Highway Accident Fairness Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2936 To amend title 49, United States Code, to prohibit staged collisions with commercial motor vehicles, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 27, 2023 Mr. CUELLAR (for himself, Mr. BOST, and Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Ju- diciary A BILL To amend title 49, United States Code, to prohibit staged collisions with commercial 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 ‘‘Highway Accident 4 Fairness Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 6 The purposes of the Act are to— 7 (1) assure fair and prompt recoveries for high- 8 way accident victims; 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:27 May 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2936.IH H2936 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2936 IH (2) benefit society by preserving predictability 1 and stability in the movement of freight in interstate 2 commerce and lowering costs to the supply chain 3 and, ultimately, all Americans; 4 (3) protect the motoring public from the safety 5 hazard of staged collisions between passenger cars 6 and commercial motor vehicles; 7 (4) prevent fraudulent claims that result from 8 staged collisions; 9 (5) protect law enforcement agencies and high- 10 way departments from expending resources dealing 11 with the aftermath of staged collisions; and 12 (6) minimize the impact of staged collisions on 13 the supply chain and the movement of goods in 14 interstate commerce. 15 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON STAGED COLLISIONS WITH COM- 16 MERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLES. 17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 805 of title 49, United 18 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 19 lowing new section: 20 ‘‘§ 80505. Staging of motor vehicle collisions with 21 commercial motor vehicles 22 ‘‘(a) PENALTY FOR STAGING COLLISION.—A person 23 operating a motor vehicle who intentionally causes a colli- 24 sion with a commercial motor vehicle, as defined in section 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:27 May 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2936.IH H2936 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2936 IH 31101, or arranges for another person to cause such a 1 collision, shall be fined under title 18, imprisoned for not 2 more than 20 years, or both. 3 ‘‘(b) PENALTY FOR STAGING COLLISION CAUSING 4 SERIOUS BODILY INJURY.—A person operating a motor 5 vehicle who intentionally causes a collision with a commer- 6 cial motor vehicle, as defined in section 31132, that results 7 in serious bodily injury or death to another person, or ar- 8 ranges for another person to cause such a collision, shall 9 be fined under title 18, imprisoned for not less than 20 10 years, or both. 11 ‘‘(c) LIMITATION ON PROSECUTION.—A person may 12 not be prosecuted for an act under this section if the per- 13 son has been convicted or acquitted on the merits for the 14 same act under the laws of a State, the District of 15 Columba, or a territory or possession of the United 16 States.’’. 17 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—Chapter 805 of title 18 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 19 the following: 20 ‘‘80505. Staging of motor vehicle collisions with commercial motor vehicles.’’. SEC. 4. FEDERAL DISTRICT COURT JURISDICTION FOR 21 HIGHWAY ACCIDENT ACTIONS AGAINST 22 INTERSTATE MOTOR CARRIERS. 23 (a) APPLICATION OF FEDERAL JURISDICTION.—Sec- 24 tion 1332 of title 28, United States Code, is amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:27 May 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2936.IH H2936 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2936 IH (1) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub- 1 section (f); and 2 (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol- 3 lowing: 4 ‘‘(e)(1) The district courts shall have original juris- 5 diction of any civil action alleging bodily harm or loss of 6 life involving one or more commercial motor vehicles, as 7 defined in section 31101 of title 49, operating on a public 8 road in interstate commerce, in which the matter in con- 9 troversy exceeds the sum or value of $5,000,000, exclusive 10 of interest and costs, and is a case in which— 11 ‘‘(A) any plaintiff is a citizen of a State dif- 12 ferent from any defendant; 13 ‘‘(B) any plaintiff is a foreign state or a citizen 14 or subject of a foreign state and any defendant is a 15 citizen of a State; or 16 ‘‘(C) any plaintiff is a citizen of a State and 17 any defendant is a foreign state or a citizen or sub- 18 ject of a foreign state. 19 ‘‘(2) Citizenship of plaintiffs shall be determined for 20 purposes of paragraph (1) as of the date of filing of the 21 complaint or amended complaint, or, if the case stated by 22 the initial pleading is not subject to Federal jurisdiction, 23 as of the date of service by plaintiffs of an amended plead- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:27 May 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2936.IH H2936 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2936 IH ing, motion, or other paper, indicating the existence of 1 Federal jurisdiction. 2 ‘‘(3) For purposes of this subsection, an unincor- 3 porated association shall be deemed to be a citizen of the 4 State where it has its principal place of business and the 5 State under whose laws it is organized.’’. 6 SEC. 5. THIRD-PARTY LITIGATION FUNDING DISCLOSURE 7 IN HIGHWAY ACCIDENT CASES. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 111 of title 28, United 9 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 10 lowing: 11 ‘‘§ 1660. Third-party litigation funding disclosure in 12 highway accident cases 13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In any civil action in State or 14 Federal court alleging bodily harm or loss of life involving 15 one or more commercial motor vehicles, as defined in sec- 16 tion 31101 of title 49, operating on a public road in inter- 17 state commerce, counsel for plaintiff or plaintiffs shall— 18 ‘‘(1) disclose in writing to the court and all 19 other named parties to the action the identity of any 20 commercial enterprise, other than a plaintiff or 21 plaintiff’s counsel of record, that has a right to re- 22 ceive payment that is contingent on the receipt of 23 monetary relief in the action by settlement, judg- 24 ment, or otherwise; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:27 May 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2936.IH H2936 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2936 IH ‘‘(2) produce for inspection and copying, except 1 as otherwise stipulated or ordered by the court, any 2 agreement creating the contingent right. 3 ‘‘(b) TIMING.—The disclosure required by subsection 4 (a) shall be made not later than the later of— 5 ‘‘(1) 10 days after execution of any agreement 6 described in subsection (a)(2); or 7 ‘‘(2) the time of service of the action. 8 ‘‘(c) STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 9 section shall be construed to affect the admissibility of any 10 materials required to be disclosed or produced under sub- 11 section (a) as evidence in any civil action.’’. 12 (c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 13 The table of sections for chapter 111 of title 28, United 14 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 15 lowing: 16 ‘‘1660. Third-party litigation funding disclosure in highway accident cases.’’. SEC. 6. APPLICABILITY. 17 The amendments made by sections 4 and 5 shall 18 apply with respect to any case pending on or commenced 19 on or after the date of enactment of this Act. The amend- 20 ments made by section 3 shall apply beginning on the date 21 of enactment of this Act. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:27 May 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2936.IH H2936 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS