[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 133 (Wednesday, December 6, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11329-S11331]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. DeWINE:
  S. 4086. A bill to improve data collection efforts with respect to 
the safety of pregnant women and unborn children in motor vehicle 
crashes, provide for research and development of appropriate 
countermeasures, educate the public regarding motor vehicle safety 
risks affecting pregnant women and unborn children, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
  Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, during my 12 years in the Senate, I have 
always fought to increase our Nation's commitment to children's health 
and safety. One of the areas where I have had the privilege of working 
together with Democrats and Republicans on children's issues is highway 
safety. Whether the matter at hand was making school buses safer or 
enacting new motor vehicle safety standards that protect small children 
in crashes, I have always been fortunate to find fellow Senators 
committed to crafting legislation that will make a difference in 
children's lives.
  One of the things I have learned over the years is that the research, 
testing, and public awareness programs operated by the National Highway 
Traffic Safety Administration--NHTSA--play a major role helping prevent 
injuries and saving lives on our roads. We lose over 42,000 lives each 
year in motor vehicle crashes, but that total would be astronomically 
higher without the work done by NHTSA and its partners. As vehicles 
have changed, technologies

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have matured, and the safety challenges facing the driving public have 
shifted over time, NHTSA has responded by instituting new programs. 
Sometimes, however, it takes a little action by Congress to get NHTSA 
moving on these important safety objectives.
  Today, I rise to introduce a measure that I hope my colleagues will 
consider in the future as they continue to work on highway safety 
issues. I also hope that this bill might spur additional action by 
NHTSA.
  In speaking with leading safety advocates, I have come to understand 
just how significant the safety challenges are for pregnant women and 
their unborn children in motor vehicle crashes. Yet despite these great 
challenges and the importance we all place on ensuring maternal health 
and safety, we know very little about the way crash forces affect 
mothers and their unborn children over both the short-term and long-
term. While university researchers have begun to document some of the 
chief safety challenges facing pregnant mothers, we need to do more to 
fully understand these issues and to develop ways of applying what we 
have learned in manufacturing vehicles that are safer for pregnant 
women and their unborn children.
  Additionally, we need to do a better job communicating the immediate 
and lifelong safety risks associated with motor vehicle crashes to 
pregnant mothers so that they can do everything possible to ensure not 
only their own health, but that of their babies. Sometimes, these steps 
may be as simple as making sure that safety belts are worn and 
positioned properly. At some point, technologies may become available 
on the market designed specifically to cater to the motor vehicle 
safety needs of pregnant women.
  To achieve these goals and ultimately to prevent injuries and save 
lives, we need NHTSA to act and we need to provide new resources for 
research and testing. The bill I am introducing today does precisely 
that.
  The Maternal Motor Vehicle Crash Safety Act of 2006 addresses these 
issues in a number of ways. First, the bill presents findings defining 
the challenges facing pregnant women and their unborn children in motor 
vehicle crashes. I particularly want to thank Dr. Hank Weiss of the 
University of Pittsburgh for his assistance in bringing this important 
research to my attention.
  Second, the bill contains sections providing incentives for states to 
link various databases in a way that will lead to a better 
understanding of the number of mothers and babies that are impacted by 
motor vehicle crashes each year and what the long-term health impacts 
are for children who were involved in crashes before being born. 
Furthermore, the bill sets several high priority research areas for 
NHTSA, including an investigation into computer modeling systems and 
biofidelic crash-test dummies capable of simulating a pregnant woman 
and her child during dangerous crashes. Sadly, we have functional 
dummies that accurately simulate men, women, and children--but none for 
pregnant women.
  I strongly urge my colleagues to take up and pass this legislation 
during the 110th Congress. Members of the Senate and leaders at NHTSA 
work hard every year to do their best to improve highway safety here in 
the United States, and I believe the measures outlined in this bill 
have the potential to make a lasting contribution to those efforts in 
the years ahead.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill, the 
Maternal Motor Vehicle Crash Safety Act of 2006, be printed in the 
Record.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.

                                S. 4086

       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 ``Maternal Motor Vehicle Crash 
     Safety Act of 2006''.

     SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act:
       (1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
     Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety 
     Administration.
       (2) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
     ``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee 
     on Appropriations and Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
     Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on 
     Appropriations and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of 
     the House of Representatives.
       (3) Biofidelic.--The term ``biofidelic'' means having the 
     property of responding to and being impacted by crash and 
     other external forces in a manner directly consistent with 
     the way in which a live human being would respond to and be 
     impacted by such forces.
       (4) Data linkage system.--The term ``data linkage system'' 
     means an information system that is capable of accurately 
     tracking adverse health effects and birth outcomes for 
     pregnant women who are occupants of a motor vehicle that is 
     involved in a crash and the unborn children of such women, 
     through the connection and analysis of multiple data sources.
       (5) Unborn child.--The term ``unborn child'' means a member 
     of the species homo sapiens, at any stage of development, who 
     is carried in the womb.

     SEC. 3. FINDINGS.

       Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) Injuries are the leading cause of pregnancy-associated 
     deaths in the United States.
       (2) Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of injury 
     deaths in women of reproductive age and the leading cause of 
     injury hospitalizations among pregnant women.
       (3) Studies have indicated that motor vehicles are 
     estimated to account for up to 80 percent of injury related 
     deaths among unborn children.
       (4) Transportation Research Board publications indicate 
     that deaths among unborn children due to motor vehicle 
     crashes are more frequent than several notable fatal 
     childhood injuries, including bicycle related deaths in 
     children aged 0 through 15, firearm related deaths in 
     children aged 0 through 9, and motor vehicle crash related 
     deaths in children aged 0 through 1.
       (5) Studies suggest that approximately 3 percent of all 
     babies born in the United States are involved in a motor 
     vehicle crash while in utero.
       (6) Studies have shown that elevated risks of birth-related 
     threats and obstetric complications following crashes 
     involving pregnant women include--
       (A) premature childbirth;
       (B) low birth weight;
       (C) placental injury;
       (D) uterine rupture; and
       (E) amniotic rupture.
       (7) Despite advances in vehicle safety, pregnant women have 
     not received the special attention and consideration needed 
     to understand, reduce, and prevent the risks of adverse 
     pregnancy outcomes related to crashes.
       (8) There is a need for more research and application using 
     anthropometric test devices and computerized modeling systems 
     that represent pregnant women during all stages of pregnancy.
       (9) During pregnancy, the risks of traumatic injury to a 
     woman is shared by the woman's unborn child. Assessing the 
     magnitude and characteristics of those risks through data 
     linkage systems, comparing the risks to other injuries and 
     diseases, and reducing them, are important unmet challenges 
     for improving maternal and child health.
       (10) A better understanding is needed about what can happen 
     during, and after, a pregnant woman is involved in a motor 
     vehicle crash. This includes the effects of a crash on the 
     mother, the unborn child, and the delicate physiological 
     balance between the mother and child that separates healthy 
     from unhealthy pregnancies, including the effects of maternal 
     physiologic adaptations to trauma, fluid loss and shock, 
     effects from maternal stress, effects from diagnostic 
     regimens, medical or surgical procedures, or the wide variety 
     of prescription medicines, and other medication taken by the 
     mother.
       (11) Despite the importance of the health of mothers and 
     unborn children involved in motor vehicle crashes, agencies 
     and data linkage systems responsible for tracking motor 
     vehicle injuries, deaths, and other measures of adverse 
     outcome rarely capture pregnancy status.
       (12) Existing data collection and analysis systems 
     generally do not count unborn children involved in motor 
     vehicle crashes and do not follow them after their birth to 
     ascertain the effects of the crash on long-term neuro-
     developmental and functional outcomes.

     SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON IMPROVEMENTS TO THE NATIONAL 
                   AUTOMOTIVE SAMPLING SYSTEM CRASHWORTHINESS DATA 
                   SYSTEM.

