Federal Traffic Safety Funding

Although progress is being made in reducing traffic-related fatalities in the United States, more than 40,000 people die each year in traffic crashes and more than 2 million are injured. The annual economic burden of traffic crashes is approximately $230 billion. Federal funding for state highway safety programs (both behavioral and infrastructure) is determined through the passage of transportation reauthorization legislation. SAFETEA-LU authorizes new core programs and various incentive grants, providing flexibility to the states in tackling traffic safety issues using tools and resources that work best for each state.

SAFETEA-LU creates a new core Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) that will allow the states to target funding to priority highway safety needs, and authorizes nearly $5.1 billion for the HSIP for 2006-2009. About $880 million of the amount is reserved for the Railway-Highway Crossing program. The remaining funds will be distributed to the states through a formula using state lane miles, vehicle miles traveled and the number of fatalities in each state. SAFETEA-LU authorizes $90 million to be set aside for improvements on high-risk rural roads.

Under the HSIP, each state must develop and implement a highway safety plan and submit annual reports to the U.S. Secretary of Transportation. The reports must detail the hazardous road locations that are being targeted, progress made in implementing the highway safety improvements, and effects on traffic-related injuries and fatalities. Each state's highway safety plan is based on safety data and involves key stakeholders. The plan sets goals that address infrastructure and behavioral issues and is approved by the governor or the state agency responsible for traffic safety. States that do not have an approved highway safety plan by October 1, 2007, will be locked into the 2007 apportionment level, pending development of a plan.

Safe Routes to School-another new safety program incorporated into SAFETEA-LU-is geared toward enabling and encouraging primary and secondary school children to walk or bicycle to school safely. A state may use its money from this program to provide assistance to state, local and regional agencies, including nonprofit organizations and for both infrastructure-related projects and noninfrastructure-related activities. This money also includes funds for a full-time Safe Routes to School coordinator, and establishes a clearing-house and a national task force to provide technical assistance and to develop information and educational programs and new strategies. SAFETEA-LU authorizes a total of $558 million for this program from 2006-2009.

SAFETEA-LU also contains incentive programs that target occupant protection, impaired driving, motorcycle safety, and child safety seat and booster seat use. It authorizes $100 million for fiscal years 2006 through 2009 for the Occupant Protection Incentive Grant program, providing funds to states if they meet four of the following six eligibility criteria:

•  Safety belt use law.

•  Primary safety belt use law.

•  Minimum fine or penalty points.

•  Special traffic enforcement program.

•  Child passenger protection education program.

•  Child passenger protection law.

SAFETEA-LU also authorizes nearly $500 million for one-time only safety belt performance grants during fiscal years 2006 through 2009 to states that enact and enforce primary safety belt use laws within certain time periods or achieve 85 percent or higher safety belt use for two consecutive years without a primary safety belt use law. The statute also encourages states to enact booster seat laws through a new child safety and child booster seat incentive grant program. SAFETEA-LU authorizes $25 million for the booster seat incentive program for fiscal years 2006 through 2009.

SAFETEA-LU reauthorizes the impaired driving incentive grant program for nearly $515 million from fiscal years 2006 through 2009. To qualify for funds under this program, a state must have an alcohol-related fatality rate of 0.5 or less per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT) or satisfy three of the eight specific programs and activities in FY 2006, four in FY 2007 and five in FY 2008 and FY 2009.  The criteria are:

•  High-Visibility Impaired Driving Enforcement Program.

•  Prosecution and Adjudication Outreach Program.

•  BAC Testing Program.

•  High-Risk Drivers Program.

•  Alcohol Rehabilitation or Driving while Intoxicated Court Program.

•  Underage Drinking Prevention Program.

•  Administrative License Suspension or Revocation System.

•  Self-Sustaining Impaired Driving Prevention Program.

An additional grant is available to help the 10 states with the highest impaired driving-related fatalities as identified by data contained in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System. Fifteen percent of the $515 million available under the impaired driving incentive program is earmarked for this grant and at least half the grant funds are to be used for sobriety check points or saturation patrol programs.

Other impaired driving sanctions remain in force and were not changed by SAFETEA-LU. These include:

•  Repeat Offender.

•  Open Container.

•  .08 BAC.

•  Zero Tolerance.

•  National Minimum Drinking Age.

SAFETEA-LU authorizes a total of $25 million for a Motorcyclist Safety Grant program for fiscal years 2006 through 2009. To qualify for funds under this program, a state must satisfy one of six criteria in FY 2006 and two of six criteria in fiscal years 2007, 2008 and 2009.  The eligibility criteria are:

•  Motorcycle Rider Training Courses.

•  Motorcycle Awareness Program.

•  Reduction of fatalities and crashes involving motorcycles.

•  Impaired Driving Program.

•  Reduction of fatalities and accidents involving impaired motorcyclists.

•  Fees collected from motorcyclists for training and safety programs used for motorcycle training and safety programs.

The grant funds under this program can be used for a variety of activities, including making improvements to motorcycle safety training, recruiting and retaining motorcycle safety instructors, and creating public awareness campaigns.