National Highway Chokepoint Congestion Relief Act 
The National Highway Chokepoint Congestion Relief Act (
HR 6435) was introduced in the House on July 8, 2008. The Act was read and referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. View the
entire text of the legislation for more details.
UCR Board of Directors Meeting
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has announced the Unified Carrier Registration Plan (UCR) Board of Directors will meet on Aug. 7 from 12 to 3pm. The meeting will take place telephonically. Any interested person may call Avelino Gutierrez at (505) 827-4565 to receive the toll-free number and pass code needed to participate in these meetings. The Unified UCR Board of Directors will continue its work in developing and implementing the UCR Plan and Agreement and to that end, may consider matters properly before the Board.
Hearing Scheduled: Highway Traffic Safety Programs
The Highways and Transit Subcommittee of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will hold a hearing on the effectiveness of the highway traffic safety programs operated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, July 16 at 10am at 2167 Rayburn Building in Washington, DC. The hearing will be broadcast on
http://transportation.house.gov/hearings/hearing.aspx.
Grant: Effective Strategies for Enforcing State Booster Seat Belt Use Requirements
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has posted a grant for Effective Strategies for Enforcing State Booster Seat Belt Use Requirements. This proposed effort will enlist the involvement of law enforcement organizations in two to three communities that are committed to improving the safety of booster seat-aged/-sized child passengers through targeted enforcement activities for this special population, more than 300 of whom died in 2006. NHTSA will help ensure that the enforcement strategies tested by law enforcement organizations accurately reflect real-world conditions, have little or no cost implications for local police agencies, do not require extensive training or re-training of law enforcement personnel, and can be readily adopted into existing enforcement programs. The recommended enforcement strategies and considerations from ongoing booster seat enforcement research, particularly the effort being conducted with TransAnalytics, Inc., will be incorporated in this effort. Those strategies and potentially others will be tested and refined by local law enforcement agencies in two to three communities. Those recommended approaches will subsequently be made available to law enforcement agencies nationwide to guide their efforts to better protect this at-risk population at the community level. The current closing date for this grant is Aug. 8, 2008.
View details on Grants.gov.
Putting the Brakes on Human Smuggling Act
A bill titled "Putting the Brakes on Human Smuggling Act (
HR 6468) was introduced in House on July 10. The bill intends to disqualify any individual who engages in or is convicted of human smuggling from operating a commercial motor vehicle or holding a commercial driver's license and for other purposes. The bill has been referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. View the
text of the legislation for more details.
Hearing Scheduled: Medical Oversight of Commercial Drivers
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will hold a hearing on the progress that has been made by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in improving medical oversight of commercial drivers. The hearing is scheduled for Thursday, July 24, at 2pm at 2167 Rayburn Building in Washington, DC. The hearing will be broadcast online at
http://transportation.house.gov/hearings/hearing.aspx.
RSF Offers Technical Assistance for Road Safety Public Information & Education Campaign
Roadway Safety Foundation (RSF) is offering technical assistance (not direct funding) of $25K to $75K per community group/local government agency, etc. to carry out a Public Information and Education (PI&E) campaign about road safety. RSF’s technical support is for public information and education efforts to help build awareness and support for design, engineering and construction techniques that have been proven to help prevent crashes and minimize deaths and injuries on roadways such as wider lanes and shoulders; lane/pavement markings; other pavement improvements; crash barriers; and better signaling, signing and lighting, just to name a few examples. AAMVA encourages you consider applying for this opportunity established by SAFETEA-LU Section 1411 and administered by the Roadway Safety Foundation (RSF). Download an
introduction to the program and the
application. Feel free to distribute this information to anyone who may benefit. Further details are available from Cathy Gillen at (202) 857-1200 or the RSF Web site
www.roadwaysafety.org.
Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in State & Local Government Services
The Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division has published a correction to a proposed rule that was published Tuesday, June 17, 2008, at 73 FR 34466, implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act. The proposed rule would revise Department of Justice regulations on nondiscrimination on the basis of disability in state and local government services. The correction consists of the addition of two appendices that were inadvertently omitted. View the
June 30 Federal Register notice for more details. All comments must be received by Aug. 18, 2008.
In the Fast Lane: Secretary of Transportation Blogs About New Upgrades Five Star Safety Rating Program
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters discusses the upgrades to the five-star safety rating program. Under the improvements to the five-star safety rating program, vehicles beginning with model year 2010 will for the first time be given an overall safety rating that combines results from frontal, side and rollover tests. The upgraded system also will include new frontal crash tests, and a new side pole test to simulate wrapping a vehicle around a tree. Female crash dummies will be added to the tests, so women and larger children are represented, and new testing for leg injuries will be done. Also for the first time a new rating on emerging advanced technologies will be added so consumers will know whether specific crash avoidance technologies, namely electronic stability control, lane departure warning systems and forward collision warning systems, are optional or standard features on new vehicles. Check out the "
In the Fast Lane" blog for more.
Reappointment of Representatives to the UCR Agreement Board of Directors
In the June 30
Federal Register, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced the reappointment of four Directors who serve on the Board of Directors that governs the Unified Carrier Registration (UCR) Agreement as the representatives from each of the four FMCSA service areas. The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) created the UCR Agreement. Under the UCR Agreement, for-hire and private motor carriers, brokers, freight forwarders, and leasing companies provide registration and financial responsibility information and pay certain fees. The UCR Agreement replaced the Single State Registration System (SSRS), which was repealed Jan. 1, 2007. The Directors’ appointments to the Board are effective beginning on June 1, 2008. Their terms will expire May 31, 2011. View the
Federal Register notice for more details.
