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II
117TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
S. 1413
To require the Secretary of Transportation to issue a final rule revising
motor vehicle seat back safety standards.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
APRIL 28, 2021
Mr. MARKEY (for himself and Mr. BLUMENTHAL) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation
A BILL
To require the Secretary of Transportation to issue a final
rule revising motor vehicle seat back safety standards.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
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tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
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This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Modernizing Seat Back
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Safety Act’’.
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SEC. 2. MOTOR VEHICLE SEAT BACK SAFETY STANDARDS.
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(a) FINDINGS; PURPOSES.—
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(1) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
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(A) crashes involving seat structural fail-
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ures in passenger motor vehicles pose a signifi-
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•S 1413 IS
cant public health and safety threat, particu-
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larly to children occupying rear seats;
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(B) thousands of preventable fatalities and
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life-threatening injuries have occurred as a re-
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sult of motor vehicle seat failures;
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(C) the National Highway Traffic Safety
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Administration has neglected to improve the
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motor vehicle seat integrity standard for more
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than 50 years, to the detriment of passenger
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motor vehicle safety; and
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(D) this Act is introduced in honor and
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memory of the victims of motor vehicle seat
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failures in crashes, including those whose pre-
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cious lives were cut far too short as a result of
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seat failures and those whose catastrophic inju-
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ries dramatically changed their lives, including
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Taylor Grace Warner, Jayden-Faith Fraser,
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Emily Reavis, Owen Reavis, Teddy Schwab,
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Jaklin
Romine,
Russell
Selkirk,
Travis
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Oldhouser, Thomas Comella, Geneva Massie,
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Crystal Collins, Mary Portis, Dzemila Heco,
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Aaliyah George, Heikki Helava, and Clyde M.
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Sneed.
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(2) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act
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are—
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•S 1413 IS
(A) to reduce the number of preventable
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deaths and injuries caused by motor vehicle
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seat failures; and
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(B) to improve passenger motor vehicle
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safety.
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(b) FINAL RULE.—Not later than 2 years after the
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date of enactment of this Act, subject to subsection (c),
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the Secretary of Transportation shall issue a final rule up-
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dating section 571.207 of title 49, Code of Federal Regu-
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lations, to reduce the potential for injury to all motor vehi-
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cle occupants due to seat back failure during all types of
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vehicle impact.
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(c) COMPLIANCE DATE.—In issuing the final rule
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pursuant to subsection (b), the Secretary of Transpor-
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tation shall establish a date for required compliance with
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the final rule of not later than 2 motor vehicle model years
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after the model year during which the effective date of
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the final rule occurs.
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Æ
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