I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6518 

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to study the feasibility of more 

widespread use of in-vehicle technology to prevent alcohol-impaired driving, to require a Federal motor vehicle safety standard related to rollover 

prevention and crash mitigation, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 13, 2010 

Mr. RUSH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to study the feasibility of more widespread use of in-vehicle technology 

to prevent alcohol-impaired driving, to require a Federal 

motor vehicle safety standard related to rollover prevention and crash mitigation, 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. DEFINITION. 

4 As used in this Act, the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the 

5 Secretary of Transportation, acting through the Adminis6 trator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administra7 tion. 


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1 TITLE I—IN–VEHICLE ALCOHOL 

2 DETECTION DEVICE RESEARCH 

3 SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Research of Alcohol 

5 Detection Systems for Stopping Alcohol-related Fatalities 

6 Everywhere Act of 2010’’ or the ‘‘ROADS SAFE Act of 

7 2010’’. 

8 SEC. 102. DRIVER ALCOHOL DETECTION SYSTEM RE9 SEARCH. 

10 (a) RESEARCH.—The Secretary shall carry out a col11 laborative research effort to continue to explore the feasi12 bility and the potential benefits of, and the public policy 

13 challenges associated with, more widespread deployment 

14 of in-vehicle technology to prevent alcohol-impaired driv15 ing. 

16 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

17 of the enactment of this Act and for each of fiscal years 

18 2011 through 2015, the Secretary shall submit an annual 

19 report to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 

20 House of Representatives and the Committee on Com21 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate— 

22 (1) describing progress in carrying out the col23 laborative research effort; and 


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1 (2) including an accounting for the use of Fed2 eral funds obligated or expended in carrying out that 

3 effort. 

4 SEC. 103. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this title: 

6 (1) ALCOHOL-IMPAIRED DRIVING.—The term 

7 ‘‘alcohol-impaired driving’’ means operation of a 

8 motor vehicle (as defined in section 30102(a)(6) of 

9 title 49, United States Code) by an individual whose 

10 blood alcohol content is at or above the legal limit. 

11 (2) LEGAL LIMIT.—The term ‘‘legal limit’’ 

12 means a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent 

13 or greater (as specified by section 163 of title 23, 

14 United States Code) or such other percentage limita15 tion as may be established by applicable Federal, 

16 State, or local law. 

17 SEC. 104. EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS. 

18 Nothing in this title shall be construed to modify or 

19 otherwise affect any Federal, State, or local government 

20 law, civil or criminal, with respect to the operation of a 

21 motor vehicle. 


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1 TITLE II—SAFETY AND 

2 TRANSPARENCY 

3 SEC. 201. COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLE ROLLOVER PRE4 VENTION AND CRASH MITIGATION. 

5 (a) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 6 months after 

6 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall ini7 tiate a rulemaking proceeding pursuant to section 30111 

8 of title 49, United States Code, to prescribe or amend a 

9 Federal motor vehicle safety standard to reduce commer10 cial motor vehicle rollover and loss of control crashes and 

11 mitigate deaths and injuries associated with such crashes 

12 for air-braked truck tractors and motorcoaches with a 

13 gross vehicle weight rating of more than 26,000 pounds. 

14 (b) REQUIRED PERFORMANCE STANDARDS.—The 

15 rulemaking proceeding initiated under subsection (a) shall 

16 establish standards to reduce the occurrence of rollovers 

17 consistent with stability enhancing technologies that ad18 dress both rollovers and loss-of-control crashes. 

19 (c) DEADLINE.—The Secretary shall issue a final 

20 rule under subsection (a) not later than 18 months after 

21 the date of enactment of this Act. 

22 SEC. 202. STUDY OF CRASH DATA COLLECTION. 

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

24 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue 

25 a report regarding the quality of data collected through 


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1 the National Automotive Sampling System, including the 

2 Special Crash Investigations, and recommendations for 

3 improvements to this data collection program. The report 

4 shall include information regarding— 

5 (1) the analysis and conclusions the National 

6 Highway Traffic Safety Administration can reach 

7 based on the amount of data collected in a given 

8 year, and the additional analysis and conclusions it 

9 could reach if more crash investigations were con10 ducted each year; 

11 (2) the number of investigations per year that 

12 would allow for optimal data analysis and crash in13 formation; 

14 (3) the results of a comprehensive review of the 

15 data elements collected from each crash to determine 

16 if additional data should be collected; which review 

17 shall include input from interested parties, such as 

18 suppliers, automakers, safety advocates, the medical 

19 community and research organizations; and 

20 (4) the resources that would be necessary for 

21 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 

22 to implement these recommendations. 

23 (b) SUBMISSION OF REPORT.—The report shall be 

24 submitted to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of 

25 the House of Representatives and to the Committee on 


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1 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate 

2 upon completion. 

3 SEC. 203. NHTSA HOTLINE FOR MANUFACTURER, DEALER, 

4 AND MECHANIC PERSONNEL. 

5 The Secretary shall— 

6 (1) establish a means by which mechanics, pas7 senger motor vehicle dealership personnel, and pas8 senger motor vehicle manufacturer personnel may 

9 contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Admin10 istration directly and confidentially regarding poten11 tial passenger motor vehicle safety defects; and 

12 (2) publicize the means for contacting the Na13 tional Highway Traffic Safety Administration in a 

14 manner that targets mechanics, passenger motor ve15 hicle dealership personnel, and manufacturer per16 sonnel. 

17 SEC. 204. HONORS RECRUITMENT PROGRAM. 

18 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish, 

19 within the National Highway Traffic Safety Administra20 tion, an honors program for engineering students, com21 puter science students, and other students interested in 

22 vehicle safety that will enable such students to train with 

23 engineers and other safety officials for a career in vehicle 

24 safety. The Secretary is authorized to provide a stipend 

25 to students during their participation in the program. 


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1 (b) TARGETED STUDENTS.—The Secretary shall de2 velop a plan to target and make an aggressive outreach 

3 to recruit the top 10 percent of science, technology, engi4 neering, and mathematics students attending— 

5 (1) 1890 Land Grant Institutions (as defined in 

6 section 2 of the Agricultural Research, Extension, 

7 and Education Reform Act of 1998 (7 U.S.C. 

8 7061)); 

9 (2) Predominantly Black Institutions (as de10 fined in section 318 of the Higher Education Act of 

11 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059e)); 

12 (3) Tribal Colleges or Universities (as defined 

13 in section 316(b) of the Higher Education Act of 

14 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059c(b))); and 

15 (4) Hispanic-Serving Institutions (as defined in 

16 section 502(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

17 (20 U.S.C. 1101a)). 

18 SEC. 205. PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF EARLY WARNING DATA. 

19 Section 30166(m) of title 49, United States Code, is 

20 amended— 

21 (1) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking clause (ii) 

22 and inserting the following: 

23 ‘‘(ii) customer satisfaction campaigns, 

24 customer advisories, recalls, consumer 

25 complaints, warranty claims, field reports, 


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1 technical service bulletins, or other activity 

2 involving the repair or replacement of 

3 motor vehicles or motor vehicle equip4 ment.’’; and 

5 (2) in paragraph (4), by striking subparagraph 

6 (C) and inserting the following: 

7 ‘‘(C) DISCLOSURE.—The information pro8 vided to the Secretary pursuant to this sub9 section shall be disclosed publicly unless exempt 

10 from disclosure under section 552(b) of title 5. 

11 The Secretary shall administer this subsection 

12 with a presumption in favor of maximum public 

13 availability of information. The following types 

14 of information shall presumptively not be ex15 empt from disclosure under section 552(b) of 

16 title 5: 

17 ‘‘(i) Vehicle safety defect information 

18 related to incidents involving death or in19 jury. 

20 ‘‘(ii) Aggregated numbers of property 

21 damage claims. 

22 ‘‘(iii) Aggregated numbers of con23 sumer complaints related to potential vehi24 cle defects.’’. 

Æ 


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