II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5080 

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to promulgate a Federal motor 

vehicle safety standard to reduce the incidence of child injury and death 

occurring during low-speed incidents involving motor vehicles, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 14, 2022 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to promulgate 

a Federal motor vehicle safety standard to reduce the 

incidence of child injury and death occurring during lowspeed incidents involving motor vehicles, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Standards To Prevent 

5 Frontovers Act of 2022’’ or the ‘‘STOP Frontovers Act 

6 of 2022’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) BACKOVER.—The term ‘‘backover’’ means a 

4 low-speed incident where a non-occupant of a motor 

5 vehicle is struck by the motor vehicle moving in re6 verse. 

7 (2) MOTOR VEHICLE.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘motor vehi9 cle’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

10 30102(a) of title 49, United States Code. 

11 (B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘motor vehi12 cle’’ does not include— 

13 (i) a motorcycle or a trailer (as those 

14 terms are defined in section 571.3 of title 

15 49, Code of Federal Regulations (or a suc16 cessor regulation)); or 

17 (ii) any motor vehicle that is rated at 

18 more than 26,000 pounds gross vehicular 

19 weight. 

20 (3) OBJECT.—The term ‘‘object’’ means— 

21 (A) a motor vehicle; 

22 (B) a pedestrian, bicyclist, or other vulner23 able road user; 

24 (C) a wheelchair or assistive device user; 

25 (D) a micromobility or motorcycle rider; 

26 (E) a pet; and 


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1 (F) any other individual, animal, or equip2 ment, as determined by the Secretary. 

3 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

4 the Secretary of Transportation. 

5 SEC. 3. FORWARD VISIBILITY AND PERCEPTION RULE6 MAKING. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

8 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall initiate 

9 a rulemaking to promulgate a Federal motor vehicle safety 

10 standard under section 30111 of title 49, United States 

11 Code, that requires a perception zone in front of a motor 

12 vehicle that enables the driver of the motor vehicle to de13 tect, and appropriately respond to, objects in front of the 

14 motor vehicle to reduce death and injury resulting from 

15 frontovers or low-speed forward-moving vehicle incidents. 

16 (b) CONSIDERATIONS.— 

17 (1) TECHNOLOGY NEUTRAL.—The motor vehi18 cle safety standard described in subsection (a) may 

19 be met by the provision of sensors, cameras, or other 

20 technology to expand the perception zone of a driver. 

21 (2) DIFFERING REQUIREMENTS.—The Sec22 retary may prescribe different requirements for dif23 ferent types of motor vehicles in the motor vehicle 

24 safety standard described in subsection (a), subject 

25 to the condition that the standard requires, with reVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:02 Nov 15, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5080.IS S5080

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1 spect to each motor vehicle type, a perception zone 

2 that enables the driver of the applicable motor vehi3 cle to detect, and appropriately respond to, objects 

4 in front of the motor vehicle to reduce death and in5 jury resulting from frontovers or low-speed forward6 moving vehicle incidents. 

7 (c) REQUIREMENT.—The motor vehicle safety stand8 ard described in subsection (a) shall— 

9 (1) include a forward perception standard that 

10 includes frontover and low-speed forward-moving ve11 hicle incidents; and 

12 (2) define ‘‘frontover’’. 

13 (d) TIMELINE.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

15 the date on which the rulemaking is initiated under 

16 subsection (a), the Secretary shall promulgate the 

17 final motor vehicle safety standard described in that 

18 subsection. 

19 (2) FULL COMPLIANCE.—Not later than 2 

20 years after the date on which the final motor vehicle 

21 safety standard is promulgated under paragraph (1), 

22 the Secretary shall require full compliance with that 

23 final motor vehicle safety standard. 

24 (3) PHASE-IN PERIOD.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may es2 tablish a phase-in period for compliance with 

3 the motor vehicle safety standard promulgated 

4 under paragraph (1). 

5 (B) PHASE-IN PRIORITIES.— 

6 (i) IN GENERAL.—In establishing a 

7 phase-in period under subparagraph (A), 

8 the Secretary shall consider whether to re9 quire the phase-in according to different 

10 types of motor vehicles based on data dem11 onstrating the frequency by which various 

12 types of motor vehicles have been involved 

13 in frontovers or low-speed forward-moving 

14 vehicle incidents resulting in injury or 

15 death. 

16 (ii) REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—If the 

17 Secretary determines under clause (i) that 

18 any type of motor vehicle should be given 

19 priority for the phase-in period established 

20 under subparagraph (A), the Secretary 

21 shall promulgate regulations that specify— 

22 (I) the 1 or more types of motor 

23 vehicles that shall be phased-in first; 

24 and 


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1 (II) the percentages by which 

2 those motor vehicles shall be phased3 in. 

4 (e) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 2 years 

5 after the date of enactment of this Act, and every 90 days 

6 thereafter, if the final motor vehicle safety standard de7 scribed in subsection (a) has not been promulgated in ac8 cordance with the requirements of this section, the Sec9 retary shall submit to Congress a report on— 

10 (1) the reasons for the delay in promulgating 

11 that motor vehicle safety standard; and 

12 (2) the steps being taken by the Secretary— 

13 (A) to address those reasons; and 

14 (B) to promulgate that motor vehicle safe15 ty standard. 

16 SEC. 4. UPDATES TO THE NON-TRAFFIC SURVEILLANCE 

17 SYSTEM. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall include an 

19 element for a frontover and an element for a backover in 

20 the data maintained, and the summary reports published 

21 from that data, under the Non-Traffic Surveillance (NTS) 

22 System of the National Highway Traffic Safety Adminis23 tration. 

24 (b) OTHER REPORTING CONSIDERATIONS.—In addi25 tion to the requirement under subsection (a), the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:02 Nov 15, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5080.IS S5080

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1 retary may consider other mechanisms to help inform re2 porting relating to frontovers and backovers, including 

3 changes to State crash report data requirements or other 

4 reporting systems. 

Æ 


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