FAIR Crash Tests Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2007 To require the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a study and submit a report on the use of crash test dummies by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 10, 2021 Mr. PETERS (for himself and Mrs. FISCHER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To require the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a study and submit a report on the use of crash test dummies by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 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 ‘‘Furthering Advanced 4 and Inclusive Research for Crash Tests Act’’ or the 5 ‘‘FAIR Crash Tests Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2007.IS S2007 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2007 IS SEC. 2. GAO REPORT ON ANTHROPOMORPHIC CRASH TEST 1 DUMMIES. 2 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 3 of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 4 shall conduct a study and submit to the Committee on 5 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and 6 the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House 7 of Representatives a report that— 8 (1) examines— 9 (A) the processes used by the National 10 Highway Traffic Safety Administration (re- 11 ferred to in this Act as the ‘‘Administration’’) 12 for studying and deploying crash test dummies; 13 (B)(i) the types of crash test dummies 14 used by the Administration as of the date of en- 15 actment of this Act; 16 (ii) the seating positions in which those 17 crash test dummies are tested; and 18 (iii) whether the seating position affects 19 disparities in motor vehicle safety outcomes 20 based on demographic characteristics, including 21 sex, and, if so, how the seating position affects 22 those disparities; 23 (C) the biofidelic crash test dummies that 24 are available in the global and domestic market- 25 place that reflect the physical and demographic 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2007.IS S2007 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2007 IS characteristics of the driving public in the 1 United States, including— 2 (i) females; 3 (ii) the elderly; 4 (iii) young adults; 5 (iv) children; and 6 (v) individuals of differing body 7 weights; 8 (D) how the Administration determines 9 whether to study and deploy new biofidelic 10 crash test dummies, including the biofidelic 11 crash test dummies examined under subpara- 12 graph (C), and the timelines by which the Ad- 13 ministration conducts the work of making those 14 determinations and studying and deploying new 15 biofidelic crash test dummies; 16 (E) challenges the Administration faces in 17 studying and deploying new crash test dum- 18 mies; and 19 (F) how the practices of the Administra- 20 tion with respect to crash test dummies com- 21 pare to other programs that test vehicles and 22 report results to the public, including the Euro- 23 pean New Car Assessment Programme; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2007.IS S2007 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2007 IS (2) evaluates potential improvements to the 1 processes described in paragraph (1) that could re- 2 duce disparities in motor vehicle safety outcomes 3 based on demographic characteristics, including sex; 4 (3) analyzes the potential use of computer sim- 5 ulation techniques, as a supplement to physical 6 crash tests, to conduct virtual simulations of vehicle 7 crash tests in order to evaluate predicted motor vehi- 8 cle safety outcomes based on the different physical 9 and demographic characteristics of motor vehicle oc- 10 cupants; and 11 (4) includes, as applicable, any assessments or 12 recommendations relating to crash test dummies 13 that are relevant to reducing disparities in motor ve- 14 hicle safety outcomes based on demographic charac- 15 teristics, including sex. 16 SEC. 3. INTERIM REPORT FROM THE ADMINISTRATION. 17 Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment 18 of this Act, the Administrator of the Administration shall 19 submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 20 Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on En- 21 ergy and Commerce of the House of Representatives a re- 22 port that— 23 (1) identifies— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2007.IS S2007 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2007 IS (A) the types of crash test dummies used 1 by the Administration as of the date of enact- 2 ment of this Act with respect to— 3 (i) the New Car Assessment Program 4 of the Administration; and 5 (ii) testing relating to Federal Motor 6 Vehicle Safety Standards; 7 (B) how each type of crash test dummy 8 identified under subparagraph (A) is tested 9 with respect to seating position; and 10 (C) any crash test dummies that the Ad- 11 ministration is actively evaluating for future 12 use— 13 (i) in the New Car Assessment Pro- 14 gram of the Administration; or 15 (ii) for testing relating to Federal 16 Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; 17 (2) explains— 18 (A) the plans of the Administration, in- 19 cluding the expected timelines, for putting any 20 crash test dummies identified under paragraph 21 (1)(C) to use as described in that paragraph; 22 (B) any challenges to putting those crash 23 test dummies to use; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2007.IS S2007 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2007 IS (C) the potential use of computer simula- 1 tion techniques, as a supplement to physical 2 crash tests, to conduct virtual simulations of ve- 3 hicle crash tests in order to evaluate predicted 4 motor vehicle safety outcomes based on the dif- 5 ferent physical and demographic characteristics 6 of motor vehicle occupants; and 7 (3) provides policy recommendations for reduc- 8 ing disparities in motor vehicle safety testing and 9 outcomes based on demographic characteristics, in- 10 cluding sex. 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2007.IS S2007 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS