Hot Cars Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3593 To require the Secretary of Transportation to issue a rule requiring all new passenger motor vehicles to be equipped with a child safety alert system, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 28, 2019 Mr. RYAN (for himself, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, and Mr. KING of New York) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speak- er, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the ju- risdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To require the Secretary of Transportation to issue a rule requiring all new passenger motor vehicles to be equipped with a child safety alert system, 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 ‘‘Hot Cars Act of 4 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:28 Jul 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3593.IH H3593 jspears on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3593 IH (1) Children and domestic animals left unat- 1 tended in vehicles, or independently accessing unoc- 2 cupied vehicles on their own, are a significant public 3 health and safety problem. 4 (2) Thirty-eight children on average are killed 5 by hyperthermia each year as a result of being left 6 unattended in a vehicle or as a result of gaining ac- 7 cess independently into an unoccupied vehicle. 8 (3) In 2018, at least 52 children were killed by 9 hyperthermia as a result of being left unattended in 10 a vehicle or as a result of gaining access independ- 11 ently into an unoccupied vehicle. 12 (4) Between 1990 and 2018, at least 889 chil- 13 dren have been killed by hyperthermia as a result of 14 being left unattended in a vehicle or as a result of 15 gaining access independently into an unoccupied ve- 16 hicle. Of those deaths, where the circumstances were 17 known, 27 percent were the result of the child ac- 18 cessing the vehicle independently. 19 (5) Fourteen percent of parents reported leav- 20 ing a child 6 or younger in a parked, locked car 21 alone. According to a 2014 Public Opinion Strate- 22 gies survey, fourteen percent of parents reported 23 leaving a child six or younger in a parked, locked car 24 alone. The survey finds that, according to United 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:28 Jul 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3593.IH H3593 jspears on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3593 IH States Census data, that’s nearly 2,000,000 United 1 States parents transporting more than 3,300,000 2 United States children. 3 (6) In 2018, at least 57 domestic animals were 4 killed as a result of being left unattended in a vehi- 5 cle. 6 (7) Technology currently exists to detect the 7 presence of a child in the rear seat of a vehicle. 8 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to reduce 9 the deaths and injuries that result from occupants being 10 left in unattended vehicles as well as instances in which 11 children independently access an unoccupied vehicle. 12 SEC. 3. OCCUPANT SAFETY. 13 (a) AMENDMENT.— 14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 323 of title 49, 15 United States Code, is amended by adding after sec- 16 tion 32304A the following new section: 17 ‘‘§ 32304B. Occupant safety 18 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 19 ‘‘(1) PASSENGER MOTOR VEHICLE.—The term 20 ‘passenger motor vehicle’ has the meaning given that 21 term in section 32101. 22 ‘‘(2) REAR DESIGNATED SEATING POSITION.— 23 The term ‘rear designated seating position’ means 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:28 Jul 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3593.IH H3593 jspears on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3593 IH all designated seating positions that are rearward of 1 the front seat. 2 ‘‘(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 3 the Secretary of Transportation. 4 ‘‘(b) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 2 years after the 5 date of the enactment of the Hot Cars Act of 2019, the 6 Secretary shall issue a final rule requiring all new pas- 7 senger motor vehicles with a gross vehicle weight of 8 10,000 pounds or less to be equipped with a system to 9 detect the presence of an occupant in a rear designated 10 seating position after the vehicle engine or motor is deacti- 11 vated and engage a warning. In developing the rule re- 12 quired under this subsection, the Secretary shall consider 13 requiring systems that also detect the presence of any oc- 14 cupant unable to independently exit the vehicle as well as 15 detect the presence of a child who has entered an unoccu- 16 pied vehicle independently. 17 ‘‘(c) MEANS.—The alert required under subsection 18 (b)— 19 ‘‘(1) shall include a distinct auditory and visual 20 alert to notify individuals inside and outside of the 21 vehicle of the presence of an occupant, which shall 22 be combined with an interior haptic warning; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:28 Jul 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3593.IH H3593 jspears on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3593 IH ‘‘(2) shall be activated when the vehicle motor 1 is deactivated by the operator and the presence of an 2 occupant is detected. 3 ‘‘(d) PHASE-IN.—The rule issued pursuant to sub- 4 section (b) shall require full compliance with the rule not 5 later than 2 years after the date on which the final rule 6 is issued.’’. 7 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for 8 Chapter 323 of title 49, United States Code, is 9 amended by striking the item relating to section 10 32304A and inserting the following: 11 ‘‘32304A. Consumer tire information and standards. ‘‘32304B. Occupant safety.’’. (b) AWARENESS OF OCCUPANTS IN MOTOR VEHI- 12 CLES.—Section 402 of title 23, United States Code, is 13 amended by inserting after subsection (k) the following: 14 ‘‘(l) UNATTENDED PASSENGERS.— 15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall use a por- 16 tion of the amount it receives under this section to 17 carry out a program to educate the public on the 18 risks of leaving an occupant in a vehicle. 19 ‘‘(2) PROGRAM PLACEMENT.—A State does not 20 need to carry out the program described in para- 21 graph (1) through the State transportation or high- 22 way safety office.’’. 23 (c) STUDY AND REPORT.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:28 Jul 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3593.IH H3593 jspears on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3593 IH (1) INDEPENDENT STUDY.— 1 (A) AGREEMENT.— 2 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of 3 Transportation shall enter into an agree- 4 ment or a contract with an independent 5 third party that does not have any finan- 6 cial or contractual ties with passenger 7 motor vehicle manufacturers or technology 8 companies producing occupant reminder 9 warning systems or child restraint systems 10 to perform the services under this para- 11 graph. 12 (ii) TIMING.—The Secretary shall 13 enter into the agreement or contract de- 14 scribed in clause (i) not later than the date 15 that the Secretary determines is the latest 16 date by which completion of the services 17 under this paragraph will allow the Sec- 18 retary enough time to prepare and submit 19 the study required under paragraph (2) in 20 accordance with such paragraph. 21 (B) INDEPENDENT STUDY.— 22 (i) IN GENERAL.—Under an agree- 23 ment between the Secretary and an inde- 24 pendent third party under this paragraph, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:28 Jul 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3593.IH H3593 jspears on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3593 IH the independent third party shall carry out 1 a study on retrofitting existing passenger 2 motor vehicles with technology to address 3 the problem of occupants left unattended 4 in motor vehicles. 5 (ii) ELEMENTS.—In carrying out the 6 study required under clause (i), the inde- 7 pendent third party shall— 8 (I) survey and evaluate a variety 9 of methods used by current and 10 emerging aftermarket technology or 11 products to solve the problem of occu- 12 pants being left unattended in the ve- 13 hicle or occupants gaining access to 14 the vehicle independently; 15 (II) make recommendations for 16 manufacturers of such technology or 17 products to undergo a functional safe- 18 ty performance to ensure that the 19 products perform as designed by the 20 manufacturer under a variety of real 21 world conditions; and 22 (III) provide recommendations 23 for consumers on how to select such 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:28 Jul 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3593.IH H3593 jspears on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3593 IH technology or products in order to ret- 1 rofit existing vehicles. 2 (2) REPORT.—During the 180-day period be- 3 ginning on the date on which the Secretary of 4 Transportation issues the final rule required under 5 section 32304B(b) of title 49, United States Code, 6 as added by subsection (a)(1), the Secretary shall 7 submit the results of the study carried out under 8 paragraph (1) to the Committee on Commerce, 9 Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the 10 Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House 11 of Representatives. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:28 Jul 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3593.IH H3593 jspears on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS