Executive Communications April 2, 1969 Honorable Harley O. Staggers and Foreign Commerce House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515 Dear Mr. Chairman: The Administration has this date forwarded for the consideration of the Congress the enclosed proposed bill: "To authorize appropriations for the fiscal years 1970 and 1971 for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966, and to amend the definition of 'motor vehicle equipment' in the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966." As its title indicates, this proposal contains our recommendations respecting the appropriate authorization levels to implement this Act for the next two fiscal years. We think these funding proposals represent the appropriate balance in present fiscal circumstances between the needs of this important program and those of other significant Government operations. We also recommended an amendment to the basic Act itself designed to close an inadvertent gap in its coverage. Also enclosed for your information is a copy of our letter to the Speaker explaining in greater detail our basis for making these proposals. We appreciate your continued interest in motor vehicle safety and we regret that circumstances did not permit our sending these proposals to you at an earlier date. Sincerely, /s/ John A. Volpe The Department of Transportation submits herewith as a part of its legislative program for the 91st Congress, 1st Session, a draft of a proposed bill: 1. "To authorize appropriations for the fiscal The National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 contained initial authorizations to implement the motor vehicle safety standard provisions in Title I of the Act as follows: $11,000,000 for fiscal year 1967, $17,000,000 for fiscal year 1968, and $23,000,000 for the fiscal year 1969. The Act also authorized funds to carry out the tire safety provisions of Title I and Title II in the amount of $2,900,000 for fiscal year 1967, $1,450,000 for fiscal year 1968, and $1,450,000 for fiscal year 1969. The proposed bill would authorize appropriations from the general funds in the Treasury to continue the implementation of the Act. Section 2 would authorize the appropriation of $23,000,000 and $35,000,000 for fiscal years 1970 and 1971, respectively, for this purpose. These authorizations will be used to seek appropriations for the operating expenses of the National Highway Safety Bureau of the Fed eral Highway Administration in carrying out the provisisons of Titles I, II, and IV of the 1966 Act. Title I relates to motor vehicle safety standards, including necessary safety research and development; Title II relates to tire safety; and Title IV relates to the National Driver Register. The authorizations provided in the 1966 Act established a pattern of modest growth during the first three years as the operation of the traffic and motor vehicle safety program evolved. The authorizations requested for fiscal years 1970 and 1971 follow the same general pattern of modest increases. These sums are urgently needed to enable the National Highway Safety Bureau to continue its program under the Act. Existing authorizations for appropriations expire on June 30, 1969. Enactment of section 2 of this bill will, in our view, assure steady and continued improvement in traffic and motor vehicle safety. Failure to do so will mean the end of this effort as a function of the Department of Transportation after June 30, 1969. The traffic and motor vehicle safety program, though still in the early stages of development, offers encouragement that the toll of human life and injuries resulting from traffic accidents can be reduced. The new energy absorbing steering assemblies now required by Federal standards on all new cars, for example, appear to have reduced fatalities in certain crashes by as much as 70 percent. It has been established that if all cars had such devices, as many as 12,000 lives per year might be saved. Other safety standards under consideration relating to crash prevention properties (braking and steering are examples), crash survivability properties (relative ease of entry into wrecks to remove occupants, for example) offer promise of substantially reducing the carnage and maiming caused by traffic accidents. The authorization in section 2 of the bill also includes funds for the tire safety program (Title II). The major effort in this program is devoted to the development of a uniform quality grading system for motor vehicle tires. Under this system, tires will be graded based on performance with respect to high speed capability, endurance, strength, traction, and tread wear. The initial standard to be issued in fiscal year 1969 will cover passenger vehicles only. During fiscal years 1969 and 1970, it is planned to move our efforts to truck and bus tires and to regrooved and retreaded tires. The National Driver Register (Title IV) is now being converted to a disc file operation which will enable optional use of the current processing system. State contributions of records to the Register's master file are increasing in volume, and the States are sending an increasing volume of inquiries to the Register. Continued funding is required to convert information submitted by certain States into a form suitable for automatic data processing. 2. Section 3 of the bill authorizes the appropriation of $10,000,000 out of the general funds of the Treasury to remain available until expended to be used for planning and design of contemplated highway safety research and test facilities, including engineering studies and site surveys. The sum requested is in accordance with the recommendations in the report submitted to Congress pursuant to Title III of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966, section 302 (80 Stat. 729). The two volume report, entitled "Requirements for Motor Vehicles and Highway Research Test Facilities", submitted on October 7, 1968, outlines a master plan for providing the facilities needed to bring to bear the full potential of modern science and technology on the national goal of reducing deaths and injuries on the Nation's highways. The primary objective of the master plan is to provide highway safety research and testing facilities by complementing existing facilities, either by expanding installations at their present sites or, when no alternative is available by construction at new locations. The planning will consider the needs of the other agencies within the Department and, through cooperative arrangements with them, will provide for such needs where those needs can be accommodated consistently with the primary purposes of the highway safety research and testing facilities. The plan depicted in the report to Congress was based on engineering studies and a survey of existing facilities to determine the minimum requirements to carry out the provisions of the highway safety legislation. Two major new safety facilities, a vehicle and highway safety proving ground with certain supporting laboratories and a driving simulation laboratory, will be required in addition to modifications of existing facilities where it is economically feasible to do so and where the facility once modified can become an effective element of the overall required comple |