Federal Agency Data Protection Act Reported to House 
The Federal Agency Data Protection Act (
HR 4791) defines "personally identifiable information" as any information about an individual maintained by a federal agency, including information about the individual's education, finances, medical, criminal, or employment history, that can be used to distinguish or trace such individual's identity or that is linked or linkable to the individual.
View the text of the bill for more details.
Close Date Extended for Federal CVISN Deployment Grant Program
The Commercial Vehicle Information Systems and Networks (CVISN) grant funding is authorized by Section 4126 of SAFETEA–LU. The expected level of funding for CVISN in FY 2008 is $25,000,000. This is a discretionary grant program that provides funding for states and the District of Columbia to deploy, operate, and maintain elements of their CVISN programs, including commercial vehicle, commercial driver, and carrier-specific information systems and networks. The agency in each state and the District of Columbia that is designated as the primary agency responsible for the development,implementation, and maintenance of CVISN-related systems is eligible to apply for grant funding. The close date for the grant has been extended to Aug.1, 2008.
View the grant listing on Grants.gov for more information.
Transportation Secretary Unveils Nationwide Youth Traffic Safety Campaign Competition
Transportation Secretary Peters announced that fewer people are injured in highway crashes every year but cautioned that there are still too many teen-related crashes. To help improve teen road safety, Peters unveiled a nationwide youth traffic safety campaign competition and announced $300,000 in seat belt grants. School- or community-supported youth organizations are eligible to compete in developing a traffic safety campaign aimed at rural youth. The campaign message should include a tagline or theme, and be designed for posters, print advertisements, internet, video, and/or radio. Campaign messages need to be implemented in at least one community. Representatives from the top three teams will also win a trip to Washington, DC in December 2008 for a special award ceremony at the U.S. Department of Transportation!
Applications are due June 30, 2008. The Rural Youth Traffic Safety Message Competition is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation's 2008 Rural Safety Initiative.
Visit NHTSA's Web site for more information about the competition. For more information on the Rural Safety Initiative, please visit
www.dot.gov/affairs/ruralsafety/.
Province Unveils New Sponsorship Initiative for Northern and Rural Manitoba Students
Five students from rural and northern Manitoba took part in a high-school hiring initiative and are now enrolled in engineering-related post-secondary studies, benefiting from a new sponsorship program, Alberta Infrastructure and Transportation Minister Ron Lemieux announced May 19. The program offers $1,000 per student toward their first year of post-secondary education and also a summer student position with Manitoba Infrastructure and Transportation for each year the student continues their engineering-related studies at the post-secondary level. In rural and northern Manitoba, there are job opportunities for people with an engineering-related background in the design, construction and maintenance of the province’s highways, bridges and overpasses, as well as with the provincial drainage system and at northern airports and marine locations. Visit
http://www.gov.mb.ca/mit/ for more information.
Safe Truck Operations and Preservation Act Introduced in Senate
The Safe Truck Operations and Preservation Act (S 3021) was introduced in the Senate on May 15. The bill intends to amend title 49, United States Code, with respect to length and weight limitations for buses, trucks, and other large vehicles on Federal highways, and for other purposes. The bill was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
View the text of the bill online for more information.
Resolution Introduced in House Encouraging Laws Requiring Voter Identification
On May 20, a resolution (
H. Con. Res. 357) was introduced in the House encouraging all states to enact laws requiring photo identification to vote in elections. It was resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), that Congress strongly encourages all states that have not already done so, in light of the recent ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States in Crawford et al. v. Marion County Election Board et al., to swiftly enact laws requiring voters to present current, valid, government-issued photo identification based on proof of United States citizenship in order to vote in elections; and applauds states that have already implemented vigorous photo identification laws to secure the integrity of the democratic process.
View the resolution online.
Concurrent Resolution Passed to Increase Bicycle Safety, Use
A concurrent resolution (
H.Con.Res.305) was passed on May 21 recognizing the importance of bicycling in transportation and recreation. The resolution supports policies that increase bicycle use and encourages the Department of Transportation to provide leadership and coordination by reestablishing the Federal bicycle task force to include representatives from all relevant federal agencies.
View the resolution for more details.
Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month Resolution Engrossed, Passed in House
A resolution (
H.Res.339) supporting the goals of Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month was engrossed and passed in the House on May 21. The resolution encourages all road users to be more aware of motorcycles and motorcyclists' safety and encourages motorcycle riders to receive appropriate training and practice safe riding skills.
View the resolution for more details.
NHTSA Administrator Launches 2008 "Click It or Ticket" Campaign
Despite a decade of gains in daytime seat belt use, research by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) shows that nighttime belt use remains much lower, particularly among young drivers. The annual
Click It or Ticket seat belt enforcement campaign, launched May 19 by NHTSA Administrator Nicole R. Nason, will focus on nighttime belt use when the odds of being killed in a motor vehicle crash are three times greater. The campaign runs from May 19 to June 1. Nighttime seat belt use is often much lower than the nationwide average of 82 percent daytime belt use, according to NHTSA research. The consequences of not buckling up are even more tragic among young passenger vehicle occupants. Of the 2,926 16- to 20-year-old passenger vehicle occupants killed in 2006, 68 percent were unrestrained. During the daytime 57 percent of the 16- to 20-year-old occupants killed were not wearing seat belts. Across the country, law enforcement will issue tickets to seat belt law violators. The campaign is supported by a $7.5 million national and state advertising campaign. Ads produced by NHTSA in English and Spanish will run across a wide range of highly targeted media, including print, radio, and television. View the NHTSA
research note and
study report here. For more information, please visit:
www.nhtsa.dot.gov/link/ciot.htm.
National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission Meetings
The National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission will hold its next two meetings on Thursday, June 5, from 8:30am to 4pm and on Tuesday, July 22, from 8:30am to 4pm. Each of the meetings will be open to the public and is scheduled to take place at the offices of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, 1250 I (“Eye”) Street, NW., Suite 200, Washington, DC 20005. For additional information, please contact John V. Wells, Chief Economist, U.S. Department of Transportation, (202) 366-9224,
jack.wells@dot.gov.
GAO Urges Improvements to Drug Testing Programs
In a recently released report, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said improvements to drug testing programs could better identify illegal drug users and keep them off the road. Factors contributing to drivers not being in a drug testing program include FMCSA's limited oversight resources for all carriers and limited enforcement options for safety audits of new carriers. Although FMCSA and its state partners review thousands of carriers each year, these reviews touch about two percent of the industry. As a result, carriers have limited incentives to follow the regulations. Factors contributing to failures to detect drug use include the ease of subverting the urine test, either because collection sites are not following protocols or because drivers are using products that are widely available to adulterate or substitute urine specimens.
View the report online for more details.
NTSB Chairman Urges Safety in Summer Months
With Memorial Day opening the summer travel season, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairman Mark V. Rosenker encourages all Americans to enjoy a safer summer by keeping a few simple precautions in mind. While the vast majority of motorists arrive safely at their destinations, on average, over 100 people die every day on U.S. roads in traffic accidents. And during a holiday weekend that number can spike considerably. Rosenker noted that motorcycle operators and passengers can significantly enhance their own safety just by wearing a motorcycle helmet every time they ride. While accident statistics define the scope of the challenges to transportation safety, Rosenker says that everyone can make a difference. See the NTSB Safety Alert on motorcycle safety on the Board's website at
http://www.ntsb.gov/alerts/SA_012.pdf FMCSA Awards AAMVA Three Highway Safety Improvement Grants
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has announced the awarding of three grants aimed at improving highway safety involving commercial vehicles. The grants, awarded to AAMVA, focus on reducing fatalities in work zones, increasing enforcement in rural areas and recognizing individuals or agencies which have succeeded in improving highway safety in commercial vehicles. The use of non-MCSAP (Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program) personnel for commercial vehicle and driver enforcement will help to maximize the resources of FMCSA and its state partners by increasing the opportunity to have contact with more carriers and drivers. The ultimate goal of the increased contact is to achieve greater reduction in large truck and bus crashes, injuries and fatalities. Both the Rural Roads and Work Zone grants will develop and deliver training programs that focus on trucks and buses geared toward law enforcement personnel whose primary role is traffic enforcement involving non-commercial vehicles and drivers. Both programs will educate officers on such topics as techniques for spotting unlawful driving behavior; stopping and approaching the commercial vehicle; driver license and vehicle classes and endorsements; identifying fraudulent driver’s licenses or commercial vehicle documents. A third FMCSA grant awarded to AAMVA will create, educate and promote awards to those entities who achieve specific goals of improving highway safety. The program includes the presentation of the awards at AAMVA’s Annual Conference and recognition of those awards in appropriate national publications. Visit the
AAMVA Law Enforcement Web site for more information.
AAMVA Staff Attends Novice Teen Driver Workshop
Tom Manuel from AAMVA's Programs Division attended the novice teen driver workshop in Washington, DC on May 15, 2008. This workshop is a part of the NHTSA project titled "An exploration of Vehicle based Monitoring of Novice Teenage Drivers." The purpose of the project is to identify technology alternatives that may be employed using in-vehicle based sensing and to identify associated research questions. The workshop was facilitated by the project’s contract researchers, Westat, Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI), and the University of Minnesota. The purpose of the workshop was to gain insight and recommendations from a broad spectrum of disciplines, experts and stakeholders. View Manuel's
trip report for more details.
Martha Irwin Distinguished Service Award for Highway Safety - Deadline Approaches
The deadline for submitting nominations for the 2008 Martha Irwin Distinguished Service Award for Highway Safety is
July 1. The AAMVA Martha Irwin Distinguished Service Award for Safety is presented annually to a member law enforcement jurisdiction, or an individual or organization whose primary function is directly associated with highway and traffic safety efforts. AAMVA member jurisdiction organizations and their employees, whose primary function is motor vehicle or highway safety, are eligible. Nominees will be recognized for actions and programs undertaken after Jan. 1, 1998. Interested jurisdictional members are encouraged to submit nominations to their chief motor vehicle or chief law enforcement administrator who will then submit one nominee per jurisdictional agency to AAMVA headquarters.
Download the nomination forms from the AAMVA website. For more information, contact Selden Fritschner, VP Law Enforcement, 703.908.5855 or e-mail
sfritschner@aamva.org.
Evaluate AAMVA's Web Site
We have changed the section on the homepage that featured buttons that linked to information based on audience type. These buttons are now sorted by subject matter (topics of interest to our members). We would like to know what you think about this new feature and other features on the Web site. Please take a few minutes to respond to our
Web Evaluation Survey. Your input is important to us and will help us improve the Web site.
2008 IRP Annual Meeting Registration Now Open!
Get a jump-start by
clicking here to register online for this fabulous IRP extravaganza Oct. 2-6 in Kansas City, Missouri! You can also access additional event details including hotel registration, a draft conference agenda, information on exhibiting and/or sponsoring this event and information on Kansas City attractions.
Register by Aug. 15, 2008 to qualify for the discounted early-bird registration rate! The deadline to register for this event is
Sept. 10, 2008.
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"The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it."
-- Thucydides