[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1990 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1990

 To direct the Secretary of Transportation to take certain actions to 
improve the safety of persons present at roadside emergency scenes, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 27, 1999

 Mr. Hall of Ohio (for himself, and Mr. Wolf) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and 
                             Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To direct the Secretary of Transportation to take certain actions to 
improve the safety of persons present at roadside emergency scenes, 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 ``Roadside Emergency Safety Act of 
1999''.

SEC. 2. STUDY ON ROADSIDE EMERGENCY SAFETY.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Transportation shall conduct a 
study to evaluate means of improving the safety of persons present at 
roadside emergency scenes, including motor vehicle accident scenes.
    (b) Scope.--The study conducted by the Secretary under subsection 
(a) shall include--
            (1) an evaluation the effectiveness of State laws designed 
        to improve the safety of persons present at roadside emergency 
        scenes;
            (2) an evaluation the feasibility of requiring drivers 
        operating motor vehicles approaching a roadside emergency scene 
        to take certain steps including--
                    (A) moving to the traffic lane that is farthest 
                from the roadside emergency scene of the lanes 
                available for vehicles traveling in the direction 
                traveled by the driver; and
                    (B) decreasing motor vehicle speed to 10 miles per 
                hour less than the posted speed limit; and
            (3) the collection of such statistics as may be necessary 
        to assist policy makers in addressing issues of safety at 
        roadside emergency scenes.
    (c) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
this section, the Secretary shall transmit to Congress a report on the 
results of the study conducted under subsection (a), together with any 
recommendations for improving the safety of persons present at roadside 
emergency scenes.

SEC. 3. EMERGENCY PERSONNEL SAFETY PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the completion of 
the study described in section 2, the Secretary of Transportation shall 
establish and begin to implement a program to improve the safety of 
emergency personnel at roadside emergency scenes.
    (b) Program Elements.--The program established under subsection (a) 
shall--
            (1) promote public awareness regarding safety at roadside 
        emergency scenes;
            (2) provide assistance for education and training to 
        emergency personnel regarding safety at roadside emergency 
        scenes; and
            (3) provide technical assistance regarding equipment, 
        highway design, and emergency responses that enhance the safety 
        of emergency personnel at roadside emergency scenes.
    (c) Demonstration Projects.--The program established under 
subsection (a) shall include funding for demonstration projects 
designed to improve the safety of emergency personnel at roadside 
emergency scenes.
    (d) Emergency Personnel Defined.--In this section, the term 
``emergency personnel'' means law enforcement personnel, fire 
department personnel, emergency medical services personnel, and any 
other persons who may be called upon to respond to a roadside 
emergency.

SEC. 4. STATE HIGHWAY SAFETY PROGRAMS.

    Subsection (a) of section 402 of title 23, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) by striking ``and (6)'' and inserting ``(6)''; and
            (2) by inserting after ``post-accident procedures'' the 
        following:
``, and (7) to improve the safety of law enforcement, fire department, 
and emergency medical services personnel, and any other persons who may 
be called upon to respond, in the case of a roadside emergency''.
                                 <all>