1.This Act may be cited as the
Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of
2009
.
2.In this Act:
(1)The term motor vehicle has the meaning given
such term in section 30102(a)(6) of title 49, United States Code.
(2)The
term Secretary means the Secretary of Transportation.
3.Congress finds that—
(1)motor vehicles
designed to provide the desirable benefits of reducing harmful pollutants and
operating with greater fuel efficiency include gasoline-electric hybrid and
electric-only vehicles, and in the foreseeable future may include vehicles
powered by hydrogen fuel cell and other engine designs that rely on fuels and
technologies other than the gasoline-powered internal combustion engine;
(2)these vehicle
engine designs operate or are likely to operate with virtually no sound being
produced by the vehicle;
(3)the total number of
hybrid motor vehicles sold per year in the United States is growing
dramatically, and may someday equal or exceed the number of internal combustion
engine motor vehicles on the Nation’s roads;
(4)blind pedestrians
cannot locate and evaluate traffic by sight and instead must listen to traffic
to discern its speed, direction, and other attributes in order to travel safely
and independently;
(5)other people,
including pedestrians who are not blind, bicyclists, runners, and small
children, benefit from multi-sensory information available from vehicle
traffic, including the sound of vehicle engines;
(6)when operating on
their electric engines, hybrid vehicles cannot be heard by blind people and
others, rendering such vehicles extremely dangerous when driving on the street,
emerging from driveways, moving through parking lots, and in other situations
where pedestrians and vehicles come into proximity with each other;
(7)failure to take
immediate action assuring that blind pedestrians can hear hybrid and other
silent vehicles in all phases of their operation will inevitably lead to
pedestrian injuries and fatalities; and
(8)such accidents are
preventable through vehicle designs which take into account the multi-sensory
nature of traffic detection and avoidance, and require that vehicles emit a
minimum level of sound designed to alert all pedestrians, especially blind
pedestrians, to the presence of such vehicles.
4.Study of method
to protect blind and other pedestrians
(a)Not later than 90 days
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall conduct a
study to—
(1)determine the most
practical means of ensuring that blind and other pedestrians receive
substantially similar information to information such pedestrians receive from
sound emitted by vehicles that use internal combustion engines;
(2)determine the
minimum level of sound emitted from a motor vehicle that is necessary to
provide blind pedestrians with the information needed to make safe travel
judgments; and
(3)consider whether
the minimum level of sound requirement or another method that conveys
information essential for pedestrian safety provides the most reliable
information to support safe travel of blind and other pedestrians,
including—
(A)which method
provides blind and other pedestrians the greatest amount of information
regarding location, motion, speed, and direction of travel of a motor
vehicle;
(B)the cost and
feasibility of each method, including the cost and feasibility of equipping
each individual pedestrian with any technology necessary to receive
information; and
(C)which method
ensures the least reliance by blind and other pedestrians upon technology they
must possess when traveling and thereby provides the greatest amount of
independence and opportunity for spontaneous travel for these
pedestrians.
(b)While conducting the study, the Secretary
shall—
(1)review all
available research regarding the effect of traffic sounds on pedestrian
safety;
(2)commission such
additional research as may be necessary;
(3)consult with
consumer groups representing individuals who are blind, other pedestrians,
cyclists, and advocates for children; and
(4)consult with
automobile manufacturers and professional organizations which represent such
manufacturers.
(c)The
Secretary shall—
(1)complete the
study required under this section not later than 2 years after commencing such
study; and
(2)submit a report
to Congress that contains the findings of such study.
5.Minimum sound
requirement for motor vehicles
(a)Not later than 90
days after completion of the study required under section 4, the Secretary
shall promulgate a motor vehicle safety standard under section 30111 of title
49, United States Code, to establish a method for alerting blind and other
pedestrians of the presence and operation of nearby motor vehicles to enable
such pedestrians to travel safely and independently in urban, rural, and
residential environments.
(b)The standard required under this section
shall provide that every motor vehicle be equipped with a method—
(1)to provide blind and other pedestrians with
a non-visual alert regarding the location, motion, speed, and direction of
travel of a motor vehicle that provides substantially the same protection of
such pedestrians as that provided by a motor vehicle with an internal
combustion engine; and
(2)that will permit a blind or other
pedestrian to determine the location, motion, speed, and direction of travel of
a motor vehicle with substantially the same degree of certainty as such
pedestrians are able to determine the location, motion, speed, and direction of
travel of a motor vehicle with an internal combustion engine.
(c)The standard promulgated
under this section shall apply to all new motor vehicles manufactured or sold
in the United States beginning on that date that is 2 years after the issuance
of such standard.
6.Authorization of
AppropriationsThere are
authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary such sums as may be necessary to
carry out this Act.