Hazardous Materials Transportation Authorization Act of 1994. FMCSA has concluded that the NPRM gave a misleading impression of the statutory mandate and the cost and complexity of complying with an implementing regulation. FMCSA is therefore withdrawing the 1998 NPRM as of April 28, 2006 in order to eliminate the confusion associated with this rulemaking. The agency, however, will issue a simpler and more clearly written new NPRM addressing the requirements of section 112.

The Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, in conjunction with the Department of Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, is currently conducting a National Customs Automation Program (NCAP) test concerning the transmission of automated truck manifest data. The cluster of ports identified individually in this notice (71 FR 23941), deploying in the states of Texas and New Mexico, were deployed as of March 1, 2006. The cluster encompassing Laredo, Texas, and its bridges, is expected to deploy no earlier than April 5, 2006. A third cluster of ports, all in the state of California and also identified individually in this notice, are expected to deploy no earlier than May 1, 2006. Comments concerning this notice and all aspects of the announced test may be submitted at any time during the test period. For more information, contact James Swanson via e-mail at james.d.swanson@dhs.gov.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) will hold two public listening sessions this summer. These meetings will continue dialogue on the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners (NRCME) program for interstate commercial motor vehicle drivers and the comprehensive review of Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations medical standards. All are encouraged to attend, including medical examiners, motor carriers, drivers, representatives of medical associations, certification and accreditation organizations, medical training organizations, state motor carrier enforcement agencies and safety organizations. The meetings will be held on June 29, 2006, at the Hilton San Diego Airport/Harbor Island in San Diego, California, and on July 26, 2006, at The Renaissance Grand in St. Louis, Missouri. For more information and to register, see the NCRME Web site.

 

President George Bush has announced his intention to appoint the final three members of the 12-person National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenues Commission. The panel must report to Congress by July 1, 2007 on what the future scope of the U.S. surface transportation system should be and how the government should raise the funds to finance it. The final three members of the panel are: Mary Peters, former administrator of the Federal Highway Administration; Rick Geddes, associate professor of Policy Analysis and Management at Cornell University; and Steve Odland, chairman and CEO of Office Depot, Inc. and former chairman and CEO of Autozone.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) proposes to revise its regulations that prescribes procedures for obtaining basic uniformity of traffic control devices on federal-aid and other streets and highways. This notice of proposed rulemaking makes some nomenclature changes, provides clarification on the meaning of "substantial conformance" and "roads open to public travel," and removes certain outdated references. Comments must be received on or before June 26, 2006. Late-filed comments will be considered to the extent practicable. Mail or hand deliver comments to the U.S. Department of Transportation, Dockets Management Facility, Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590, or submit electronically at http://dmses.dot.gov/submit or fax comments to (202) 493-2251. All comments should include the docket number FHWA-2005-23182.

Please share information with your fellow jurisdictions by responding to these surveys. Contact Member and Conference Services if you need a user ID and password.

• Illinois - Penalties for non-payment  (Ends 5/5/06)
• California - Medical reporting requirements - large vehicles  (Ends 5/31/06)

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, FMCSA announces its intent to submit two currently-approved Information Collection Requests (ICRs) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. The ICRs describe two information collection activities dealing with financial and operating statistics for motor carriers of property. The Federal Register notice allowing for a 60-day comment period on the ICRs was published on Jan. 18, 2006 (71 FR 2985). The agency received five comments in support of the continuation of these ICRs. Please send your comments by May 30, 2006. OMB must receive your comments by this date in order to act quickly on the ICR. Send comments to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, 725 Seventeenth Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503, Attention: DOT/FMCSA Desk Officer.

The Bar Code Specification is now available to the public. The specification lists the data elements within a 2D bar code placed on vehicle titles, registrations, motor carrier cab cards and safety inspection documents. If you have any questions, please contact Rich Carter at rcarter@aamva.org.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is proposing certain amendments to the safety standard on occupant protection in interior impact. Currently the standard requires, in part, that light vehicles provide head protection when an occupant’s head strikes upper interior components, such as pillars, side rails, headers, and the roof during a crash. For altered vehicles and vehicles built in two or more stages, these requirements become effective September 1, 2006. The Recreation Vehicle Industry Association and the National Truck Equipment Association petitioned the agency to permanently exclude certain types of altered vehicles and vehicles manufactured in two or more stages from these requirements. NHTSA has responded to those petitions and, based on a careful consideration of both the safety benefits of the upper interior protection requirements, and practicability concerns relating to vehicles built in two or more stages and certain altered vehicles, is proposing to limit these requirements to only the front seating positions of those vehicles. Further, NHTSA has tentatively concluded that it is appropriate to exclude a narrow group of multi-stage vehicles delivered to the final stage manufacturer without an occupant compartment, because of impracticability concerns. The agency is also proposing to delay the effective date of the head impact protection requirements as they apply to final stage manufacturers and alterers until Sept. 1, 2008. You may submit comments identified by DOT Docket Number NHTSA 2006-24497 at http://dms.dot.gov no later than June 23, 2006.

As part of its continuing efforts to reduce crashes, injuries, and fatalities involving large trucks and buses, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is currently working with AAMVA to reduce fraud through the use of the Commercial Skills Test Information Management System (CSTIMS). This Internet-based tool provides a consistent way to track the scheduling and entry of test results for commercial skills tests by jurisdiction and Third Party examiners. CSTIMS enforces jurisdiction-defined rules to manage CDL skills testing and will alert various parties when circumstances are encountered that may require investigation to determine if fraud may have occurred. Additionally, CSTIMS produces reports that can be reviewed for patterns of potential fraud. Arizona is the first jurisdiction to begin piloting CSTIMS for day-to-day management of its commercial skills testers. CSTIMS is being used to track the scheduling and testing of five jurisdiction and Third Party testing organizations with approximately 52 examiners. AAMVA would like to thank Dave Paul, area manager and Lupe Montoya, administrative assistant II, who were the primary individuals in the Arizona Motor Vehicle Division involved in moving Arizona to this point. Jurisdictions with any questions about CSTIMS should contact AAMVA’s Systems Analysis Department (Walt Jackson at (703) 908-2828 or Greg Sensiba at (703) 908-2822).