Funds Supporting The Buckle Up
America Campaign
The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century
(TEA-21) (Public Law 105-178) was signed into law on June 9, 1998.
In addition to providing funding for improving America’s roadways,
bridges, and transit systems, this comprehensive legislation provides
funding for increasing safety belt and child safety seat use.
SECTION 402: Section 402 of TEA-21 provides funds to States and communities
to reduce traffic crashes and resulting deaths, injuries, and property
damage. A State may use these grant funds only for highway safety purposes;
at least 40 percent of these funds must be used to address local traffic
safety problems, including restraint use.
A State is eligible for Section 402 grants by submitting a Performance
Plan, which establishes goals and performance measures to improve highway
safety in the State, and a Highway Safety Plan, which describes activities
to achieve those goals. Section 402 grants are calculated by using the
following formula:
- Seventy-five percent of the grant amount is
based on the ratio of the State’s population in the latest
Federal census to the total population in all States.
- Twenty-five
percent of the grant amount is based on the ratio of the public
road miles in the State to the total public road miles in all States.
SECTION
403: Section 403 under 23 U.S.C. funds demonstration grants (in
addition to other programs) to develop new approaches and strategies
to reduce motor-vehicle-related deaths and injuries (see Table 5).
Table 5 - TEA-21 Highway Safety Funding,
FY 2002
2,585,517 |
1,346,400 |
752,147 |
129,120 |
363,821 |
5,177,005 |
760,000 |
6,000 |
365,250 |
37,954 |
104,725 |
1,273,929 |
2,490,055 |
402,300 |
534,178 |
124,353 |
0 |
3,550,886 |
1,930,364 |
0 |
488,522 |
96,402 |
0 |
2,515,288 |
14,634,213 |
14,855,900 |
3,918,588 |
730,829 |
2,017,390 |
36,156,920 |
2,447,411 |
0 |
566,137 |
122,223 |
0 |
3,135,771 |
1,507,648 |
616,200 |
410,906 |
75,292 |
224,982 |
2,835,028 |
760,000 |
42,500 |
365,250 |
37,954 |
0 |
1,205,704 |
760,000 |
182,000 |
365,250 |
37,954 |
104,723 |
1,449,927 |
7,248,495 |
1,255,600 |
2,832,544 |
361,988 |
928,064 |
12,626,691 |
4,218,235 |
344,200 |
986,175 |
210,658 |
534,203 |
6,293,471 |
760,000 |
257,800 |
365,250 |
37,954 |
104,723 |
1,525,727 |
927,137 |
24,200 |
365,250 |
46,301 |
0 |
1,362,888 |
6,071,318 |
2,023,700 |
1,713,403 |
303,200 |
867,072 |
10,978,693 |
3,210,260 |
58,300 |
1,550,509 |
160,320 |
454,036 |
5,433,425 |
2,173,149 |
571,600 |
570,703 |
108,527 |
312,266 |
3,736,245 |
2,276,174 |
0 |
588,966 |
113,672 |
0 |
2,978,812 |
2,290,596 |
174,500 |
584,400 |
114,392 |
316,317 |
3,480,205 |
2,286,059 |
238,400 |
611,794 |
114,165 |
332,124 |
3,582,542 |
760,000 |
0 |
0 |
37,954 |
104,723 |
902,677 |
2,327,082 |
2,754,400 |
602,662 |
116,214 |
327,080 |
6,127,438 |
2,778,109 |
0 |
748,762 |
138,738 |
403,116 |
4,068,725 |
4,961,927 |
5,205,900 |
1,514,900 |
247,798 |
712,627 |
12,643,152 |
3,116,900 |
113,600 |
794,419 |
155,657 |
0 |
4,180,576 |
1,774,969 |
0 |
456,562 |
88,642 |
0 |
2,320,173 |
3,293,322 |
1,320,700 |
858,337 |
164,468 |
0 |
5,636,827 |
988,214 |
89,400 |
365,250 |
49,351 |
137,405 |
1,629,620 |
1,514,189 |
205,800 |
392,644 |
75,618 |
214,263 |
2,402,514 |
1,120,667 |
440,800 |
630,250 |
55,966 |
0 |
2,247,683 |
760,000 |
0 |
365,250 |
37,954 |
0 |
1,163,204 |
3,582,701 |
4,237,200 |
940,519 |
178,919 |
512,985 |
9,452,324 |
1,253,867 |
977,900 |
365,250 |
62,618 |
170,119 |
2,829,754 |
8,369,932 |
2,929,800 |
