Safer Roads Everywhere Act

Safer Roads Everywhere Act - Amends Federal highway law to authorize the Secretary of Transportation, in exercising his or her authority to increase highway safety, to improve through specified traffic safety-related activities worldwide traffic safety and reduce the burden of deaths and injuries from traffic accidents.

[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1226 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1226

 To authorize the Secretary of Transportation to conduct activities to 
       improve worldwide traffic safety, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 12, 2003

Mr. Bereuter (for himself and Mr. Van Hollen) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and 
                             Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To authorize the Secretary of Transportation to conduct activities to 
       improve worldwide traffic safety, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Safer Roads Everywhere Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) In 2000, according to the World Health Organization, 
        road traffic injuries were among the top 3 causes of death and 
        disability burden worldwide for people between 5 and 44 years 
        old.
            (2) In 2000, road traffic injuries were the leading injury-
        related cause of death among youths worldwide and among the top 
        10 causes of death and disability for all ages combined.
            (3) In 2000, road traffic injuries caused 1,259,838 deaths 
        worldwide and resulted in a loss of 41,234,097 life-years to 
        disability.
            (4) Traffic safety will be a focus of a major international 
        health campaign in 2004.
            (5) The Department of State reports that road traffic 
        accidents are a leading cause of death and injury of United 
        States citizens when traveling or living abroad.
            (6) Through international cooperative activities the United 
        States can gain knowledge regarding better traffic safety 
        practices and programs worldwide and use that knowledge to 
        improve traffic safety in the United States.
            (7) It is estimated that annual costs attributable to road 
        crashes are $500,000,000,000 globally and $65,000,000,000 in 
        developing and transitional countries.

SEC. 3. ACTIVITIES TO PROMOTE WORLDWIDE TRAFFIC SAFETY.

    Section 401 of title 23, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(a) In General.--'' before ``The 
        Secretary''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(b) Worldwide Traffic Safety.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary may conduct activities to 
        improve worldwide traffic safety and reduce the burden of 
        deaths and injuries from traffic accidents.
            ``(2) Activities.--Activities conducted under this 
        subsection may include the following:
                    ``(A) Activities to promote and support 
                international cooperative programs for conducting 
                research, development, demonstration projects, 
                training, governmental twinning arrangements, and other 
                forms of technology transfer and exchange, including 
                development of international plans of action, safety 
                conferences, seminars, and expositions, and 
                partnerships between non-governmental organizations in 
                the United States and civil society in other countries 
                to enhance international traffic safety and to reduce 
                traffic-related injuries and deaths.
                    ``(B) Technical assistance to international 
                organizations and other countries relating to training 
                and development of strategies, plans of action, 
                standards, regulations, or practices to improve traffic 
                safety, raise awareness of the socioeconomic and public 
                health benefits of traffic safety measures, and reduce 
                traffic injuries and deaths.
            ``(3) Consultation.--As appropriate, the Secretary shall 
        carry out activities under this subsection in consultation with 
        the Secretaries of State and Commerce.
            ``(4) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized 
        to be appropriated to the Administrator of the National Highway 
        Traffic Safety Administration to carry out this subsection 
        $1,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2004 through 2009. Such 
        sums shall remain available until expended.''.
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