Stop Underrides Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1622 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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 8, 2021 Mr. COHEN (for himself, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. CARSON, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. TITUS, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. CARBAJAL, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. KEATING, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. PRESSLEY, Ms. MENG, Mr. KIL- DEE, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. CHU, and Mr. NADLER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infra- structure 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:50 Apr 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1622.IH H1622 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1622 IH SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 1 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 2 (1) underride crashes involving passenger motor 3 vehicles striking and traveling underneath a truck or 4 trailer are a significant public health and safety 5 threat; 6 (2) the National Highway Traffic Safety Ad- 7 ministration has reported that hundreds of prevent- 8 able fatalities and life-threatening injuries have oc- 9 curred as a result of underride crashes; 10 (3) the National Transportation Safety Board 11 has recommended the installation of rear, side, and 12 front underride guards on tractor-trailers and rear 13 and side underride guards on single unit trucks to 14 improve passenger motor vehicle safety; and 15 (4) this Act is introduced in the memory of the 16 thousands of victims of underride crashes, includ- 17 ing— 18 (A) Roya Christine Sadigh, AnnaLeah 19 Karth, Mary Lydia Karth, Roderick Cota, 20 Moonjohn Kim, Corey Moore, Gregg Williams, 21 Guy Champ Crawford, Carl Hall, Michael 22 Higginbotham, Sandra Maddamma, David 23 Mathis, Mary Katherine Mathis, James Moon- 24 ey, Christopher Weigl, Bill Zink, David 25 Magnan, Jasen Swift, Samuel Sierra, Brittany 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:50 Apr 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1622.IH H1622 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1622 IH McHargue, Christopher Samuel Padilla, Riley 1 Hein, Erin Alexander, Jordan Hensley, Edward 2 Hall, Leslie Rosenberg, Sophie Rosenberg, and 3 Ally Davis; 4 (B) those whose catastrophic injuries dra- 5 matically changed their lives, including Julie 6 Magnan, Nancy Meuleners, Joshua Rojas, Maiv 7 Yang, Anita Plantage Bomgaars, and Michael 8 B. Hawkins; and 9 (C) those whose precious lives were cut far 10 too short as a result of preventable underride 11 crashes. 12 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 13 (1) to reduce the number of preventable deaths 14 and injuries caused by underride crashes; and 15 (2) to improve motor carrier and passenger 16 motor vehicle safety. 17 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 18 Section 30102(a) of title 49, United States Code, is 19 amended— 20 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 21 striking ‘‘chapter—’’ and inserting ‘‘chapter:’’; 22 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), (3), 23 (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), (10), (11), (12), and (13) 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:50 Apr 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1622.IH H1622 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1622 IH as paragraphs (2), (3), (4), (5), (7), (8), (9), (10), 1 (11), (12), (15), (20), and (22), respectively; 2 (3) by inserting before paragraph (2) (as so re- 3 designated) the following: 4 ‘‘(1) ‘comprehensive underride protection sys- 5 tem’ means all of the front underride guards, rear 6 underride guards, or side underride guards, as appli- 7 cable, installed on a motor vehicle.’’; 8 (4) by inserting after paragraph (5) (as so re- 9 designated) the following: 10 ‘‘(6) ‘front underride guard’ means a device in- 11 stalled on or near the front of a motor vehicle that 12 prevents or limits the distance that a vehicle struck 13 by the vehicle with the device will slide under the 14 front of the striking vehicle.’’; 15 (5) by inserting after paragraph (12) (as so re- 16 designated) the following: 17 ‘‘(13) ‘passenger motor vehicle’ has the mean- 18 ing given that term in section 32101. 19 ‘‘(14) ‘rear underride guard’ means a device in- 20 stalled on or near the rear of a motor vehicle that 21 prevents or limits the distance that the front end of 22 a vehicle striking the rear of the vehicle with the de- 23 vice will slide under the rear of the impacted vehi- 24 cle.’’; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:50 Apr 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1622.IH H1622 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1622 IH (6) by inserting after paragraph (15) (as so re- 1 designated) the following: 2 ‘‘(16) ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary of Trans- 3 portation. 4 ‘‘(17) ‘semi-trailer’ means a trailer, other than 5 a pole trailer, which is designed to rest upon, or be 6 carried by, a motor vehicle. 7 ‘‘(18) ‘side underride guard’ means a device in- 8 stalled on or near the side of a motor vehicle that 9 prevents or limits the distance that the front end of 10 a vehicle striking the side of the vehicle with the de- 11 vice will slide under the side of the impacted vehicle. 12 ‘‘(19) ‘single unit truck’ means a truck (exclud- 13 ing any attached trailer).’’; 14 (7) by inserting after paragraph (20) (as so re- 15 designated) the following: 16 ‘‘(21) ‘trailer’ means a vehicle, with or without 17 motive power, that is designed— 18 ‘‘(A) to carry persons or property; and 19 ‘‘(B) to be drawn by a motor vehicle.’’; 20 (8) by inserting ‘‘The term’’ after the para- 21 graph designation in each of paragraphs (1) through 22 (22) (as so redesignated); and 23 (9) in each of paragraphs (1) through (22) (as 24 so redesignated), by inserting a paragraph heading, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:50 Apr 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1622.IH H1622 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1622 IH the text of which is comprised of the term defined 1 in the paragraph. 2 SEC. 4. UNDERRIDE GUARD RULEMAKING. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 301 of 4 title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 5 end the following: 6 ‘‘§ 30129. Underride guards 7 ‘‘(a) REAR UNDERRIDE GUARDS.— 8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 9 the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary 10 shall issue a final rule to require the installation of 11 rear underride guards that meet the performance 12 standards described in paragraph (2) on— 13 ‘‘(A) any trailer with a gross vehicle weight 14 rating of 10,000 pounds or more that is manu- 15 factured on or after the effective date of the 16 rule; 17 ‘‘(B) any semi-trailer with a gross vehicle 18 weight rating of 10,000 pounds or more that is 19 manufactured on or after the effective date of 20 the rule; and 21 ‘‘(C) any single unit truck— 22 ‘‘(i) the bottom of the carriage of 23 which is greater than 22 inches above the 24 ground; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:50 Apr 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1622.IH H1622 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1622 IH ‘‘(ii) with a gross vehicle weight rating 1 of 10,000 pounds or more; and 2 ‘‘(iii) that is manufactured on or after 3 the effective date of the rule. 4 ‘‘(2) PERFORMANCE STANDARDS.—A rear 5 underride guard shall be considered to meet the per- 6 formance standard referred to in paragraph (1) if 7 the rear underride guard is able to prevent intrusion 8 from the body or frame of a vehicle described in that 9 paragraph into the passenger compartment of a pas- 10 senger motor vehicle that contacts the guard while 11 traveling at 35 miles per hour, as verified through 12 crash testing while attached to a trailer, after— 13 ‘‘(A) an impact in which the passenger ve- 14 hicle impacts the center of the rear of the trail- 15 er, semi-trailer, or single unit truck; 16 ‘‘(B) an impact in which 50 percent of the 17 width of the passenger vehicle overlaps the rear 18 of the trailer, semi-trailer, or single unit truck; 19 and 20 ‘‘(C) an impact in which 30 percent of the 21 width of the passenger vehicle overlaps the rear 22 of the trailer, semi-trailer, or single unit truck. 23 ‘‘(3) COMPLIANCE DATE.—Compliance with the 24 rule issued by the Secretary under paragraph (1) 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:50 Apr 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1622.IH H1622 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1622 IH shall be required beginning 1 year after the date on 1 which the final rule is published in the Federal Reg- 2 ister. 3 ‘‘(b) SIDE UNDERRIDE GUARDS.— 4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 5 the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary 6 shall issue a final rule requiring the installation of 7 side underride guards that meet the performance 8 standards described in paragraph (2) on— 9 ‘‘(A) any trailer with a gross vehicle weight 10 rating of 10,000 pounds or more that is manu- 11 factured on or after the effective date of the 12 rule; 13 ‘‘(B) any semi-trailer with a gross vehicle 14 weight rating of 10,000 pounds or more that is 15 manufactured on or after the effective date of 16 the rule; and 17 ‘‘(C) any single unit truck— 18 ‘‘(i) the bottom of the carriage of 19 which is greater than 22 inches above the 20 ground; 21 ‘‘(ii) with a gross vehicle weight rating 22 of 10,000 pounds or more; and 23 ‘‘(iii) that is manufactured on or after 24 the effective date of the rule. