Protecting Roadside First Responders Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2700 To amend title 23, United States Code, to provide for efforts relating to Move Over laws, to amend title 49, United States Code, to require crash avoidance technology on motor vehicles, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OCTOBER 24, 2019 Mr. DURBIN (for himself and Ms. DUCKWORTH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To amend title 23, United States Code, to provide for efforts relating to Move Over laws, to amend title 49, United States Code, to require crash avoidance technology on motor vehicles, 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 ‘‘Protecting Roadside 4 First Responders Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:35 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2700.IS S2700 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2700 IS SEC. 2. MOVE OVER LAWS. 1 (a) HIGHWAY SAFETY PROGRAMS.—Section 402 of 2 title 23, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 3 end the following: 4 ‘‘(o) MOVE OVER LAWS.— 5 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION OF MOVE OVER LAW.—In this 6 subsection, the term ‘Move Over law’ means a State 7 law intended to ensure first responder and motorist 8 safety by requiring motorists to change lanes or slow 9 down when approaching an authorized emergency 10 vehicle that is parked or otherwise stopped on a 11 roadway. 12 ‘‘(2) COMPLIANCE WITH MOVE OVER LAWS.— 13 For each of fiscal years 2021 through 2025, subject 14 to the requirements of the highway safety plan of a 15 State under subsection (k), as approved by the Sec- 16 retary, a State may use a portion of the amounts re- 17 ceived under this section to implement statewide ef- 18 forts to improve compliance with Move Over laws in 19 the State. 20 ‘‘(3) USE OF FUNDS.—Statewide efforts under 21 paragraph (2) may include— 22 ‘‘(A) purchasing and deploying digital alert 23 technology that is capable of sending alerts to 24 civilian drivers to protect first responders on 25 the scene and en route; and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:35 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2700.IS S2700 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2700 IS ‘‘(B) educating the public about Move Over 1 laws in the State through public information 2 campaigns.’’. 3 (b) STUDY ON MOVE OVER LAW PUBLIC AWARE- 4 NESS CAMPAIGNS.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transpor- 6 tation shall seek to enter into an agreement with the 7 National Academy of Sciences under which the Na- 8 tional Academy of Sciences shall carry out a study 9 on the efficacy of Move Over laws (as defined in sec- 10 tion 402(o) of title 23, United States Code) and re- 11 lated public awareness campaigns. 12 (2) REPORT.—On the completion of the report 13 under paragraph (1), the National Academy of 14 Sciences shall submit to the Secretary of Transpor- 15 tation and to Congress a report on— 16 (A) the findings of the study; and 17 (B) any recommendations to improve pub- 18 lic awareness campaigns related to the laws de- 19 scribed in that paragraph. 20 (c) NATIONAL PRIORITY SAFETY PROGRAMS.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 405 of title 23, 22 United States Code, is amended— 23 (A) in subsection (a)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:35 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2700.IS S2700 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2700 IS (i) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘5’’ 1 and inserting ‘‘4’’; 2 (ii) by redesignating paragraphs (8) 3 through (10) as paragraphs (9) through 4 (11), respectively; and 5 (iii) by inserting after paragraph (7) 6 the following: 7 ‘‘(8) PREVENTING ROADSIDE DEATHS.—In each 8 fiscal year, 1 percent of the funds provided under 9 this section shall be allocated among States that 10 meet requirements with respect to preventing road- 11 side deaths (as described in subsection (i)).’’; and 12 (B) by adding at the end the following: 13 ‘‘(i) PREVENTING ROADSIDE DEATHS.— 14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 15 grants to States to prevent death and injury from 16 crashes involving vehicles striking vehicles and indi- 17 viduals stopped at the roadside. 18 ‘‘(2) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of 19 the cost of carrying out an activity funded through 20 a grant under this subsection may not exceed 80 21 percent. 22 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBILITY.—A State shall receive a 23 grant under this subsection in a fiscal year if the 24 State submits to the Secretary a plan that describes 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:35 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2700.IS S2700 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2700 IS how the State will use funds provided under the 1 grant, in accordance with paragraph (4). 2 ‘‘(4) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts received by a 3 State under this subsection shall be used by the 4 State— 5 ‘‘(A) to purchase and deploy digital alert 6 technology (as described in section 4(b) of the 7 Protecting Roadside First Responders Act); 8 ‘‘(B) to educate the public about the safety 9 of vehicles and individuals stopped at the road- 10 side in the State through public information 11 campaigns for the purpose of reducing roadside 12 deaths and injury; 13 ‘‘(C) for law enforcement costs related to 14 enforcing State laws to protect the safety of ve- 15 hicles and individuals stopped at the roadside; 16 and 17 ‘‘(D) for programs to identify, collect, and 18 report data to State and local government agen- 19 cies relating to crashes involving vehicles and 20 individuals stopped at the roadside. 