[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 561 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 561

               To improve child safety in motor vehicles.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 8, 2005

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
               To improve child safety 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 ``Safe Kids and Cars Act of 2005''.
    (a) Incorporation of Child Dummies in Safety Tests.--
            (1) Review process required.--Not later than 2 years after 
        the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the 
        National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shall conduct a 
        review process to increase utilization of child dummies, 
        including Hybrid-III child dummies, in motor vehicle safety 
        tests, including crash tests, conducted by the Administration.
            (2) Criteria.--In conducting the review process under 
        subsection (a), the Administrator shall select motor vehicle 
        safety tests in which the inclusion of child dummies will lead 
        to--
                    (A) increased understanding of crash dynamics with 
                respect to children; and
                    (B) measurably improved child safety.
            (3) Public input.--The Secretary of Transportation shall 
        solicit and consider input from the public regarding the review 
        process under paragraph (1).
            (4) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall publish a report 
        regarding the implementation of this section. The report shall 
        include information regarding the current status of the Hybrid-
        III 10 year old child test dummy.
    (b) Child Safety Information Programs.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 18 months after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation 
        shall supplement ongoing consumer information programs relating 
        to child safety with information regarding hazards to children 
        in nontraffic, noncrash accident situations.
            (2) Activities to supplement information.--In supplementing 
        such programs, the Secretary shall--
                    (A) utilize information collected in the database 
                maintained under subsection (e) regarding nontraffic, 
                noncrash injuries, as well as other relevant data from 
                private organizations, to establish priorities for the 
                program;
                    (B) address ways in which parents can mitigate 
                dangers to small children arising from preventable 
                causes, including backover incidents, hyperthermia in 
                closed vehicles, and accidental activation of power 
                windows;
                    (C) partner with national child safety research 
                organizations and other interested organizations with 
                respect to the delivery of program information; and
                    (D) make information related to child safety 
                available to the public via the Internet and other 
                means.
    (c) Report on Vehicle Visibility.--Not later than 2 years after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation 
shall submit a report to Congress on the extent to which driver 
visibility of the area immediately surrounding light passenger vehicles 
and obstructions to such visibility affect pedestrian safety, including 
the safety of infants and small children, in nontraffic, noncrash 
situations.
    (d) Report on Enhanced Vehicle Safety Technologies.--Not later than 
18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
Transportation shall submit to Congress a report that describes, 
evaluates, and determines the relative effectiveness of--
            (1) currently available and emerging technologies, 
        including auto-reverse functions, that are designed to prevent 
        and reduce the number of injuries and deaths to children left 
        unattended inside parked motor vehicles, including injuries and 
        deaths that result from hyperthermia or are related to power 
        windows or power sunroofs; and
            (2) currently available and emerging technologies that are 
        designed to prevent deaths and injuries to small children 
        resulting from vehicle blind spots and backover incidents.
    (e) Database on Injuries and Deaths in Nontraffic, Noncrash 
Events.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of Transportation shall 
        maintain a database of, and regularly collect data regarding, 
        injuries and deaths in nontraffic, noncrash events involving 
        motor vehicles. The database shall include information 
        regarding--
                    (A) the number, types, and proximate causes of 
                injuries and deaths resulting from such events;
                    (B) the characteristics of motor vehicles involved 
                in such events;
                    (C) the characteristics of the motor vehicle 
                operators and victims involved in such events; and
                    (D) the presence or absence in motor vehicles 
                involved in such events of advanced technologies 
                designed to prevent such injuries and deaths.
            (2) Regulations.--The Secretary shall prescribe regulations 
        regarding how to structure and compile the database. The 
        Secretary shall solicit and consider input from the public 
        regarding data collection procedures and the structure of the 
        database maintained under paragraph (1).
            (3) Deadlines.--The Secretary shall--
                    (A) complete the prescription of regulations and 
                the consideration of public input under paragraph (2) 
                not later than September 1, 2006; and
                    (B) commence the collection of data under paragraph 
                (1) not later than January 1, 2007.
            (4) Availability.--The Secretary shall make the database 
        maintained under paragraph (1) available to the public.
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