[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2026 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2026

         To improve consumer awareness of motor vehicle safety.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 26, 2004

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
         To improve consumer awareness of motor vehicle safety.

    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 ``Consumer Vehicle Safety Awareness 
Act of 2004''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENT OF AUTOMOBILE INFORMATION DISCLOSURE ACT.

    (a) Safety Labeling Requirement.--Section 3 of the Automobile 
Information Disclosure Act (15 U.S.C. 1232) is amended by adding at the 
end the following:
    ``(g) if a safety rating for such automobile has been assigned and 
formally published by the National Highway Safety Administration under 
the New Car Assessment Program for at least 60 days prior to the 
delivery or introduction date of the automobile, the safety rating 
assigned to such automobile, displayed in text or graphics that--
            ``(1) include, as applicable--
                    ``(A) a graphic depiction of the number of stars 
                that corresponds to such safety rating displayed in a 
                bright color clearly differentiated from stars 
                indicating the unattained safety rating;
                    ``(B) a statement that the automobile has been 
                assigned a safety rating of zero stars in text of 
                similar size and in the same location as the stars 
                would otherwise have been depicted; or
                    ``(C) a statement explaining that multiple safety 
                ratings have been assigned and listing such ratings;
            ``(2) cover at least 8 percent of the total area of the 
        label; and
            ``(3) contain a heading titled `Government Safety 
        Information' and a disclaimer including the following text: 
        `Star ratings can be compared between vehicles of similar size 
        and weight. For more information on safety and testing, please 
        visit http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov'; and
    ``(h) if no safety rating has been assigned to such automobile by 
the National Highway Safety Administration under the New Car Assessment 
Program, a statement to that effect.''.
    (b) Regulations.--Not later than January 1, 2006, the Secretary of 
Transportation shall prescribe regulations to implement the labeling 
requirements added pursuant to subsection (a).
    (c) Conforming and Technical Amendments.--Section 3 of such Act is 
further amended--
            (1) in subsection (e), by striking ``and'' after the 
        semicolon; and
            (2) in subsection (f)--
                    (A) by adding ``and'' at the end of paragraph (3); 
                and
                    (B) by striking the period at the end and inserting 
                a semicolon.
    (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) and 
subsection (c) shall take effect on January 1, 2006.
                                 <all>