21st Century Smart Cars Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3628 To amend subchapter II of chapter 301 of title 49, United States Code, to require crash avoidance technologies, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 28, 2021 Ms. SCHAKOWSKY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend subchapter II of chapter 301 of title 49, United States Code, to require crash avoidance technologies, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘21st Century Smart 4 Cars Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. 21ST CENTURY SMART CARS. 6 (a) CRASH AVOIDANCE RULEMAKING.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 8 301 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by 9 adding at the end the following: 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:05 Jul 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3628.IH H3628 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3628 IH ‘‘§ 30130. Crash avoidance rulemaking 1 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 2 date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall issue 3 final rules prescribing motor vehicle safety standards 4 that— 5 ‘‘(1) establish minimum performance require- 6 ments for the crash avoidance systems described in 7 subsection (b); and 8 ‘‘(2) require all new passenger motor vehicles 9 manufactured for sale in the United States, intro- 10 duced or delivered for introduction in interstate com- 11 merce, or imported into the United States to be 12 equipped with the crash avoidance systems described 13 in subsection (b). 14 ‘‘(b) CRASH AVOIDANCE SYSTEMS.—The Secretary 15 shall issue motor vehicle safety standards for each of the 16 following crash avoidance systems— 17 ‘‘(1) forward collision warning and automatic 18 emergency braking that detects potential collisions 19 with vehicles, objects, pedestrians, bicyclists, and 20 other vulnerable road users while the vehicle is trav- 21 eling forward, provides a warning to the driver, and 22 automatically applies the brakes to avoid or mitigate 23 the severity of a collision; 24 ‘‘(2) rear automatic emergency braking that de- 25 tects a potential collision with vehicles, objects, pe- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:05 Jul 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3628.IH H3628 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3628 IH destrians, bicyclists, and other vulnerable road users 1 while a vehicle is travelling in reverse and automati- 2 cally applies the brakes to avoid or mitigate the se- 3 verity of a collision; 4 ‘‘(3) rear cross traffic warning that detects ve- 5 hicles, objects, pedestrians, bicyclists, and other vul- 6 nerable road users approaching from the side and 7 rear of a vehicle as it travels in reverse and alerts 8 the driver; 9 ‘‘(4) lane departure warning that monitors a ve- 10 hicle’s position in its lane and alerts the driver as 11 the vehicle approaches or crosses lane markers; and 12 ‘‘(5) blind spot warning that detects a vehicle, 13 pedestrian, bicyclist, and other vulnerable road user 14 to the side or rear of a vehicle and alerts the driver 15 to their presence, including when a driver attempts 16 to change the course of travel toward another vehicle 17 or road user in the blind zone of the vehicle. 18 ‘‘(c) CONSIDERATIONS.—In prescribing the motor ve- 19 hicle safety standards required in subsection (a), the Sec- 20 retary shall require that the crash avoidance systems— 21 ‘‘(1) perform effectively at speeds for which a 22 passenger motor vehicle is designed to operate, in- 23 cluding on city streets and highways; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:05 Jul 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3628.IH H3628 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3628 IH ‘‘(2) include self-diagnostic capability and warn- 1 ing when inoperable. 2 ‘‘(d) COMPLIANCE DATE.—The compliance date of 3 the standards prescribed under subsection (a) shall not ex- 4 ceed more than 2 years from the date final rules are 5 issued. 6 ‘‘(e) RULEMAKING ON POINT OF SALE INFORMA- 7 TION.—Not later than 18 months after the date of enact- 8 ment of this section, the Secretary shall issue a final rule 9 to require clear and concise information about the capa- 10 bilities and limitations of advanced crash avoidance sys- 11 tems described in subsection (b) to be provided to a con- 12 sumer at the point of sale and in the vehicle owner’s man- 13 ual, including a publicly accessible electronic owner’s man- 14 ual. 15 ‘‘(f) HEADLAMPS.— 16 ‘‘(1) Not later than 2 years after the date of 17 enactment of this section, the Secretary shall issue 18 a final rule amending section 571.108 of title 49, 19 Code of Federal Regulations to— 20 ‘‘(A) improve illumination of the roadway; 21 ‘‘(B) prevent glare; 22 ‘‘(C) establish minimum performance 23 standards for— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:05 Jul 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3628.IH H3628 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3628 IH ‘‘(i) semi-automatic headlamp beam 1 switching; 2 ‘‘(ii) curve adaptive headlamps; and 3 ‘‘(iii) adaptive driving beam headlamp 4 technology. 5 ‘‘(2) The compliance date of the revised stand- 6 ard prescribed under paragraph (1) shall not exceed 7 more than 2 years from the effective date. 8 ‘‘(3) Not later than 1 year after the date of en- 9 actment of this section, the Secretary shall finalize 10 the Rulemaking (83 Fed. Reg. 51766) to permit the 11 certification of adaptive driving beam headlighting 12 systems. 13 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 14 ‘‘(1) CRASH AVOIDANCE.