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:50 Apr 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1622.IH H1622 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1622 IH ‘‘(2) PERFORMANCE STANDARDS.—A side 1 underride guard shall be considered to meet the per- 2 formance standards referred to in paragraph (1) if 3 the side underride guard is able to prevent intrusion 4 from the body or frame of a vehicle described in that 5 paragraph into the passenger compartment of a pas- 6 senger motor vehicle that contacts the guard while 7 traveling 35 miles per hour at any angle between 10 8 degrees and 90 degrees. 9 ‘‘(3) COMPLIANCE DATE.—Compliance with the 10 rule issued by the Secretary under paragraph (1) 11 shall be required beginning on the date that is 1 12 year after the date on which the final rule is pub- 13 lished in the Federal Register. 14 ‘‘(c) FRONT UNDERRIDE GUARDS.— 15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years 16 after the date of enactment of this section, the Sec- 17 retary shall issue a final rule requiring the installa- 18 tion of front underride guards on— 19 ‘‘(A) any semi-truck with a gross vehicle 20 weight rating of 10,000 pounds or more that is 21 manufactured on or after the effective date of 22 the rule; and 23 ‘‘(B) any single unit truck— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:50 Apr 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1622.IH H1622 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 1622 IH ‘‘(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) COMPLIANCE DATE.—Compliance with the 8 rule issued by the Secretary under paragraph (1) 9 shall be required beginning on the date that is 1 10 year after the date on which the final rule is pub- 11 lished in the Federal Register. 12 ‘‘(3) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 13 date of enactment of this section, the Secretary 14 shall— 15 ‘‘(A) complete research on equipping the 16 vehicles described in paragraph (1) with a front 17 underride guard to prevent trucks from over- 18 riding the passenger vehicle; and 19 ‘‘(B) submit to the Committee on Com- 20 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Sen- 21 ate and the Committees on Transportation and 22 Infrastructure and Energy and Commerce of 23 the House of Representatives a report on the 24 research described in subparagraph (A). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:50 Apr 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1622.IH H1622 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 1622 IH ‘‘(d) INSPECTION AND REPAIR REQUIREMENTS.— 1 ‘‘(1) POST-ACCIDENT INSPECTIONS.—To ensure 2 that all trailers, semi-trailers, and single unit trucks 3 are maintained in safe and proper operating condi- 4 tion at all times, the Secretary shall require that any 5 trailer, semi-trailer, or single unit truck involved in 6 an accident (as defined in section 390.5 of title 49, 7 Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor regula- 8 tion)) undergo and pass an inspection described in 9 appendix G to subchapter B of chapter III of title 10 49, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regu- 11 lations), to certify that all components of the trailer, 12 semi-trailer, or single unit truck, as applicable, are 13 in safe and proper operating condition. 14 ‘‘(2) PRE-TRIP INSPECTIONS.—The Secretary 15 shall require drivers— 16 ‘‘(A) to conduct a pre-trip inspection of the 17 comprehensive underride protection system re- 18 quired under this section on their trailer, semi- 19 trailer, or single unit truck— 20 ‘‘(i) to identify— 21 ‘‘(I) any metal perforated by rust 22 or corrosion that compromises struc- 23 tural integrity; 24 ‘‘(II) cracked welds; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:50 Apr 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1622.IH H1622 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 1622 IH ‘‘(III) cracked or fractured 1 vertical members; 2 ‘‘(IV) cuts and tears in any 3 underride guard; and 4 ‘‘(V) missing fasteners and loose 5 fasteners; and 6 ‘‘(ii) to ensure the dimensional integ- 7 rity of those guards; 8 ‘‘(B) to include the results of the inspec- 9 tion described in subparagraph (A) in the driver 10 vehicle inspection report; and 11 ‘‘(C) to complete any necessary repairs to, 12 or replacement of, the underride protection sys- 13 tem before the vehicle is operated.’’. 14 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The chapter analysis 15 for chapter 301 of title 49, United States Code, is amend- 16 ed by striking the item relating to section 30128 and in- 17 serting the following: 18 ‘‘30128. Vehicle rollover prevention and crash mitigation. ‘‘30129. Underride guards.’’. (c) RULEMAKINGS.—The Secreta [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]