[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1948 Introduced in Senate (IS)]








109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1948

   To direct the Secretary of Transportation to issue regulations to 
  reduce the incidence of child injury and death occurring inside or 
      outside of passenger motor vehicles, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            November 1, 2005

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To direct the Secretary of Transportation to issue regulations to 
  reduce the incidence of child injury and death occurring inside or 
      outside of passenger motor vehicles, 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 ``Cameron Gulbransen Kids and Cars 
Safety Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. RULEMAKING REGARDING CHILD SAFETY.

    (a) Power Window Safety.--Not later than 18 months after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation (referred to 
in this Act as the ``Secretary'') shall issue regulations, applicable 
to all passenger motor vehicles, to ensure that power windows and 
panels automatically reverse direction when they detect an obstruction 
to prevent children from being trapped, injured, or killed.
    (b) Rearward Visibility.--Not later than 18 months after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue regulations, 
applicable to all passenger motor vehicles, requiring a rearward 
visibility performance standard that will provide drivers with a means 
for detecting the presence of a person or object behind the vehicle in 
order to prevent backing incidents involving death and injury 
especially to small children and disabled persons.
    (c) Preventing Vehicles From Rolling Away.--Not later than 18 
months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 
issue regulations, applicable to all passenger motor vehicles, 
requiring the vehicle service brake to be engaged in all key positions 
and while the key is out of the ignition, before starting the engine or 
engaging the transmission in order to prevent accidents resulting from 
vehicles accidentally or unintentionally rolling away.
    (d) Phase in Period.--The regulations issued pursuant to 
subsections (a) through (c) shall require--
            (1) a phase-in period, as determined by the Secretary, for 
        compliance with the regulations, which shall commence not later 
        than 6 months after the date on which final regulations are 
        issued; and
            (2) all new passenger motor vehicles manufactured after the 
        date that is 3 years after the issuance of final regulations to 
        be fully compliant with such regulations.
    (e) Database on Injuries and Deaths in Nontraffic, Noncrash 
Events.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 18 months after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish and 
        maintain a database of injuries and deaths in nontraffic, 
        noncrash events involving passenger motor vehicles.
            (2) Contents.--The database shall include information 
        regarding--
                    (A) the number, types, and proximate causes of 
                injuries and deaths resulting from the events described 
                in paragraph (1);
                    (B) the make, model, and model year of passenger 
                motor vehicles involved in such events; and
                    (C) other variables that the Secretary determines 
                will enhance the value of the database.
            (3) Availability.--The Secretary shall make the information 
        contained in the database available to the public.
    (f) Defined Term.--In this section, the term ``passenger motor 
vehicle'' has the meaning given the term in section 32304(a) of title 
49, United States Code.

SEC. 3. CHILD SAFETY INFORMATION PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 18 months after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall--
            (1) supplement a consumer information program relating to 
        child safety; or
            (2) create a new program with information about hazards to 
        children in nontraffic, noncrash incident situations.
    (b) Program Requirements.--In executing the program under 
subsection (a), the Secretary shall--
            (1) utilize information collected pursuant to section 2(e) 
        regarding nontraffic, noncrash injuries, and other relevant 
        data from private organizations, to establish priorities for 
        the program;
            (2) address ways in which parents can mitigate dangers to 
        small children arising from back over incidents, hyperthermia 
        in closed vehicles, accidental actuation of power windows, and 
        similar dangers; and
            (3) make information related to the program available to 
        the public through the Internet and other means.
                                 <all>