2,259,984 |
417,993 |
1,231,333 |
15,209,042 |
4,027,888 |
3,198,600 |
967,912 |
201,152 |
524,760 |
8,920,312 |
1,044,422 |
0 |
365,250 |
52,158 |
0 |
1,461,830 |
5,462,510 |
256,100 |
1,629,262 |
272,797 |
0 |
7,620,669 |
2,368,944 |
792,300 |
611,794 |
118,305 |
0 |
3,891,343 |
1,937,206 |
1,042,500 |
474,825 |
96,744 |
279,386 |
3,830,661 |
5,845,703 |
371,400 |
1,597,969 |
291,933 |
0 |
8,107,005 |
760,000 |
0 |
365,250 |
37,954 |
104,723 |
1,267,927 |
2,147,215 |
1,028,500 |
538,744 |
107,231 |
0 |
3,821,690 |
1,059,101 |
0 |
365,250 |
0 |
0 |
1,424,351 |
3,002,179 |
0 |
744,197 |
149,928 |
0 |
3,896,304 |
10,825,339 |
4,112,100 |
3,870,709 |
540,615 |
1,406,378 |
20,755,141 |
1,247,749 |
590,300 |
365,250 |
62,312 |
156,740 |
2,422,351 |
760,000 |
0 |
565,250 |
37,954 |
104,723 |
1,467,927 |
3,382,498 |
0 |
853,772 |
168,921 |
462,636 |
4,867,827 |
3,015,077 |
2,208,900 |
980,500 |
150,572 |
396,346 |
6,751,395 |
1,041,505 |
0 |
615,250 |
52,013 |
0 |
1,708,768 |
3,105,680 |
60,400 |
803,550 |
155,097 |
0 |
4,124,727 |
760,000 |
133,900 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
893,900 |
1,608,474 |
605,800 |
424,603 |
80,327 |
231,487 |
2,950,691 |
1,140,000 |
0 |
0 |
56,931 |
0 |
1,196,931 |
380,000 |
0 |
0 |
18,977 |
0 |
398,977 |
380,000 |
0 |
0 |
18,977 |
0 |
398,977 |
380,000 |
0 |
0 |
18,977 |
52,362 |
451,339 |
380,000 |
0 |
0 |
18,977 |
52,362 |
451,339 |
152,000,000 |
55,075,900 |
44,369,348 |
7,500,000 |
14,250,000 |
273,195,248 |
| |
50 States, DC, PR, BIA, Four Territories |
36 States + DC, PR |
48 States,
DC, PR |
48 States,
DC, PR, BIA, Four Territories |
29 States,
DC, PR, Two Territories |
|
Under Section 403 during FY 2002, NHTSA provided
continued funding for a variety of ongoing, previously-awarded grant
programs to reach high-risk groups who continue to ride unbuckled,
including young drivers, rural residents, sport utility vehicle (SUV)
drivers, pickup truck drivers, and ethnically diverse populations.
Section 403 funds were also used to target occupant protection messages
and activities to teens, rural populations, diverse populations,
children, parents, and caregivers.
SECTION 405: Section 405 of TEA-21 created a new
incentive grant program to increase the use of safety belts and child
safety seats by encouraging States to adopt more effective laws,
stronger penalties, and highly visible enforcement and education
programs. To qualify for a Section 405 occupant protection incentive
grant, a State must demonstrate that it has implemented at least
four of the following six criteria:
- A safety belt law that applies to:
a. All front-seat
passengers in all passenger
motor vehicles (including cars, pickups, vans, minivans, and SUVs)
in FYs 1999 and 2000.
b. All passengers in all passenger
motor vehicles beginning in FY 2001.A standard
safety belt law, which allows police to stop vehicles and issue citations
based solely on noncompliance with the State’s
safety
belt use law.
- A standard safety belt law, which allows police
to stop vehicles and issue citations based solely on noncompliance
with the State’s safety belt use law.
- A minimum
fine of
$25 or
one or
more penalty
points
on the
driver’s
license
of an individual for a violation of the State’s
safety
belt
use and child
passenger
protection
laws.
- A
Selective
Traffic
Enforcement
Program (sTEP) that covers at least
70 percent of the State’s population
and
combines intensified enforcement, public education, and publicity
efforts to increase safety belt and child
safety seat use.
