Inside This Issue...

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has announced its plan to submit an Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. The information collection concerns the requirement that motor carriers maintain a record of all accidents in which their commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) are involved. The collection is necessary for FMCSA to assess the effectiveness of the safety management controls of motor carriers. On April 23, 2007, FMCSA published a Federal Register notice allowing for a 60-day comment period on the ICR. One comment was received. Please send your comments by Sept. 24, 2007. OMB must receive your comments by this date in order to act quickly on the ICR.  Background information and submission details are available in the Aug. 24 Federal Register notice.

The House and Senate are making their way back to the Hill as their summer recess draws to a close. The House started its summer recess Aug. 6 and will return for session on Aug. 31. The Senate's summer recess began Aug. 6 and is expected to return on Sept. 3.

The National Drive Safely Work Week (DSWW) is an annual week devoted to improving the safety and health of the nation's workforce by promoting safe driving practices at their place of business. The campaign week is always the first full week in October. During the campaign week this year (Oct. 1-5, 2007) the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS) will celebrate the 11th year of DSWW. This year's campaign theme is "Take Charge of YOUR Driving Behavior. Reduce YOUR Crash Risk." The theme addresses five common "high-risk" driving mistakes and provides tips that each driver can take to avoid these mistakes and ensure their safety and the safety of others. This year the campaign will also ask that every participant make the "Commitment to Safe Driving." More information will be made available as the campaign week nears. Until then, visit http://www.trafficsafety.org/dsww.asp, for more details.

The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) has their annual meeting scheduled for Sept. 23-26 in Portland, Oregon. This year’s GHSA Annual Meeting, “Looking Beyond our Borders,” will bring together state highway safety decision-makers with international highway safety representatives, national and regional staff of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), nonprofit safety groups, representatives from the private sector, law enforcement and many others to discuss strategies for improving highway safety. Visit GHSA's Web site for more information.

A union-backed effort to halt a program to give U.S. truck drivers access into Mexico and allow a limited number of Mexican trucks to operate long-haul routes within the United States lacks merit according to documents filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Thursday, Aug. 30.  The documents were filed on behalf of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) in response to an emergency stay request filed by the Teamsters and other groups yesterday. The government argues that the court should not issue a stay “in light of the petitioner’s failure to show any irreparable injury.”  The filing notes that Mexican trucks have a safety record that meets and in some cases exceeds the safety record of U.S. trucks, adding that the Department’s cross border truck demonstration program will have no impact on safety, given the thorough pre-screening and safety inspections that every truck from Mexico will have to endure before being allowed to travel into the United States and beyond the existing commercial border zones. More details area available in the press release issued by the Department of Transportation.

On Aug. 30, U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced that 17 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and four territories will receive more than $109 million under a federal program to encourage and enforce seat belt use. Congress established an incentive grants program in 2005 to encourage states to enact and enforce laws requiring the use of seat belts in passenger motor vehicles. The 16 states receiving these grants had enacted and are enforcing a primary belt law before Dec. 31, 2002. Under the program, states may use these grant funds for any highway safety purpose either for behavioral programs or for infrastructure. All 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the four territories are eligible to receive grants under this program. The DOT is authorized to provide these grants to the states under the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users in 2005, (SAFETEA-LU) Section 406, Safety Belt Performance Grants. View the press release for more details about the grants program and for a list of the jurisdictions receiving funding.

The Annual International Conference (AIC) issue of AAMVA's MOVE magazine is now available online for AAMVA members. The AIC issue, "Gearing Up for the Future," features indespensible advice on how to tackle the highway safety and identification security challenges facing the motor vehicle administration and law enforcement community. Make the commitment to "Communicate. Collaborate. Face the Future Together." MOVE online features Web supplements that are not available in the print version. Learn more by reading the MOVE magazine online today! Want to get in on the act? Submit a cover photo depicting our theme for the next MOVE issue! The deadline for the Fall issue is Sept. 28, 2007 and the theme is "Collaboration for Safety." To submit your photos for future covers, see the Move main page.

AAMVA is seeking a qualified individual to fill the Director of Driver Fitness position within the Programs Division. This position is responsible for the development, coordination, monitoring and disseminating of information in the following areas: Younger Driver, Older Driver, Driver Fitness, Driver Improvement, Graduated Driver's License and Financial Responsibility and Insurance.

Additional responsibilities include serving as staff liaison to committees, subcommittees and working groups in these areas as well as serving as the staff liaison to the Financial Responsibility and Insurance (FR&I) discipline. A job description and submission guidelines are available on AAMVA's Web site. More details are also available in the job advertisement.

If you haven’t already done so, please respond to the following surveys:

• Delaware – SAVE Program (Ends 09/11/2007)
• Indiana – No Fixed Address Policy (Ends 09/18/2007)
• West Virginia – DPPA Notification Requirement (Ends 09/28/2007)

Take your professional training and skills to a higher level; sign up today for the FDR Instructor Certification Course with AAMVA University. The course is tentatively scheduled to be held in Arlington, Va., from Oct. 22 to Oct. 26, 2007. Dates will be confirmed upon receipt of a minimum of 10 registrations; the deadline for which is Oct. 5. The prerequisite for enrollment is successful completion of the FDR Level II Course, which comprises Levels I&II. AAMVA University can also provide training at your jurisdiction's facility. Visit www.aamva-u.org for details on how to register, or contact aamvauniversity@aamva.org.