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Take Action to Support Mariah's Law
In five minutes or less, you can take action to let your Senators know that you support S. 1449, Mariah's Law. (See below for a reminder on Mariah's Law, which was introduced in August and contains many of the provisions of the STANDUP Act.)
Just take these three steps ...
1 ... Go to www.senate.gov and choose your state from the drop-down menu in the upper right corner
2 ... Click the links to go to your Senators' webpages
3 ... Use the "Contact" link to send an email supporting S. 1449, Mariah's Law. (If you'd prefer to call, look for the D.C. phone number.) |
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Congress Returns from August Recess; Transportation Legislation Pending
Members of Congress returned to Washington from the August recess this week. Transportation will be one of the many issues competing for legislators' attention over the coming weeks.
As you may recall, the STANDUP Act took a huge step forward in early August when many of its provisions were included in major transportation legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate.
Legislation to improve the safety of vehicles, advance traffic safety laws in states and enhance consumer information has been introduced by the Democratic leaders of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. Senators Mark Pryor (D-AR), John D. Rockefeller (D-WV) and others are sponsoring S. 1449, the Motor Vehicle and Highway Safety Improvement Act of 2011 (MVHSIA). The bill funds safety programs and activities of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the federal agency of the U.S. Department of Transportation responsible for auto and traffic safety.
The new safety provisions included S. 1449, also called "Mariah's Law " for an Arkansas teen killed in a crash involving texting, address teen driver licensing, improved motor vehicle safety standards, distracted and impaired driving, child passenger safety, and safety defect and consumer information reforms
Major provisions of teen driving legislation, S.528, the Safe Teen And Novice Driver Uniform Protection (STANDUP) Act, introduced by Senator Gillibrand and co-sponsored by Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), are in the MVHSIA. MVHSIA includes a $22 million grant program to encourage state adoption of teen driving laws that phase in driving privileges as a teen becomes more experienced behind the wheel. States that qualify for funds would need to have laws that at a minimum begin the intermediate GDL stage at age 16 and include restrictions on the number of teen passengers allowed with a novice driver, a ban on cell phone use and nighttime driving limits until age 18.
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