21 ‘‘(5) GRANT AMOUNT.—The allocation of grant 22 funds to a State under this subsection for a fiscal 23 year shall be in proportion to the apportionment of 24 that State under section 402 for fiscal year 2009.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:35 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2700.IS S2700 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2700 IS (2) SENSE OF CONGRESS RELATING TO FUND- 1 ING.—It is the sense of Congress that the national 2 priority program for preventing roadside deaths 3 under subsections (a)(8) and (i) of section 405 of 4 title 23, United States Code, should receive new and 5 additional funding in comparison to the funding level 6 for all national priority programs under section 405 7 of title 23, United States Code, for fiscal year 2020. 8 SEC. 3. CRASH AVOIDANCE TECHNOLOGY. 9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 301 of 10 title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 11 end the following: 12 ‘‘§ 30129. Crash avoidance technology 13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 14 date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall issue 15 a final rule to establish minimum performance standards 16 with respect to crash avoidance technology and to require 17 that all motor vehicles manufactured for sale in the United 18 States on or after the compliance date under subsection 19 (b) are equipped with— 20 ‘‘(1) a forward collision warning and automatic 21 emergency braking system that— 22 ‘‘(A) alerts the driver if the distance to a 23 vehicle ahead or object in the path of travel 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:35 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2700.IS S2700 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2700 IS ahead is closing too quickly and a collision is 1 imminent; and 2 ‘‘(B) automatically applies the brakes if 3 the driver fails to do so; 4 ‘‘(2) a lane departure warning and lane keeping 5 assist system that— 6 ‘‘(A) warns the driver to maintain the lane 7 of travel; and 8 ‘‘(B) corrects the course of travel if the 9 driver fails to do so; and 10 ‘‘(3) a blind zone detection system that— 11 ‘‘(A) warns the driver if another vehicle or 12 road user is in the blind zone of the vehicle; and 13 ‘‘(B) provides an additional alert if the 14 driver attempts to change the course of travel 15 while another vehicle or road user is in the 16 blind zone of the vehicle. 17 ‘‘(b) COMPLIANCE DATE.—Compliance with the final 18 rule under subsection (a) shall be required beginning for 19 the model year that begins not later than 2 years after 20 the date on which the final rule is published in the Federal 21 Register.’’. 22 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for sub- 23 chapter II of chapter 301 of title 49, United States Code, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:35 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2700.IS S2700 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2700 IS is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 1 30128 the following: 2 ‘‘30129. Crash avoidance technology.’’. SEC. 4. REQUIREMENTS FOR FEDERAL VEHICLE FLEETS. 3 (a) CRASH AVOIDANCE TECHNOLOGY.—Not later 4 than 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act, in 5 accordance with section 30129 of title 49, United States 6 Code, the head of each Federal agency shall ensure that 7 each new vehicle purchased or leased as part of a Federal 8 fleet of the agency is equipped with— 9 (1) a forward collision warning and automatic 10 emergency braking system that— 11 (A) alerts the driver if the distance to a ve- 12 hicle ahead or object in the path of travel ahead 13 is closing too quickly and a collision is immi- 14 nent; and 15 (B) automatically applies the brakes if the 16 driver fails to do so; 17 (2) a lane departure warning and lane keeping 18 assist system that— 19 (A) warns the driver to maintain the lane 20 of travel; and 21 (B) corrects the course of travel if the 22 driver fails to do so; and 23 (3) a blind zone detection system that— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:35 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2700.IS S2700 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 2700 IS (A) warns the driver if another vehicle or 1 road user is in the blind zone of the vehicle; and 2 (B) provides an additional alert if the driv- 3 er attempts to change the course of travel while 4 another vehicle or road user is in the blind zone 5 of the vehicle. 6 (b) DIGITAL ALERT TECHNOLOGY.—Not later than 7 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the head 8 of each Federal agency shall ensure that each vehicle in 9 a Federal fleet of the agency— 10 (1) if the vehicle is used for emergency response 11 activities, is equipped with digital alert technology 12 that is capable of sending alerts to civilian drivers 13 to protect first responders on the scene and en 14 route; and 15 (2) is equipped with digital alert technology 16 (which may be provided by an aftermarket device) 17 that is capable of receiving alerts regarding nearby 18 first responders. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:35 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2700.IS S2700 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS