Week 2 Homework
1. State the administrative agency which controls the regulation. Explain why this agency and your proposed regulation interests you (briefly). Will this proposed regulation affect you or the business in which you are working? If so, how? Submit a copy of the proposed regulation along with your responses to these five questions. The proposed regulation can be submitted as either a separate Word document (.doc) or Adobe file (.pdf). This means you will submit two attachments to the Week 2 Dropbox: (1) a Word doc with the questions and your answers and (2) a copy of the proposed regulation you used for this assignment. (10 points)
Federal Registration- Distracted Driving Grant Program
This will affect every person who drives and texts, which has become a big concern with DOT, highway patrol and the safety of others on the road.
2. Describe the proposal/change. (10 points) the Department of Transportation (DOT) announces the availability of funding authorized in the amount of $17.525 million in Federal fiscal year (FY) 2013 funds to provide grants to States for enacting and enforcing distracted driving laws.
3. Write the public comment which you would submit to this proposal. If the proposed regulation deadline has already passed, write the comment you would have submitted. Explain briefly what you wish to accomplish with your comment. (10 points)
My comment is that the distracted driving grant program is a good idea, although around $5 million of the federal grant money, will be going to such things as advertisement and awareness of texting and driving. I am sure there are other ways to get the word out there and not have to use all of the $5 million. They could have fund raisers for people that are against texting and driving. This new program is about the same lines as when California made it illegal to talk on the phone and drive.
4. Provide the "deadline" by which the public comment must be made. (If the date has already passed, please provide when the deadline was). (5 points)
Due Date is October 9th 2012
5. a. Once you have submitted your comment, what will you be legally entitled to do later in the promulgation process (if you should choose to do so)? (See the textbook's discussion of the Administrative Procedure Act.)
They have substantial evidence about the number of car related deaths and accidents due to distracted driving. This regulation and eventually law might be in effect, but will be hard for the police to actually maintain and stop people on the highway that are texting. I could see people that are driving in the city going no more than 35mph, and a cop would have a better chance at pulling someone over in the city than on the highway. The insurance agencies could place a small box that doesn't allow any text messages to be received. Although this will be unconstitutional, because this will be unconstitutional and not safe. Due to if there is a car accident you or the other driver won't be able to make any calls or texts to anyone or the police, in case of an emergency.
b. If the proposal passes, identify and explain the five legal theories you could use in an attempt to have the regulation declared invalid and overturned in court. 1. Arbitrary and Caprious- No reasonable analysis 2. Substantial Evidence 3. Unconstitutional 4. Violated the A.P.A 5. Ultra Vires- Acting outside scope of Authority
c. Which of these challenges would be the best way to challenge the regulation you selected for this assignment if you wanted to have the regulation overturned and why?
The challenges that would possibly work would be that they are unconstitutional, by not letting us use our phones to the full extent and taking away some of our free speech and privacy, by having the police and possibly insurance agencies spying and monitoring everyone on the road. Although the DOT seems to have a substantial amount of evidence of people not paying attention to the road and when people get behind the wheel, there is a new set of rules that apply. Also, it would be Ultra Vires, in the fact of creating and not allowing people to text while driving, which will go about the same guidelines as not allowed to talk and drive. Although it seems that it is not really all that enforced as texting and driving is, also it will be quite hard to catch someone texting and driving on the highway, until after an accident has occurred.

(I AM for the Distracted Driving Program and think people need to be more careful about how they drive.)

Answer all of these questions for #5 even if you are in favor of your proposed regulation. The response to question 5 should be a minimum of 2-3 paragraphs long. (15 points)