       It is the sense of Congress that the Administrator--
       (1) should continue to include in the National Automotive 
     Sampling System Crashworthiness Data System maintained by the 
     Administrator data related to motor vehicle crashes that 
     involved a pregnant women; and
       (2) should identify other means to advance the current 
     level of understanding regarding the number, nature, and 
     impact of motor vehicle crashes involving pregnant women and 
     their unborn children through data collection, data linkage 
     systems, and analysis systems.

     SEC. 5. GRANTS FOR DATA LINKAGE SYSTEMS PROGRAMS.

       (a) In General.--The Administrator shall, in consultation 
     with appropriate officials of

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     State agencies or public health organizations, carry out a 
     program to provide grants and other incentives, including 
     technical assistance to eligible entities for the purpose 
     described in subsection (b).
       (b) Purpose.--A grant or other incentive provided under 
     this section shall be used to promote the development of data 
     linkage systems described in subsection (e).
       (c) Eligible Entity.--In this section, the term ``eligible 
     entity'' means an academic, public health, or transportation 
     safety organization or a State or local government agency 
     that the Administrator determines is appropriate to receive a 
     grant or incentive under this section.
       (d) Application and Award Process.--
       (1) Applications.--Each eligible entity seeking a grant 
     under this section shall submit an application to the 
     Administrator at such time and in such manner as the 
     Administrator may require.
       (2) Awards.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall establish--
       (A) the criteria for awarding a grant or incentive under 
     this section; and
       (B) a competitive, merit-based process to select 
     applications to receive a grant or incentive under this 
     section.
       (3) Publication.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall publish in 
     the Federal Register the criteria and process described in 
     paragraph (2).
       (e) Program Structure.--The data linkage systems eligible 
     to receive assistance under this section are systems that use 
     the following sources:
       (1) State and local vital statistics databases, including 
     birth, infant, and death records.
       (2) State and local crash and driver's license records.
       (3) Other computerized health records as available, 
     including emergency medical services reports and hospital and 
     emergency room admission and discharge records.
       (f) Existing Data Systems.--To the maximum extent possible, 
     the Administrator shall integrate the grant and incentive 
     program carried out under this section with the existing 
     State specific Crash Outcome Data Evaluation Systems carried 
     out by the Administrator to utilize the capabilities, linkage 
     expertise, and organizational relationships of such Systems 
     to provide a foundation for improving the tracking of adverse 
     health effects and birth outcomes for pregnant women who are 
     occupants of a motor vehicle at the time of a crash and their 
     unborn children.
       (g) Data Security and Privacy.--In carrying out this 
     section, the Administrator and any eligible entity selected 
     to receive a grant or incentive under this section for a data 
     linkage system shall ensure that personal identifiers and 
     other information utilized in that data linkage system 
     related to a specific individual is handled in a manner 
     consistent with all applicable Federal, State, and local laws 
     and regulations and to ensure the confidentiality of such 
     information, and in the manner necessary to prevent the 
     theft, manipulation, or other unlawful or unauthorized use of 
     personal information contained in data sources used for 
     linkage studies.
       (h) Authorization of Appropriations.--
       (1) In general.--There are authorized to be appropriated 
     $2,500,000 for each of the fiscal years 2007, 2008, 2009, and 
     2010 to carry out this section.
       (2) Availability of funds.--Funds appropriated pursuant to 
     the authorization of appropriations in paragraph (1) shall 
     remain available until expended.

     SEC. 6. SAFETY RESEARCH PROGRAM AND NATIONAL CONFERENCE.

       (a) Safety Research Program.--
       (1) Requirement to conduct.--The Administrator shall 
     conduct a research program as described in this section to 
     promote the health and safety of pregnant women who are 
     involved in motor vehicle crashes and of their unborn 
     children.
       (2) High priority research areas.--In carrying out the 
     research program under this section, the Administrator shall 
     place a high priority on conducting research to--
       (A) investigate methods to maximize the injury prevention 
     performance of standard 3-point safety belts for pregnant 
     women during all stages of pregnancy;
       (B) analyze the effectiveness of technologies designed to 
     modify or extend the safety performance of 3-point safety 
     belts for pregnant women across a range of pregnancy phases, 
     including technologies currently available in the 
     marketplace;
       (C) develop biofidelic, anthropometric test devices that 
     are representative of pregnant women during all stages of 
     pregnancy; and
       (D) develop biofidelic, computer models that are 
     representative of pregnant women during all stages of 
     pregnancy to aid in understanding crash forces relevant to 
     the safety of pregnant women and unborn children that may 
     include the utilization of existing modeling systems 
     developed by private and academic institutions, if 
     appropriate.
       (b) National Conference.--
       (1) Requirement to convene.--Not later than 18 months after 
     the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in 
     consultation with the heads of other appropriate Federal 
     agencies, shall convene a national research conference for 
     the purpose of identifying critical scientific issues for 
     research on the safety of pregnant women involved in motor 
     vehicle crashes and their unborn children.
       (2) Purpose of the conference.--The purpose of the 
     conference required by paragraph (1) shall be to establish 
     and prioritize a list of research questions to guide future 
     research related to the safety of pregnant women involved in 
     motor vehicle crashes and their unborn children.
       (3) Authority to partner with other organizations.--The 
     Administrator is authorized to carry out the conference 
     required by paragraph (1) in a partnership with organizations 
     recognized for expertise related to the research described in 
     paragraph (2).
       (c) Report Required.--Not later than 2 years after the date 
     of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit 
     to the appropriate congressional committees a report that 
     describes--
       (1) the research program carried out by the Administration 
     pursuant to subsection (a), including any findings or 
     conclusions associated with such research program; and
       (2) the priorities established at the national conference 
     required by subsection (b), plans for regulations or future 
     programs, or factors limiting the effectiveness of such 
     research.
       (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--
       (1) In general.--For each of the fiscal years 2007, 2008, 
     and 2009, there are authorized to be appropriated such sums 
     as necessary to carry out this section.
       (2) Availability of funds.--Funds appropriated pursuant to 
     the authorization of appropriations in paragraph (1) shall 
     remain available until expended.

     SEC. 7. PUBLIC OUTREACH AND EDUCATION.

       (a) In General.--The Administrator shall conduct a public 
     outreach and education program to increase awareness of the 
     unique safety risks associated with motor vehicle crashes for 
     pregnant women and the unborn children of such women and of 
     the methods available to reduce such risks. Such program 
     shall include making information regarding the injury-
     prevention value of proper safety belt and airbag use 
     available to the public.
       (b) Targeted Outreach.--The Administrator shall carry out 
     the program described in subsection (a) in a manner that 
     utilizes media and organizational partners to effectively 
     educate pregnant women, ensure an overall educational impact, 
     and efficiently utilize the program's resources.
       (c) Program Initiation and Duration.--The Administrator 
     shall initiate the program described in subsection (a) not 
     later than 12 months after the date of the enactment of this 
     Act, and shall maintain such program for not less than 24 
     months, subject to the availability of funds.

     SEC. 8. INCLUSION OF SAFETY DATA IN ANNUAL ASSESSMENT.

       (a) In General.--Subject to subsection (b), the 
     Administrator shall include a discussion of data regarding 
     the safety of pregnant women who are involved in motor 
     vehicle crashes and of their unborn children, including any 
     relevant trends in such data, in each of the Annual 
     Assessment of Motor Vehicle Crashes published by the National 
     Center for Statistics and Analysis of the National Highway 
     Traffic Safety Administration or an equivalent publication of 
     such Center.
       (b) Report to Congress.--If the Administrator determines 
     that including the information described in subsection (a) in 
     the Annual Assessment of Motor Vehicle Crashes or an 
     equivalent publication is not feasible, the Administrator 
     shall submit a report to the appropriate congressional 
     committees not later than 60 days after the date of the 
     release of such Annual Assessment or equivalent publication 
     that states the reasons that it was not feasible to include 
     such information and an analysis of the steps necessary to 
     make such information available in the future.
                                 ______