23 U.S.C. § 409
Section 409 · Discovery and admission as evidence of certain reports and surveys
Amended 4 times on record
Applied in 150 court decisions — leading case Pierce County v. Guillen (2003)
Most recently applied in Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Tranportation Workers v. FRA (August 2021)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 23 U.S.C. § 130 · 23 U.S.C. § 152 · 23 U.S.C. § 144
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, reports, surveys, schedules, lists, or data compiled or collected for the purpose of identifying, evaluating, or planning the safety enhancement of potential accident sites, hazardous roadway conditions, or railway-highway crossings, pursuant to sections 130, 144, and 148 of this title or for the purpose of developing any highway safety construction improvement project which may be implemented utilizing Federal-aid highway funds shall not be subject to discovery or admitted into evidence in a Federal or State court proceeding or considered for other purposes in any action for damages arising from any occurrence at a location mentioned or addressed in such reports, surveys, schedules, lists, or data.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
2005—Pub. L. 109–59 substituted “148” for “152”.
1995—Pub. L. 104–59 inserted “or collected” after “data compiled”.
1991—Pub. L. 102–240 substituted “Discovery and admission” for “Admission” in section catchline and “subject to discovery or admitted into evidence in a Federal or State court proceeding” for “admitted into evidence in Federal or State court” in text.
Effective Date of 1991 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 102–240 effective Dec. 18, 1991, and applicable to funds authorized to be appropriated or made available after Sept. 30, 1991, and, with certain exceptions, not applicable to funds appropriated or made available on or before Sept. 30, 1991, see section 1100 of Pub. L. 102–240, set out as a note under section 104 of this title.