[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2070 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2070

  To improve safety standards for child restraints in motor vehicles.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 10, 2000

Mr. Fitzgerald (for himself and Mrs. Lincoln) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
                      Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To improve safety standards for child restraints in motor vehicles.

    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 ``Child Passenger Protection Act of 
2000''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) each day, an average of 7 children are killed and 866 
        injured in motor vehicle crashes;
            (2) certain standards and testing procedures for child 
        restraints in the United States are not as rigorous as those in 
        some other countries;
            (3) although the Federal Government establishes safety 
        standards for child restraints, the Federal Government--
                    (A) permits companies that manufacture child 
                restraints to conduct their own tests for compliance 
                with the safety standards and interpret the results of 
                those tests, but does not require that the 
                manufacturers make the results of the tests public;
                    (B) has not updated test standards for child 
                restraints--
                            (i) to reflect the modern designs of motor 
                        vehicles in use as of the date of enactment of 
                        this Act;
                            (ii) to take into account the effects of a 
                        side-impact crash, a rear-impact crash, or a 
                        rollover crash; and
                            (iii) to require the use of anthropomorphic 
                        devices that accurately reflect the heights and 
                        masses of children at ages other than newborn, 
                        9 months, 3 years, and 6 years; and
                    (C) has not issued motor vehicle safety standards 
                that adequately protect children up to the age of 12 
                who weigh more than 50 pounds; and
            (4) the Federal Government should update the test standards 
        for child restraints to reduce the number of children killed or 
        injured in automobile accidents in the United States.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Child restraint.--The term ``child restraint'' has the 
        meaning given the term ``child restraint system'' in section 
        571.213 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect 
        on the date of enactment of this Act).
            (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Transportation.

SEC. 4. TESTING OF CHILD RESTRAINTS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary shall update and improve crash test 
standards and conditions for child restraints.
    (b) Elements for Consideration.--In carrying out subsection (a), 
the Secretary shall consider--
            (1) whether to conduct more comprehensive and dynamic 
        testing of child restraints than is typically conducted as of 
        the date of enactment of this Act, including the use of test 
        platforms designed--
                    (A) to simulate an array of accident conditions, 
                such as side-impact crashes, rear-impact crashes, and 
                rollover crashes; and
                    (B) to reflect the designs of passenger motor 
                vehicles in use as of the date of enactment of this 
                Act;
            (2) whether to use an increased number of anthropomorphic 
        devices in a greater variety of heights and masses; and
            (3) whether to provide improved protection in motor vehicle 
        accidents for children up to 59.2 inches tall who weigh more 
        than 50 pounds.
    (c) Required Elements.--In carrying out subsection (a), the 
Secretary shall--
            (1) require that manufacturers design child restraints to 
        minimize head injuries during side-impact and rollover crashes, 
        including requiring that child restraints have side-impact 
        protection;
            (2) include a child restraint in each vehicle crash-tested 
        under the New Car Assessment Program of the Department of 
        Transportation; and
            (3) prescribe readily understandable text for any labels 
        that are required to be placed on child restraints.
    (d) Funding.--For each fiscal year, of the funds made available to 
the Secretary for activities relating to safety, not less than $750,000 
shall be made available to carry out crash testing of child restraints.

SEC. 5. CHILD RESTRAINT SAFETY RATING PROGRAM.

    Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary shall develop and implement a safety rating program for child 
restraints to provide practicable, readily understandable, and timely 
information to parents and caretakers for use in making informed 
decisions in the purchase of child restraints.
                                 <all>