Stop Underrides Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1511 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 5, 2019 Mr. COHEN (for himself and Mr. DESAULNIER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 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 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 5 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 6 (1) underride crashes involving passenger motor 7 vehicles striking and traveling underneath a truck or 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1511.IH H1511 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 1511 IH trailer are a significant public health and safety 1 threat; 2 (2) the National Highway Traffic Safety Ad- 3 ministration has reported that hundreds of prevent- 4 able fatalities and life-threatening injuries have oc- 5 curred as a result of underride crashes; 6 (3) the National Transportation Safety Board 7 has recommended the installation of rear, side, and 8 front underride guards on tractor-trailers and rear 9 and side underride guards on single unit trucks to 10 improve passenger motor vehicle safety; and 11 (4) this Act is introduced in the memory of the 12 thousands of victims of underride crashes, includ- 13 ing— 14 (A) Roya Christine Sadigh, AnnaLeah 15 Karth, Mary Lydia Karth, Roderick Cota, 16 Moonjohn Kim, Corey Moore, Gregg Williams, 17 Guy Champ Crawford, Carl Hall, Michael 18 Higginbotham, Sandra Maddamma, David 19 Mathis, Mary Katherine Mathis, James Moon- 20 ey, Christopher Weigl, Bill Zink, David 21 Magnan, Jasen Swift, Samuel Sierra, Brittany 22 McHargue, Christopher Samuel Padilla, Riley 23 Hein, Erin Alexander, Jordan Hensley, and Ed- 24 ward Hall; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1511.IH H1511 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 1511 IH (B) those whose catastrophic injuries dra- 1 matically changed their lives, including Julie 2 Magnan, Nancy Meuleners, Joshua Rojas, Maiv 3 Yang, Anita Plantage Bomgaars, and Michael 4 B. Hawkins; and 5 (C) those whose precious lives were cut far 6 too short as a result of preventable underride 7 crashes. 8 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 9 (1) to reduce the number of preventable deaths 10 and injuries caused by underride crashes; and 11 (2) to improve motor carrier and passenger 12 motor vehicle safety. 13 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 14 Section 30102(a) of title 49, United States Code, is 15 amended— 16 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 17 striking ‘‘chapter—’’ and inserting ‘‘chapter:’’; 18 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), (3), 19 (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), (10), (11), (12), and (13) 20 as paragraphs (2), (3), (4), (5), (7), (8), (9), (10), 21 (11), (12), (15), (20), and (22), respectively; 22 (3) by inserting before paragraph (2) (as so re- 23 designated) the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1511.IH H1511 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 1511 IH ‘‘(1) ‘comprehensive underride protection sys- 1 tem’ means all of the front underride guards, rear 2 underride guards, or side underride guards, as appli- 3 cable, installed on a motor vehicle.’’; 4 (4) by inserting after paragraph (5) (as so re- 5 designated) the following: 6 ‘‘(6) ‘front underride guard’ means a device in- 7 stalled on or near the front of a motor vehicle that 8 prevents or limits the distance that a vehicle struck 9 by the vehicle with the device will slide under the 10 front of the striking vehicle.’’; 11 (5) by inserting after paragraph (12) (as so re- 12 designated) the following: 13 ‘‘(13) ‘passenger motor vehicle’ has the mean- 14 ing given that term in section 32101. 15 ‘‘(14) ‘rear underride guard’ means a device in- 16 stalled on or near the rear of a motor vehicle that 17 prevents or limits the distance that the front end of 18 a vehicle striking the rear of the vehicle with the de- 19 vice will slide under the rear of the impacted vehi- 20 cle.’’; 21 (6) by inserting after paragraph (15) (as so re- 22 designated) the following: 23 ‘‘(16) ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary of Trans- 24 portation. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1511.IH H1511 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 1511 IH ‘‘(17) ‘semi-trailer’ means a trailer, other than 1 a pole trailer, which is designed to rest upon, or be 2 carried by, a motor vehicle. 3 ‘‘(18) ‘side underride guard’ means a device in- 4 stalled on or near the side of a motor vehicle that 5 prevents or limits the distance that the front end of 6 a vehicle striking the side of the vehicle with the de- 7 vice will slide under the side of the impacted vehicle. 8 ‘‘(19) ‘single unit truck’ means a truck (exclud- 9 ing any attached trailer).’’; 10 (7) by inserting after paragraph (20) (as so re- 11 designated) the following: 12 ‘‘(21) ‘trailer’ means a vehicle, with or without 13 motive power, that is designed— 14 ‘‘(A) to carry persons or property; and 15 ‘‘(B) to be drawn by a motor vehicle.’’; and 16 (8) by inserting ‘‘The term’’ after the para- 17 graph designation in each of paragraphs (1) through 18 (22) (as so redesignated). 19 SEC. 4. UNDERRIDE GUARD RULEMAKING. 20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 301 of 21 title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 22 end the following: 23 ‘‘§ 30129. Underride guards 24 ‘‘(a) REAR UNDERRIDE GUARDS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1511.IH H1511 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 1511 IH ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 1 the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary 2 shall issue a final rule to require the installation of 3 rear underride guards that meet the performance 4 standards described in paragraph (3) on— 5 ‘‘(A) any trailer with a gross vehicle weight 6 rating of 10,000 pounds or more that is manu- 7 factured on or after the effective date of the 8 rule; 9 ‘‘(B) any semi-trailer with a gross vehicle 10 weight rating of 10,000 pounds or more that is 11 manufactured on or after the effective date of 12 the rule; and 13 ‘‘(C) any single unit truck— 14 ‘‘(i) the bottom of the carriage of 15 which is greater than 22 inches above the 16 ground; 17 ‘‘(ii) with a gross vehicle weight rating 18 of 10,000 pounds or more; and 19 ‘‘(iii) that is manufactured on or after 20 the effective date of the rule. 21 ‘‘(2) RETRO-FIT REQUIREMENTS.—Not later 22 than 2 years after the date of enactment of this sec- 23 tion, the Secretary shall issue a final rule requiring 24 the installation of rear underride guards that meet 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1511.IH H1511 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 1511 IH the performance standards described in paragraph 1 (3) on— 2 ‘‘(A) any trailer with a gross vehicle weight 3 rating of 10,000 pounds or more that is manu- 4 factured before the effective date of the rule 5 under paragraph (1); 6 ‘‘(B) any semi-trailer with a gross vehicle 7 weight rating of 10,000 pounds or more that is 8 manufactured before the effective date of the 9 rule under paragraph (1); and 10 ‘‘(C) any single unit truck— 11 ‘‘(i) the bottom of the carriage of 12 which is greater than 22 inches above the 13 ground; 14 ‘‘(ii) with a gross vehicle weight rating 15 of 10,000 pounds or more; and 16 ‘‘(iii) that is manufactured before the 17 effective date of the rule under paragraph 18 (1). 19 ‘‘(3) PERFORMANCE STANDARDS.—A rear 20 underride guard shall be considered to meet the per- 21 formance standard referred to in paragraphs (1) and 22 (2) if the rear underride guard is able to prevent in- 23 trusion from the body or frame of a vehicle de- 24 scribed in paragraph (1) or (2), as applicable, into 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1511.IH H1511 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 1511 IH the passenger compartment of a passenger motor ve- 1 hicle that contacts the guard while traveling at 35 2 miles per hour, as verified through crash testing 3 while attached to a trailer, after— 4 ‘‘(A) an impact in which the passenger ve- 5 hicle impacts the center of the rear of the trail- 6 er, semi-trailer, or single unit truck; 7 ‘‘(B) an impact in which 50 percent the 8 width of the passenger vehicle overlaps the rear 9 of the trailer, semi-trailer, or single unit truck; 10 and 11 ‘‘(C) an impact in which 30 percent of the 12 width of the passenger vehicle overlaps the rear 13 of the trailer, semi-trailer, or single unit truck. 14 ‘‘(4) COMPLIANCE DATES.— 15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 16 subparagraph (B), compliance with each of the 17 rules issued by the Secretary under paragraphs 18 (1) and (2) shall be required beginning 1 year 19 after the date on which the final rule is pub- 20 lished in the Federal Register. 21 ‘‘(B) PHASE-IN.—The Secretary may per- 22 mit a phase-in period (not to exceed 2 years) 23 for the installation of rear underride guards on 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1511.IH H1511 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 1511 IH trailers, semi-trailers, and single unit trucks de- 1 scribed in paragraph (2). 2 ‘‘(b) SIDE UNDERRIDE GUARDS.— 3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 4 the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary 5 shall issue a final rule requiring the installation of 6 side underride guards that meet the performance 7 standards described in paragraph (3) on— 8 ‘‘(A) any trailer with a gross vehicle weight 9 rating of 10,000 pounds or more that is manu- 10 factured on or after the effective date of the 11 rule; 12 ‘‘(B) any semi-trailer with a gross vehicle 13 weight rating of 10,000 pounds or more that is 14 manufactured on or after the effective date of 15 the rule; and 16 ‘‘(C) any single unit truck— 17 ‘‘(i) the bottom of the carriage of 18 which is greater than 22 inches above the 19 ground; 20 ‘‘(ii) with a gross vehicle weight rating 21 of 10,000 pounds or more; and 22 ‘‘(iii) that is manufactured on or after 23 the effective date of the rule. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1511.IH H1511 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 1511 IH ‘‘(2) RETRO-FIT REQUIREMENTS.—Not later 1 than 2 years after the date of enactment of this sec- 2 tion, the Secretary shall issue a final rule requiring 3 the installation of side underride guards that meet 4 the performance standards described in paragraph 5 (3) on— 6 ‘‘(A) any trailer with a gross vehicle weight 7 rating of 10,000 pounds or more that is manu- 8 factured before the effective date of the rule re- 9 quired by paragraph (1); 10 ‘‘(B) any semi-trailer with a gross vehicle 11 weight rating of 10,000 pounds or more that is 12 manufactured before the effective date of the 13 rule required by paragraph (1); and 14 ‘‘(C) any single unit truck— 15 ‘‘(i) the bottom of the carriage of 16 which is greater than 22 inches above the 17 ground; 18 ‘‘(ii) with a gross vehicle weight rating 19 of 10,000 pounds or more; and 20 ‘‘(iii) that is manufactured before the 21 effective date of the rule required by para- 22 graph (1). 23 ‘‘(3) PERFORMANCE STANDARDS.—A side 24 underride guard shall be considered to meet the per- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1511.IH H1511 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 1511 IH formance standards referred to in paragraphs (1) 1 and (2) if the side underride guard is able to prevent 2 intrusion from the body or frame of a vehicle de- 3 scribed in paragraph (1) or (2), as applicable, into 4 the passenger compartment of a passenger motor ve- 5 hicle that contacts the guard while traveling 35 6 miles per hour at any angle between 10 degrees and 7 90 degrees. 8 ‘‘(4) COMPLIANCE DATES.— 9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 10 subparagraph (B), compliance with each of the 11 rules issued by the Secretary under paragraphs 12 (1) and (2) shall be required beginning on the 13 date that is 1 year after the respective issuance 14 date of each rule. 15 ‘‘(B) PHASE-IN.—The Secretary may per- 16 mit a phase-in period, not to exceed 3 years, for 17 the installation of side underride guards on 18 trailers, semi-trailers, and single unit trucks de- 19 scribed in paragraph (2). 20 ‘‘(c) FRONT UNDERRIDE GUARDS.— 21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years 22 after the date of enactment of this section, the Sec- 23 retary shall issue a final rule requiring the installa- 24 tion of front underride guards on— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1511.IH H1511 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •HR 1511 IH ‘‘(A) any trailer with a gross vehicle weight 1 rating of 10,000 pounds or more that is manu- 2 factured on or after the effective date of the 3 rule; 4 ‘‘(B) any semi-trailer with a gross vehicle 5 weight rating of 10,000 pounds or more that is 6 manufactured on or after the effective date of 7 the rule; and 8 ‘‘(C) any single unit truck— 9 ‘‘(i) the bottom of the carriage of 10 which is greater than 22 inches above the 11 ground; 12 ‘‘(ii) with a gross vehicle weight rating 13 of 10,000 pounds or more; and 14 ‘‘(iii) that is manufactured on or after 15 the effective date of the rule. 16 ‘‘(2) RETROFIT REQUIREMENTS.—Not later 17 than 3 years after the date of enactment of this sec- 18 tion, the Secretary shall issue a rule requiring the 19 installation of front underride guards on— 20 ‘‘(A) any trailer with a gross vehicle weight 21 rating of 10,000 pounds or more that is manu- 22 factured before the effective date of the rule 23 under paragraph (1); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1511.IH H1511 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 13 •HR 1511 IH ‘‘(B) any semi-trailer with a gross vehicle 1 weight rating of 10,000 pounds or more that is 2 manufactured before the effective date of the 3 rule under [Text truncated for display. 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