—The term ‘crash 15 avoidance’ has the meaning given to that term in 16 section 32301. 17 ‘‘(2) PASSENGER MOTOR VEHICLE.—The term 18 ‘passenger motor vehicle’ has the meaning given to 19 that term in section 32101.’’. 20 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of 21 sections for subchapter II of chapter 301 of title 49, 22 United States Code, is further amended by adding 23 after the item relating to section 30129 (as added 24 by section 32002(a)(2)) the following: 25 ‘‘30130. Crash avoidance rulemaking.’’. VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:05 Jul 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H3628.IH H3628 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3628 IH (b) RESEARCH OF ADVANCED CRASH SYSTEMS.— 1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 2 301 of title 49, United States Code, as amended by 3 section(a)(1), is further amended by adding at the 4 end the following: 5 ‘‘§ 30131. Advanced crash systems research and con- 6 sumer education 7 ‘‘(a) ADVANCED CRASH SYSTEMS RESEARCH.— 8 ‘‘(1) Not later than 2 years after the date of 9 enactment of this section, the Secretary shall com- 10 plete research into the following: 11 ‘‘(A) Direct driver monitoring systems that 12 will minimize driver disengagement, driver dis- 13 traction, prevent automation complacency, and 14 foreseeable misuse of vehicle automation. 15 ‘‘(B) Lane keeping assistance that assists 16 with steering to keep a vehicle within its driving 17 lane. 18 ‘‘(C) Automatic collision notification sys- 19 tems that— 20 ‘‘(i) notify emergency responders that 21 a crash has occurred and provide the geo- 22 graphical location of the vehicle and crash 23 data in a manner that allows for assess- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:05 Jul 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3628.IH H3628 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3628 IH ment of potential injuries and emergency 1 response; and 2 ‘‘(ii) transfer to the Secretary 3 anonymized automatic crash data for the 4 purposes of safety research and statistical 5 analysis. 6 ‘‘(D) Intelligent Speed Assist that— 7 ‘‘(i) determines the applicable speed 8 limit where the vehicle is operating; and 9 ‘‘(ii) alerts the driver to the current 10 speed limit and discourages exceeding that 11 limit. 12 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—In conducting the re- 13 search required under subsection (a), the Secretary 14 shall— 15 ‘‘(A) develop one or more tests to evaluate 16 the performance of the systems; 17 ‘‘(B) determine criteria that would be rea- 18 sonable and practicable at evaluating the per- 19 formance of the systems; and 20 ‘‘(C) determine fail, pass, or advanced pass 21 criteria to assure the systems are performing 22 their intended function. 23 ‘‘(3) REPORT.—The Secretary shall submit a 24 report detailing findings from the research required 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:05 Jul 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3628.IH H3628 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3628 IH under subsection (a) to the House Energy and Com- 1 merce Committee and the Senate Commerce, 2 Science, and Transportation Committee not later 3 than 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act. 4 ‘‘(4) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 4 years 5 after the date of enactment of this section, the Sec- 6 retary shall issue final rules to establish motor vehi- 7 cle safety standards for the advanced crash systems 8 described in this subsection and to require all new 9 passenger motor vehicles manufactured for sale in 10 the United States, introduced or delivered for intro- 11 duction in interstate commerce, or imported into the 12 United States produced after the compliance date of 13 such standards to be equipped with advanced crash 14 avoidance systems described in this subsection. 15 ‘‘(5) LEAD TIME.—The compliance date of the 16 standards prescribed under this section shall not ex- 17 ceed more than 2 model years from the date a motor 18 vehicle safety standard is finalized. 19 ‘‘(6) CRASH DATA.—If the Secretary makes a 20 determination that establishing a motor vehicle safe- 21 ty standard described in paragraph (1)(C)(ii) does 22 not meet the requirements and considerations set 23 forth in subsections (a) and (b) of section 30111 of 24 title 49, United States Code, the Secretary— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:05 Jul 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3628.IH H3628 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3628 IH ‘‘(A) shall submit a report describing the 1 reasons for reaching such a determination to 2 the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 3 House of Representatives and the Committee 4 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation in 5 the Senate; and 6 ‘‘(B) may not issue such a standard. 7 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 8 ‘‘(1) CRASH AVOIDANCE.—The term ‘crash 9 avoidance’ has the meaning given to that term in 10 section 32301. 11 ‘‘(2) PASSENGER MOTOR VEHICLE.—The term 12 ‘passenger motor vehicle’ has the meaning given to 13 that term in section 32101.’’. 14 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of 15 section for subchapter II of chapter 301 of title 49, 16 United States Code, is further amended by adding 17 after the item relating to section 30129, as added by 18 section 2(b), the following: 19 ‘‘30131. Advanced crash systems research and consumer education.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:05 Jul 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3628.IH H3628 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS