Safe Roads Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3591 To direct the Secretary of Transportation to prescribe a motor vehicle safety standard that requires new commercial motor vehicles to be equipped with an automatic emergency braking system, to require automatic emer- gency braking installed in commercial motor vehicles to be used while in operation, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 28, 2021 Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia (for himself, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. COHEN, and Mr. BERGMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi- sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To direct the Secretary of Transportation to prescribe a motor vehicle safety standard that requires new commer- cial motor vehicles to be equipped with an automatic emergency braking system, to require automatic emer- gency braking installed in commercial motor vehicles to be used while in operation, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:30 Jun 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3591.IH H3591 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3591 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Safe Roads Act of 2 2021’’. 3 SEC. 2. MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARD. 4 (a) MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARD FOR TRUCK 5 TRACTORS WITH ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL.— 6 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 7 section, the Secretary of Transportation shall— 8 (1) prescribe a motor vehicle safety standard 9 under section 30111 of title 49, United States Code, 10 that requires any truck-tractor subject to Federal 11 motor vehicle safety standard 136 (49 C.F.R. 12 571.136; relating to electronic stability control sys- 13 tems for heavy vehicles) that is manufactured after 14 the effective date of the standard to be equipped 15 with an automatic emergency braking system; and 16 (2) include standards that establish the per- 17 formance requirements for automatic emergency 18 braking systems. 19 (b) FEDERAL MOTOR CARRIER SAFETY REGULATION 20 FOR TRUCK TRACTORS WITH ELECTRONIC STABILITY 21 CONTROL.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enact- 22 ment of this section, the Secretary shall prescribe a regu- 23 lation under section 31136 of title 49, United States Code, 24 that requires an automatic emergency braking system in- 25 stalled in any truck-tractor subject to Federal motor vehi- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:30 Jun 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3591.IH H3591 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3591 IH cle safety standard 136 (49 C.F.R. 571.136; relating to 1 electronic stability control systems for heavy vehicles) in 2 operation on or after the effective date to be used at any 3 time during which the truck-tractor is in operation. 4 (c) REPORT ON AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING 5 IN MEDIUM COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLES.—Not later 6 than 2 years after the date of enactment of this section, 7 the Secretary shall— 8 (1) complete a study on equipping commercial 9 motor vehicles with automatic emergency braking to 10 avoid or mitigate a collision with an obstacle in the 11 path of the vehicle; 12 (2) submit to the Committee on Commerce, 13 Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the 14 Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure 15 and Energy and Commerce of the House of Rep- 16 resentatives a report on the study described in para- 17 graph (1); and 18 (3) if the Secretary determines it to be nec- 19 essary, initiate a Federal Motor Vehicle Safety 20 Standard for automatic emergency braking for all 21 commercial motor vehicles, if appropriate. 22 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 23 (1) AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING SYS- 24 TEM.—The term ‘‘automatic emergency braking sys- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:30 Jun 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3591.IH H3591 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3591 IH tem’’ means a system on a commercial motor vehicle 1 that, based on a predefined distance and closing rate 2 with respect to an obstacle in the path of the vehi- 3 cle— 4 (A) alerts the driver of the obstacle; and 5 (B) if necessary, to avoid or mitigate a col- 6 lision with the obstacle, automatically applies 7 the brakes of the vehicle. 8 (2) COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLE.—The term 9 ‘‘commercial motor vehicle’’ means a motor vehicle 10 or truck-tractor used in commerce to transport prop- 11 erty that has a gross vehicle weight rating or a gross 12 vehicle weight of not less than 10,001 pounds. 13 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 14 the Secretary of Transportation. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:30 Jun 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3591.IH H3591 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS