[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1438 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1438

   To encourage States to enact and enforce laws ensuring that motor 
vehicles yield the right-of-way to pedestrians, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

               August 6 (legislative day, June 30), 1993

  Mr. Stevens introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To encourage States to enact and enforce laws ensuring that motor 
vehicles yield the right-of-way to pedestrians, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Safe Transit of Pedestrians Act of 
1993''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1) approximately 7,000 pedestrians are killed, and 100,000 
        pedestrians are injured, annually in the United States by motor 
        vehicles;
            (2) accidents involving pedestrians cost the economy of the 
        United States more than $10,000,000,000 per year because of 
        injuries, vehicle damage, insurance costs, and lost 
        productivity;
            (3) poor children, minority children, the elderly, and 
        people with disabilities are subject to the greatest degree of 
        risk of being involved in a pedestrian accident; and
            (4) even in States where motor vehicles must yield the 
        right-of-way to pedestrians, pedestrian deaths and injuries 
        continue because pedestrian right-of-way laws are not 
        effectively enforced.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to stop the large number of pedestrian deaths and 
        injuries caused by motor vehicles;
            (2) to save billions of dollars attributable to damage 
        caused by pedestrian accidents each year; and
            (3) to ensure that motor vehicle operators exercise due 
        care when driving near pedestrians.

SEC. 3. SPEED LIMITS.

    Section 154 of title 23, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by striking ``The Secretary'' and 
        inserting the following: ``Subject to subsection (j), the 
        Secretary''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(j) Adjustment of Speed Limits.--Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, after September 30, 1995, if a State does not have in 
effect, and is not enforcing to the maximum extent practicable, a State 
law that ensures that the driver of a motor vehicle yields the right-
of-way to, and stops for, a pedestrian who is legally in the roadway 
and is exercising due care--
            ``(1) paragraph (1) of subsection (a) shall be applied with 
        respect to the State by substituting `50' for `fifty-five'; and
            ``(2) paragraphs (2) and (3) of subsection (a) shall be 
        applied with respect to the State by substituting `50' for 
        `65'.''.

SEC. 4. REGULATIONS.

    Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act the 
Secretary of Transportation shall, after providing public notice and 
opportunity for comment, issue regulations to carry out this Act and 
the amendments made by this Act.

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