134
Opinion of the Court
port, the States feared that diligent efforts to identify roads eligible for aid under the Program would increase the risk of liability for accidents that took place at hazardous locations before improvements could be made. Ibid. In 1983, concerned that the States' reluctance to be forthcoming and thorough in their data collection efforts undermined the Program's effectiveness, the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) recommended the adoption of legislation prohibiting the disclosure of information compiled in connection with the Program. See Brief for United States as Amicus Curiae in Alabama Highway Dept. v. Boone, O. T. 1991, No. 90-1412, p. 10, cert. denied, 502 U. S. 937 (1991).
To address the concerns expressed by the States and the DOT, in 1987, Congress adopted 23 U. S. C. § 409, which provided:
"Notwithstanding any other provision of law, reports, surveys, schedules, lists, or data compiled 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 152 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 admitted into evidence in Federal or State court 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." Surface Transportation and Uniform Relocation Assistance Act of 1987, § 132, 101 Stat. 170.
The proper scope of § 409 became the subject of some dispute among the lower courts. Some state courts, for example, concluded that § 409 addressed only the admissibility of relevant documents at trial and did not apply to pretrial dis-
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