Stop Underrides Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 605 To reduce the number of preventable deaths and injuries caused by underride crashes, to improve motor carrier and passenger motor vehicle safety, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 4, 2021 Mrs. GILLIBRAND (for herself, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. BURR, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. KING, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. LUJA´N, Mr. CASEY, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. BOOKER, and Mr. MERKLEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To reduce the number of preventable deaths and injuries caused by underride crashes, to improve motor carrier and passenger motor vehicle safety, and for other pur- poses. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stop Underrides Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 5 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:43 Apr 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S605.IS S605 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 605 IS (1) underride crashes involving passenger motor 1 vehicles striking and traveling underneath a truck or 2 trailer are a significant public health and safety 3 threat; 4 (2) the National Highway Traffic Safety Ad- 5 ministration has reported that hundreds of prevent- 6 able fatalities and life-threatening injuries have oc- 7 curred as a result of underride crashes; 8 (3) the National Transportation Safety Board 9 has recommended the installation of rear, side, and 10 front underride guards on tractor-trailers and rear 11 and side underride guards on single unit trucks to 12 improve passenger motor vehicle safety; and 13 (4) this Act is introduced in the memory of the 14 thousands of victims of underride crashes, includ- 15 ing— 16 (A) Roya Christine Sadigh, AnnaLeah 17 Karth, Mary Lydia Karth, Roderick Cota, 18 Moonjohn Kim, Corey Moore, Gregg Williams, 19 Guy Champ Crawford, Carl Hall, Michael 20 Higginbotham, Sandra Maddamma, David 21 Mathis, Mary Katherine Mathis, James Moon- 22 ey, Christopher Weigl, Bill Zink, David 23 Magnan, Jasen Swift, Samuel Sierra, Brittany 24 McHargue, Christopher Samuel Padilla, Riley 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:43 Apr 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S605.IS S605 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 605 IS Hein, Erin Alexander, Jordan Hensley, Edward 1 Hall, Leslie Rosenberg, Sophie Rosenberg, Ally 2 Davis, Matthew Simon, Alexandria Dugas, 3 David Kent Williams, Alexander David Wolf, 4 Audria ‘‘Audi’’ Mignon Truelove, Caitlin Renee 5 Preston, Catherine Rosella Shore, Jeri Lynn 6 Monette, Michael Rossi, Carl Tackett, Abigail 7 Johnson, Harold Doug Fitch, Zac Plantz, and 8 Matthew Burnett; 9 (B) those whose catastrophic injuries dra- 10 matically changed their lives, including Julie 11 Magnan, Nancy Meuleners, Joshua Rojas, Maiv 12 Yang, Anita Plantage Bomgaars, Michael B. 13 Hawkins, and Kerry Rois; and 14 (C) those whose precious lives were cut far 15 too short as a result of preventable underride 16 crashes. 17 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 18 (1) to reduce the number of preventable deaths 19 and injuries caused by underride crashes; and 20 (2) to improve motor carrier and passenger 21 motor vehicle safety. 22 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 23 Section 30102(a) of title 49, United States Code, is 24 amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:43 Apr 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S605.IS S605 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 605 IS (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 1 striking ‘‘chapter—’’ and inserting ‘‘chapter:’’; 2 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), (3), 3 (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), (10), (11), (12), and (13) 4 as paragraphs (2), (3), (4), (5), (7), (8), (9), (10), 5 (11), (12), (15), (20), and (22), respectively; 6 (3) by inserting before paragraph (2) (as so re- 7 designated) the following: 8 ‘‘(1) ‘comprehensive underride protection sys- 9 tem’ means all of the front underride guards, rear 10 underride guards, or side underride guards, as appli- 11 cable, installed on a motor vehicle.’’; 12 (4) by inserting after paragraph (5) (as so re- 13 designated) the following: 14 ‘‘(6) ‘front underride guard’ means a device in- 15 stalled on or near the front of a motor vehicle that 16 prevents or limits the distance that a vehicle struck 17 by the vehicle with the device will slide under the 18 front of the striking vehicle.’’; 19 (5) by inserting after paragraph (12) (as so re- 20 designated) the following: 21 ‘‘(13) ‘passenger motor vehicle’ has the mean- 22 ing given that term in section 32101. 23 ‘‘(14) ‘rear underride guard’ means a device in- 24 stalled on or near the rear of a motor vehicle that 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:43 Apr 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S605.IS S605 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 605 IS prevents or limits the distance that the front end of 1 a vehicle striking the rear of the vehicle with the de- 2 vice will slide under the rear of the impacted vehi- 3 cle.’’; 4 (6) by inserting after paragraph (15) (as so re- 5 designated) the following: 6 ‘‘(16) ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary of Trans- 7 portation. 8 ‘‘(17) ‘semi-trailer’ means a trailer, other than 9 a pole trailer, which is designed to rest upon, or be 10 carried by, a motor vehicle. 11 ‘‘(18) ‘side underride guard’ means a device in- 12 stalled on or near the side of a motor vehicle that 13 prevents or limits the distance that the front end of 14 a vehicle striking the side of the vehicle with the de- 15 vice will slide under the side of the impacted vehicle. 16 ‘‘(19) ‘single unit truck’ means a truck (exclud- 17 ing any attached trailer).’’; 18 (7) by inserting after paragraph (20) (as so re- 19 designated) the following: 20 ‘‘(21) ‘trailer’ means a vehicle, with or without 21 motive power, that is designed— 22 ‘‘(A) to carry persons or property; and 23 ‘‘(B) to be drawn by a motor vehicle.’’; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:43 Apr 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S605.IS S605 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 605 IS (8) by inserting ‘‘The term’’ after the para- 1 graph designation in each of paragraphs (1) through 2 (22) (as so redesignated); and 3 (9) in each of paragraphs (1) through (22) (as 4 so redesignated), by inserting a paragraph heading, 5 the text of which is comprised of the term defined 6 in the paragraph. 7 SEC. 4. UNDERRIDE GUARD RULEMAKING. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 301 of 9 title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 10 end the following: 11 ‘‘§ 30129. Underride guards 12 ‘‘(a) REAR UNDERRIDE GUARDS.— 13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 14 the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary 15 shall issue a final rule to require the installation of 16 rear underride guards that meet the performance 17 standards described in paragraph (2) on— 18 ‘‘(A) any trailer with a gross vehicle weight 19 rating of 10,000 pounds or more that is manu- 20 factured on or after the effective date of the 21 rule; 22 ‘‘(B) any semi-trailer with a gross vehicle 23 weight rating of 10,000 pounds or more that is 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:43 Apr 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S605.IS S605 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 605 IS manufactured on or after the effective date of 1 the rule; and 2 ‘‘(C) any single unit truck— 3 ‘‘(i) the bottom of the carriage of 4 which is greater than 22 inches above the 5 ground; 6 ‘‘(ii) with a gross vehicle weight rating 7 of 10,000 pounds or more; and 8 ‘‘(iii) that is manufactured on or after 9 the effective date of the rule. 10 ‘‘(2) PERFORMANCE STANDARDS.—A rear 11 underride guard shall be considered to meet the per- 12 formance standard referred to in paragraph (1) if 13 the rear underride guard is able to prevent intrusion 14 from the body or frame of a vehicle described in that 15 paragraph into the passenger compartment of a pas- 16 senger motor vehicle that contacts the guard while 17 traveling at 35 miles per hour, as verified through 18 crash testing while attached to a trailer, after— 19 ‘‘(A) an impact in which the passenger ve- 20 hicle impacts the center of the rear of the trail- 21 er, semi-trailer, or single unit truck; 22 ‘‘(B) an impact in which 50 percent of the 23 width of the passenger vehicle overlaps the rear 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:43 Apr 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S605.IS S605 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 605 IS of the trailer, semi-trailer, or single unit truck; 1 and 2 ‘‘(C) an impact in which 30 percent of the 3 width of the passenger vehicle overlaps the rear 4 of the trailer, semi-trailer, or single unit truck. 5 ‘‘(3) COMPLIANCE DATE.—Compliance with the 6 rule issued by the Secretary under paragraph (1) 7 shall be required beginning 1 year after the date on 8 which the final rule is published in the Federal Reg- 9 ister. 10 ‘‘(b) SIDE UNDERRIDE GUARDS.— 11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 12 the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary 13 shall issue a final rule requiring the installation of 14 side underride guards that meet the performance 15 standards described in paragraph (2) on— 16 ‘‘(A) any trailer with a gross vehicle weight 17 rating of 10,000 pounds or more that is manu- 18 factured on or after the effective date of the 19 rule; 20 ‘‘(B) any semi-trailer with a gross vehicle 21 weight rating of 10,000 pounds or more that is 22 manufactured on or after the effective date of 23 the rule; and 24 ‘‘(C) any single unit truck— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:43 Apr 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S605.IS S605 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 605 IS ‘‘(i) the bottom of the carriage of 1 which is greater than 22 inches above the 2 ground; 3 ‘‘(ii) with a gross vehicle weight rating 4 of 10,000 pounds or more; and 5 ‘‘(iii) that is manufactured on or after 6 the effective date of the rule. 7 ‘‘(2) PERFORMANCE STANDARDS.