II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4122 

To require the Secretary of Transportation to issue a final rule revising 

motor vehicle seat back safety standards. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 1, 2020 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for Mr. MARKEY (for himself and Mr. BLUMENTHAL)) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Transportation to issue a final 

rule revising motor vehicle seat back safety standards. 

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 ‘‘Modernizing Seat Back 

5 Safety Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. MOTOR VEHICLE SEAT BACK SAFETY STANDARDS. 

7 (a) FINDINGS; PURPOSES.— 

8 (1) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

9 (A) crashes involving seat structural fail10 ures in passenger motor vehicles pose a signifiVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:46 Jul 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4122.IS S4122

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•S 4122 IS

1 cant public health and safety threat, particu2 larly to children occupying rear seats; 

3 (B) thousands of preventable fatalities and 

4 life-threatening injuries have occurred as a re5 sult of motor vehicle seat failures; 

6 (C) the National Highway Traffic Safety 

7 Administration has neglected to improve the 

8 motor vehicle seat integrity standard for more 

9 than 50 years, to the detriment of passenger 

10 motor vehicle safety; and 

11 (D) this Act is introduced in honor and 

12 memory of the victims of motor vehicle seat 

13 failures in crashes, including those whose pre14 cious lives were cut far too short as a result of 

15 seat failures and those whose catastrophic inju16 ries dramatically changed their lives, including 

17 Taylor Grace Warner, Jayden-Faith Fraser, 

18 Emily Reavis, Owen Reavis, Teddy Schwab, 

19 Jaklin Romine, Russell Selkirk, Travis 

20 Oldhouser, Thomas Comella, Geneva Massie, 

21 Crystal Collins, Mary Portis, Dzemila Heco, 

22 Aaliyah George, Heikki Helava, and Clyde M. 

23 Sneed. 

24 (2) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act 

25 are— 


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•S 4122 IS

1 (A) to reduce the number of preventable 

2 deaths and injuries caused by motor vehicle 

3 seat failures; and 

4 (B) to improve passenger motor vehicle 

5 safety. 

6 (b) FINAL RULE.—Not later than 2 years after the 

7 date of enactment of this Act, subject to subsection (c), 

8 the Secretary of Transportation shall issue a final rule up9 dating section 571.207 of title 49, Code of Federal Regu10 lations, to reduce the potential for injury to all motor vehi11 cle occupants due to seat back failure during all types of 

12 vehicle impact. 

13 (c) COMPLIANCE DATE.—In issuing the final rule 

14 pursuant to subsection (b), the Secretary of Transpor15 tation shall establish a date for required compliance with 

16 the final rule of not later than 2 motor vehicle model years 

17 after the model year during which the effective date of 

18 the final rule occurs. 

Æ 


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