- A
comprehensive
statewide
child
passenger protection education
program that includes:
a. Public information efforts about seating children correctly
in airbag-equipped vehicles, the
importance of restraint use, and instruction on how to reduce the improper
use of child restraint systems. These efforts must reach at least 70
percent of the State’s population.
b. Child passenger safety training and retraining for key
personnel.
c. Child safety seat clinics covering at least 70 percent
of the State’s
target
population.
- A child
restraint
law that
covers
all children
younger
than 16
years of
age in
all seating
positions
in all passenger motor vehicles.
SECTION 157: Section 157 of TEA-21
created a program to encourage States to increase their safety belt
use rates in recognition that increased safety belt use decreases crash
injuries and the financial burden these preventable injuries place
on Federal programs. Funds are allocated to eligible States based on
estimated savings in medical costs to the Federal Government due to
improved safety belt use. A State is eligible for allocated funds in
a fiscal year if either of the following conditions is met:
- Its safety
belt use rate for the past two calendar years exceeds the national
average safety belt use rate (national average).
- Its safety belt
use rate in the previous calendar year exceeds the highest safety
belt use rate the State has achieved for any earlier calendar year
beginning in 1996 (its base rate).
A State may not receive allocations
under both conditions in a single year. A State may receive an
allocation under the base condition only if it fails to meet the
national average condition. States must submit safety belt survey
information for each calendar year covered by the program
to NHTSA for evaluation. The survey information must measure
safety belt use rates according to uniform criteria established
by NHTSA to ensure accurate and representative measurements.
(The national average safety belt use rate will be calculated
by NHTSA each year.)
The Act also provides that Section 157 funds not allocated in incentive
grants in a fiscal year be allocated to the States to carry out
innovative projects to promote increased safety belt use rates.
NHTSA established criteria for the selection of State plans to
receive allocations, ensuring, to the maximum extent practicable,
demographic and geographic diversity and a diversity of safety
belt use rates among the States selected for allocations. Subject
to the availability of funds, TEA-21 provides that the minimum
grant amount for each State plan is $100,000.
SECTION 2003(b): Section 2003(b) of TEA-21 authorizes funds to
implement a new child passenger protection program that is designed
to prevent deaths and injuries to children, educate the public
concerning the proper installation of child restraints, and train
child passenger safety personnel concerning child restraint use.
A State may use these grant funds only to carry out child passenger
protection education and training programs.
TEA-21 funding provided to States and Territories during FY 2002
is presented in Table 5.
Congress Directs Funding of Community Grants to Increase Safety Belt
Use
In FY 2002, Congress directed NHTSA to allocate funds for a second
year for the implementation of innovative community demonstration
programs to reach high-risk groups, such as youth, ages 15 to 24,
males, pickup truck drivers, rural populations, minorities, and
drivers who speed and/or drink while driving.
To be considered for a grant award, a community had to demonstrate
that it had a significant high-risk population and stipulate that
it was willing to conduct high-visibility enforcement programs
to increase safety belt use. NHTSA awarded grants of up to $50,000
to municipal, county, and other local government entities in September
2002 for programs to be developed and implemented during the 12
months following the award. Communities receiving grants and grant
amounts are shown in Table 6.
Table 6 — FY 2000 Section 403 Occupant
Protection Budget
| Category |
Expenditure |
| Program Development and Demonstration Grants |
$6,315,165 |
| Public Information and Education |
$4,094,530 |
| Child Passenger Safety |
$2,543,305 |
| Total |
$12,953,000* |
Table 7 — FY
2000 Section 403 Occupant Protection Budget
Site Location by
NHTSA Region |
Award Amounts |
Site Location by NHTSA Region |
Award Amounts |
Region 1
Rutland, VT |
$50,000
|
Region 6
Lake Charles, LA |
$50,000
|
Region 2
Atlantic, NJ |
$50,000
|
Region 7
Overland Park, KS |
$50,000
|
Region 3
Allentown, PA |
$50,000
|
Region 8
Pueblo, CO
Greeley, CO
Minot, ND
Aberdeen, SD |
$49,666
$25,000
(continuation)
$49,932
$50,000
|
Region 4
Albany, GA |
$50,000
|
Region 9
Wailuki, HI
Hilo, HI |
$50,000
$50,000
|
Region 5
Chicago Heights, IL Bellwood, IL
Moorhead, MN |
$50,000
$50,000
$50,000
|
Region 10
Twin Falls, ID |
$50,000
|
|