—A side 8 underride guard shall be considered to meet the per- 9 formance standards referred to in paragraph (1) if 10 the side underride guard is able to prevent intrusion 11 from the body or frame of a vehicle described in that 12 paragraph into the passenger compartment of a pas- 13 senger motor vehicle that contacts the guard while 14 traveling 35 miles per hour at any angle between 10 15 degrees and 90 degrees. 16 ‘‘(3) COMPLIANCE DATE.—Compliance with the 17 rule issued by the Secretary under paragraph (1) 18 shall be required beginning on the date that is 1 19 year after the date on which the final rule is pub- 20 lished in the Federal Register. 21 ‘‘(c) FRONT UNDERRIDE GUARDS.— 22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years 23 after the date of enactment of this section, the Sec- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:43 Apr 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S605.IS S605 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 605 IS retary shall issue a final rule requiring the installa- 1 tion of front underride guards on— 2 ‘‘(A) any semi-truck with a gross vehicle 3 weight rating of 10,000 pounds or more that is 4 manufactured on or after the effective date of 5 the rule; and 6 ‘‘(B) any single unit truck— 7 ‘‘(i) the bottom of the carriage of 8 which is greater than 22 inches above the 9 ground; 10 ‘‘(ii) with a gross vehicle weight rating 11 of 10,000 pounds or more; and 12 ‘‘(iii) that is manufactured on or after 13 the effective date of the rule. 14 ‘‘(2) COMPLIANCE DATE.—Compliance with the 15 rule issued by the Secretary under paragraph (1) 16 shall be required beginning on the date that is 1 17 year after the date on which the final rule is pub- 18 lished in the Federal Register. 19 ‘‘(3) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 20 date of enactment of this section, the Secretary 21 shall— 22 ‘‘(A) complete research on equipping the 23 vehicles described in paragraph (1) with a front 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:43 Apr 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S605.IS S605 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 605 IS underride guard to prevent trucks from over- 1 riding the passenger vehicle; and 2 ‘‘(B) submit to the Committee on Com- 3 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Sen- 4 ate and the Committees on Transportation and 5 Infrastructure and Energy and Commerce of 6 the House of Representatives a report on the 7 research described in subparagraph (A). 8 ‘‘(d) INSPECTION AND REPAIR REQUIREMENTS.— 9 ‘‘(1) POST-ACCIDENT INSPECTIONS.—To ensure 10 that all trailers, semi-trailers, and single unit trucks 11 are maintained in safe and proper operating condi- 12 tion at all times, the Secretary shall require that any 13 trailer, semi-trailer, or single unit truck involved in 14 an accident (as defined in section 390.5 of title 49, 15 Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor regula- 16 tion)) undergo and pass an inspection described in 17 appendix G to subchapter B of chapter III of title 18 49, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regu- 19 lations), to certify that all components of the trailer, 20 semi-trailer, or single unit truck, as applicable, are 21 in safe and proper operating condition. 22 ‘‘(2) PRE-TRIP INSPECTIONS.—The Secretary 23 shall require drivers— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:43 Apr 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S605.IS S605 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 605 IS ‘‘(A) to conduct a pre-trip inspection of the 1 comprehensive underride protection system re- 2 quired under this section on their trailer, semi- 3 trailer, or single unit truck— 4 ‘‘(i) to identify— 5 ‘‘(I) any metal perforated by rust 6 or corrosion that compromises struc- 7 tural integrity; 8 ‘‘(II) cracked welds; 9 ‘‘(III) cracked or fractured 10 vertical members; 11 ‘‘(IV) cuts and tears in any 12 underride guard; and 13 ‘‘(V) missing fasteners and loose 14 fasteners; and 15 ‘‘(ii) to ensure the dimensional integ- 16 rity of those guards; 17 ‘‘(B) to include the results of the inspec- 18 tion described in subparagraph (A) in the driver 19 vehicle inspection report; and 20 ‘‘(C) to complete any necessary repairs to, 21 or replacement of, the underride protection sys- 22 tem before the vehicle is operated.’’. 23 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The chapter analysis 24 for chapter 301 of title 49, United States Code, is amend- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:43 Apr 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S605.IS S605 kj [Text truncated for display. 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