Enhance Uniformity of Traffic Laws and Countermeasures Among State Motor Vehicle Administrators Offices | 693JJ921R000002

Opportunity Information: Apply for 693JJ921R000002

The Department of Transportation, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), offered a discretionary Cooperative Agreement (Funding Opportunity Number 693JJ921R000002; CFDA 20.614) focused on improving roadway safety by making traffic laws and motor vehicle licensing practices more consistent across states. The overall aim is to reduce crashes, injuries, and fatalities by identifying and promoting countermeasures that work, encouraging more uniform laws and administrative practices, and helping state motor vehicle agencies and their law enforcement partners apply those practices in real-world settings. A central theme of the opportunity is fairness and equity: the work is intended to support traffic law and licensing approaches that are implemented in ways that are equitable for all people regardless of race, ethnicity, income, national origin, or educational level.

At its core, the agreement is designed to generate practical, evidence-based guidance for state motor vehicle administrators offices and related agencies. It emphasizes evaluating the effectiveness of traffic safety countermeasures, conducting research and assessments of highway and traffic safety systems, and studying how differences in state laws affect licensing agencies, motor vehicle administrators, and law enforcement. Rather than simply describing variation among states, the expected work is meant to translate findings into usable improvements, including model policies, recommended administrative practices, and tools that support adoption and implementation.

The recipient is expected to conduct a structured review of motor vehicle laws and licensing practice materials and then use that review to identify concrete opportunities for improvement. One major deliverable area is the development of best practices and potentially model or uniform traffic laws, regulations, and licensing procedures. This includes examining how existing state licensing laws and administrative practices differ, where those differences create safety risks or operational gaps, and where alignment could produce better safety outcomes or clearer expectations for drivers and enforcement agencies across jurisdictions.

Another major focus is strengthening data quality and data use across state motor vehicle administrations and law enforcement partners. The opportunity calls for identifying ways to improve how data is collected within agencies, how it can be shared across agencies, and what barriers prevent consistent, reliable data capture. In addition to recommending improvements, the recipient is expected to develop training efforts that build understanding of why data collection matters, how it supports safety strategy and evaluation, and how agencies can implement better data practices in day-to-day operations.

In terms of implementation, the agreement goes beyond research by calling for the development and support of countermeasures related to motor vehicle laws and licensing practices. That can include designing approaches that states can adopt or pilot, supporting states in implementation planning, and helping translate evidence into actions that agencies can realistically carry out. The opportunity also emphasizes scanning the environment for emerging highway safety and regulatory issues, meaning the recipient should monitor new trends, policy challenges, or operational concerns that may require updated guidance, new research questions, or rapid technical assistance to states.

Finally, the agreement explicitly includes public-facing and stakeholder-support components. The recipient is expected to develop and implement marketing and communications efforts, or provide technical assistance tools, that increase public awareness of traffic safety issues connected to motor vehicle laws and licensing practices. In practice, this could mean creating educational materials, outreach campaigns, guidance documents, or toolkits that help agencies communicate with the public and with partner organizations, and that help decision-makers understand why certain licensing or legal countermeasures matter for safety.

Administrative details indicate this was a single-award opportunity with an award ceiling of $648,109 and an expected number of awards of one. It was posted on June 3, 2021, with an original closing date of July 4, 2021. The funding instrument is a Cooperative Agreement, which typically means NHTSA anticipated substantial involvement in guiding or collaborating on the work (as opposed to a more hands-off grant). Eligibility is listed as "Others" with further clarification referenced in the full eligibility text, indicating it may have been open to certain nontraditional or specialized entities (for example, nonprofits, associations, research organizations, or other qualified groups) depending on the specific eligibility language in the full announcement.

Taken together, the grant opportunity is essentially about building a stronger, more uniform foundation for traffic safety through law and licensing policy alignment, better data practices, tested countermeasures, early identification of new issues, and communication and technical assistance that help states apply improvements consistently and equitably.

• The Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in the consumer protection sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Enhance Uniformity of Traffic Laws and Countermeasures Among State Motor Vehicle Administrators Offices" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 20.614.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jun 03, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jul 04, 2021. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $648,109.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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