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) introduced 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 Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction 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. 

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 ‘‘Hot Cars Act of 

5 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Children and domestic animals left unat2 tended in vehicles, or independently accessing unoc3 cupied vehicles on their own, are a significant public 

4 health and safety problem. 

5 (2) Thirty-eight children on average are killed 

6 by hyperthermia each year as a result of being left 

7 unattended in a vehicle or as a result of gaining ac8 cess independently into an unoccupied vehicle. 

9 (3) In 2018, at least 52 children were killed by 

10 hyperthermia as a result of being left unattended in 

11 a vehicle or as a result of gaining access independ12 ently into an unoccupied vehicle. 

13 (4) Between 1990 and 2018, at least 889 chil14 dren have been killed by hyperthermia as a result of 

15 being left unattended in a vehicle or as a result of 

16 gaining access independently into an unoccupied ve17 hicle. Of those deaths, where the circumstances were 

18 known, 27 percent were the result of the child ac19 cessing the vehicle independently. 

20 (5) Fourteen percent of parents reported leav21 ing a child 6 or younger in a parked, locked car 

22 alone. According to a 2014 Public Opinion Strate23 gies survey, fourteen percent of parents reported 

24 leaving a child six or younger in a parked, locked car 

25 alone. The survey finds that, according to United 


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1 States Census data, that’s nearly 2,000,000 United 

2 States parents transporting more than 3,300,000 

3 United States children. 

4 (6) In 2018, at least 57 domestic animals were 

5 killed as a result of being left unattended in a vehi6 cle. 

7 (7) Technology currently exists to detect the 

8 presence of a child in the rear seat of a vehicle. 

9 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to reduce 

10 the deaths and injuries that result from occupants being 

11 left in unattended vehicles as well as instances in which 

12 children independently access an unoccupied vehicle. 

13 SEC. 3. OCCUPANT SAFETY. 

14 (a) AMENDMENT.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 323 of title 49, 

16 United States Code, is amended by adding after sec17 tion 32304A the following new section: 

18 ‘‘§ 32304B. Occupant safety 

19 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

20 ‘‘(1) PASSENGER MOTOR VEHICLE.—The term 

21 ‘passenger motor vehicle’ has the meaning given that 

22 term in section 32101. 

23 ‘‘(2) REAR DESIGNATED SEATING POSITION.— 

24 The term ‘rear designated seating position’ means 


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1 all designated seating positions that are rearward of 

2 the front seat. 

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

4 the Secretary of Transportation. 

5 ‘‘(b) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 2 years after the 

6 date of the enactment of the Hot Cars Act of 2019, the 

7 Secretary shall issue a final rule requiring all new pas8 senger motor vehicles with a gross vehicle weight of 

9 10,000 pounds or less to be equipped with a system to 

10 detect the presence of an occupant in a rear designated 

11 seating position after the vehicle engine or motor is deacti12 vated and engage a warning. In developing the rule re13 quired under this subsection, the Secretary shall consider 

14 requiring systems that also detect the presence of any oc15 cupant unable to independently exit the vehicle as well as 

16 detect the presence of a child who has entered an unoccu17 pied vehicle independently. 

18 ‘‘(c) MEANS.—The alert required under subsection 

19 (b)— 

20 ‘‘(1) shall include a distinct auditory and visual 

21 alert to notify individuals inside and outside of the 

22 vehicle of the presence of an occupant, which shall 

23 be combined with an interior haptic warning; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) shall be activated when the vehicle motor 

2 is deactivated by the operator and the presence of an 

3 occupant is detected. 

4 ‘‘(d) PHASE-IN.—The rule issued pursuant to sub5 section (b) shall require full compliance with the rule not 

6 later than 2 years after the date on which the final rule 

7 is issued.’’. 

8 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for 

9 Chapter 323 of title 49, United States Code, is 

10 amended by striking the item relating to section 

11 32304A and inserting the following: 

‘‘32304A. Consumer tire information and standards. 

‘‘32304B. Occupant safety.’’. 

12 (b) AWARENESS OF OCCUPANTS IN MOTOR VEHI13 CLES.—Section 402 of title 23, United States Code, is 

14 amended by inserting after subsection (k) the following: 

15 ‘‘(l) UNATTENDED PASSENGERS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall use a por17 tion of the amount it receives under this section to 

18 carry out a program to educate the public on the 

19 risks of leaving an occupant in a vehicle. 

20 ‘‘(2) PROGRAM PLACEMENT.—A State does not 

21 need to carry out the program described in para22 graph (1) through the State transportation or high23 way safety office.’’. 

24 (c) STUDY AND REPORT.— 


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1 (1) INDEPENDENT STUDY.— 

2 (A) AGREEMENT.— 

3 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of 

4 Transportation shall enter into an agree5 ment or a contract with an independent 

6 third party that does not have any finan7 cial or contractual ties with passenger 

8 motor vehicle manufacturers or technology 

9 companies producing occupant reminder 

10 warning systems or child restraint systems 

11 to perform the services under this para12 graph. 

13 (ii) TIMING.—The Secretary shall 

14 enter into the agreement or contract de15 scribed in clause (i) not later than the date 

16 that the Secretary determines is the latest 

17 date by which completion of the services 

18 under this paragraph will allow the Sec19 retary enough time to prepare and submit 

20 the study required under paragraph (2) in 

21 accordance with such paragraph. 

22 (B) INDEPENDENT STUDY.— 

23 (i) IN GENERAL.—Under an agree24 ment between the Secretary and an inde25 pendent third party under this paragraph, 


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1 the independent third party shall carry out 

2 a study on retrofitting existing passenger 

3 motor vehicles with technology to address 

4 the problem of occupants left unattended 

5 in motor vehicles. 

6 (ii) ELEMENTS.—In carrying out the 

7 study required under clause (i), the inde8 pendent third party shall— 

9 (I) survey and evaluate a variety 

10 of methods used by current and 

11 emerging aftermarket technology or 

12 products to solve the problem of occu13 pants being left unattended in the ve14 hicle or occupants gaining access to 

15 the vehicle independently; 

16 (II) make recommendations for 

17 manufacturers of such technology or 

18 products to undergo a functional safe19 ty performance to ensure that the 

20 products perform as designed by the 

21 manufacturer under a variety of real 

22 world conditions; and 

23 (III) provide recommendations 

24 for consumers on how to select such 


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1 technology or products in order to ret2 rofit existing vehicles. 

3 (2) REPORT.—During the 180-day period be4 ginning on the date on which the Secretary of 

5 Transportation issues the final rule required under 

6 section 32304B(b) of title 49, United States Code, 

7 as added by subsection (a)(1), the Secretary shall 

8 submit the results of the study carried out under 

9 paragraph (1) to the Committee on Commerce, 

10 Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the 

11 Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House 

12 of Representatives. 

Æ 


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