New Car Assessment Program
On Jan. 25, 2007, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) published a notice announcing a public hearing and requesting comments on an agency report titled, "The New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) Suggested Approaches for Future Program Enhancements." View the
July 11 Federal Register notice for a summary of the comments received and the agency’s decision on how it will improve the NCAP ratings program. The changes to the New Car Assessment Program are effective for the 2010 model year.
Medical Certification Requirements as Part of CDL; Availability of Supplemental Document
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) published a notice in the
June 27 Federal Register that advises the public that FMCSA is placing in the public docket an additional document that the Agency may rely on in support of a final rule to integrate information regarding the medical certification status of a driver into the commercial driver’s license (CDL) process. FMCSA published a
notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) on this matter on Nov. 16, 2006. Because the involved state cost analysis document was completed after publication of the NPRM and subsequent public comment period, the Agency now dockets and invites comment. Comments on the document are due by July 28, 2008. View the
June 27 Federal Register notice for more details.
Commercial Vehicle Safety Award Nomination Deadline Extended
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has announced the awarding of a grant aimed at improving highway safety involving commercial vehicles. The grant, awarded to AAMVA, focuses on reducing fatalities in work zones, increasing enforcement in rural areas, and recognizing individuals or agencies that have succeeded in improving highway safety in commercial vehicles. The grant creates, educates and promotes awards to those entities who achieve specific goals of improving highway safety. The program includes the presentation of the awards at AAMVA’s Annual International Conference and recognition of those awards in appropriate national publications. Visit the
AAMVA Law Enforcement Web site for more information.
The deadline for nominations has been extended through Aug. 4, 2008. Download a copy of the
nomination form and criteria here.
AAMVA Code Dictionary Release 3.0.0 Overview Presentation on AAMVA Web Site
On July 9 and 10, AAMVA conducted two, one-hour overview sessions on details of the two new withdrawal codes and the timelines for annual releases of the AAMVA Code Dictionary. The presentation can be found on the AAMVA Web site at
http://www.aamva.org/TechServices/AppServ/CDLIS/Documentation.htm. Address any questions to Greg Sensiba
via e-mail or at (703) 908-2822, or the chair of the AAMVA Code Dictionary Working Group, Steve Monson
via e-mail or at (303) 205-5829.
Advanced CDLIS Training by AAMVA University
Last year, hundreds of AAMVA jurisdiction members participated in the series of basic courses in Commercial Driver's License Information System (CDLIS), Problem Driver Pointer System (PDPS), and Unified Network Interface (UNI). In response to the requests for more advanced training AAMVA University (AAMVA U) is offering an advanced series of CDLIS courses with more complex scenarios and detail building on the basic courses. This week AAMVA U will present
Advanced ACD and
Improving Data Quality. Advanced ACD will focus on the proper application of ACD codes involving major offenses, multiple convictions, out-of-service orders, and admin-per-se. Several complex scenarios will be presented to ensure you understand the proper assessment of penalties and reinstatement eligibility.
Improving Data Quality will focus on data validations and common data errors in the master pointer record/driver history record and how to resolve those errors. Here is your opportunity to get a better grasp of complex scenarios in working with CDLIS and to get your questions answered! Additional advanced courses will follow next week and beyond. All courses are held on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2 to 4pm EDT, free for jurisdiction personnel, and delivered via the Web with live instructors and subject matter experts. To attend, register on the training portal at
http://aamva.webroom.com and self-enroll in any of the courses. If you have questions or problems, e-mail
trainer@aamva.org.
2008 IRP Annual Meeting: Less than One Month Remaining for Early Bird Rate!
The early bird deadline to register for this event is Aug. 15. Register online today to secure the discounted rate of $230 USD for IRP, Inc. Members –
and save $50 USD! Be sure to take advantage of this fantastic opportunity to network and connect with your colleagues in other jurisdictions and industry.
CIO Outreach Conference Call July 21
The next AAMVA CIO Outreach conference call is scheduled for Monday, July 21, 2008, from 4 to 5pm EDT. These meetings address IT issues that are relevant to the CIOs of the DMVs (in both the United States and Canada) and concerns that are relevant to their day-to-day jobs. A copy of the
draft agendas and minutes from previous meetings can be found in the
IT Discipline area of AAMVA's Web site. The conference call telephone number and conference ID can be found at the top of the agenda. Send requests for future agenda topics to
Greg Sensiba via e-mail or at (703) 908-2822.
Michigan Begins NMVTIS Development
Michigan has started toward development for full implementation of the
National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS). Michigan represents 3 percent of total vehicles in the U.S. For more information about how to participate in NMVTIS, contact
Marney Michalowski, NMVTIS Program Manager.
West Virginia in Production with DIAEP
AAMVA is pleased to announce that West Virginia has successfully completed the
Digital Image Access and Exchange Program (DIAEP) structured testing and migrated the DIAEP functionality into production on July 12, 2008. West Virginia is now actively exchanging driver's license photos in a production environment with these other jurisdictions: Arizona, the District of Columbia, Idaho, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, and Virginia. Funding for the DIAEP is provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and will be available through December 2008. For information on the DIAEP please contact AAMVA's Paul Blanchard at (703) 908-5780 /
pblanchard@aamva.org. Congratulations to West Virginia for a job well done!
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