I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1990

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to take certain actions to improve

the safety of persons present at roadside emergency scenes, and for

other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 27, 1999

Mr. HALL of Ohio (for himself, and Mr. WOLF) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

A BILL

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to take certain

actions to improve the safety of persons present at roadside emergency scenes, 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 ‘‘Roadside Emergency

5 Safety Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. STUDY ON ROADSIDE EMERGENCY SAFETY.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transportation

8 shall conduct a study to evaluate means of improving the
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1 safety of persons present at roadside emergency scenes,

2 including motor vehicle accident scenes.

3 (b) SCOPE.—The study conducted by the Secretary

4 under subsection (a) shall include—

5 (1) an evaluation the effectiveness of State laws

6 designed to improve the safety of persons present at

7 roadside emergency scenes;

8 (2) an evaluation the feasibility of requiring

9 drivers operating motor vehicles approaching a road10 side emergency scene to take certain steps

11 including—

12 (A) moving to the traffic lane that is far13 thest from the roadside emergency scene of the

14 lanes available for vehicles traveling in the di15 rection traveled by the driver; and

16 (B) decreasing motor vehicle speed to 10

17 miles per hour less than the posted speed limit;

18 and

19 (3) the collection of such statistics as may be

20 necessary to assist policy makers in addressing

21 issues of safety at roadside emergency scenes.

22 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date

23 of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall transmit

24 to Congress a report on the results of the study conducted

25 under subsection (a), together with any recommendations
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1 for improving the safety of persons present at roadside

2 emergency scenes.

3 SEC. 3. EMERGENCY PERSONNEL SAFETY PROGRAM.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the

5 completion of the study described in section 2, the Sec6 retary of Transportation shall establish and begin to im7 plement a program to improve the safety of emergency

8 personnel at roadside emergency scenes.

9 (b) PROGRAM ELEMENTS.—The program established

10 under subsection (a) shall—

11 (1) promote public awareness regarding safety

12 at roadside emergency scenes;

13 (2) provide assistance for education and train14 ing to emergency personnel regarding safety at road15 side emergency scenes; and

16 (3) provide technical assistance regarding

17 equipment, highway design, and emergency re18 sponses that enhance the safety of emergency per19 sonnel at roadside emergency scenes.

20 (c) DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.—The program es21 tablished under subsection (a) shall include funding for

22 demonstration projects designed to improve the safety of

23 emergency personnel at roadside emergency scenes.

24 (d) EMERGENCY PERSONNEL DEFINED.—In this

25 section, the term ‘‘emergency personnel’’ means law en-
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1 forcement personnel, fire department personnel, emer2 gency medical services personnel, and any other persons

3 who may be called upon to respond to a roadside emer4 gency.

5 SEC. 4. STATE HIGHWAY SAFETY PROGRAMS.

6 Subsection (a) of section 402 of title 23, United

7 States Code, is amended—

8 (1) by striking ‘‘and (6)’’ and inserting ‘‘(6)’’;

9 and

10 (2) by inserting after ‘‘post-accident proce11 dures’’ the following:

12 ‘‘, and (7) to improve the safety of law enforcement, fire

13 department, and emergency medical services personnel,

14 and any other persons who may be called upon to respond,

15 in the case of a roadside emergency’’.

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