II 

Calendar No. 404 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1601 

[Report No. 116–204] 

To direct 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 22, 2019 

Mr. WICKER (for himself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. SCHUMER, 

Ms. MCSALLY, Mr. MARKEY, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Ms. SMITH, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. BROWN, and Ms. WARREN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

JANUARY 13, 2020 

Reported by Mr. WICKER, without amendment 

A BILL 

To direct 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Helping Overcome 

3 Trauma for Children Alone in Rear Seats Act of 2019’’ 

4 or the ‘‘HOT CARS Act of 2019’’. 

5 SEC. 2. CHILD SAFETY. 

6 (a) AMENDMENT.— 

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

8 United States Code, is amended by adding after sec9 tion 32304A the following: 

10 ‘‘§ 32304B. Child safety 

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

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

13 ‘passenger motor vehicle’ has the meaning given that 

14 term in section 32101. 

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

16 The term ‘rear designated seating position’ means 

17 designated seating positions that are rearward of the 

18 front seat. 

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

20 the Secretary of Transportation. 

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

22 date of the enactment of the HOT CARS Act of 2019, 

23 the Secretary shall issue a final rule requiring all new pas24 senger motor vehicles weighing less than 10,000 pounds 

25 gross vehicle weight to be equipped with a system to alert 

26 the operator to check rear designated seating positions 


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1 after the vehicle engine or motor is deactivated by the op2 erator. 

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

4 (b)— 

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

6 alert, which may be combined with a haptic alert; 

7 and 

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

9 is deactivated by the operator. 

10 ‘‘(d) PHASE-IN.—The rule issued pursuant to sub11 section (b) shall require full compliance with the rule be12 ginning on September 1st of the first calendar year that 

13 begins 2 years after the date on which the final rule is 

14 issued.’’. 

15 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for 

16 chapter 323 of title 49, United States Code, is 

17 amended by striking the item relating to section 

18 32304A and inserting the following: 

‘‘32304A. Consumer tire information and standards. 

‘‘32304B. Child safety.’’. 

19 (b) AWARENESS OF CHILDREN IN MOTOR VEHI20 CLES.—Section 402 of title 23, United States Code, is 

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

22 ‘‘(l) UNATTENDED PASSENGERS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall use a por24 tion of the amounts it receives under this section to 


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1 carry out a program to educate the public on the 

2 risks of leaving a child or unattended passenger in 

3 a vehicle after the vehicle motor is deactivated by 

4 the operator. 

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

6 need to carry out the program described in para7 graph (1) through the State transportation or high8 way safety office.’’. 

9 (c) STUDY AND REPORT.— 

10 (1) INDEPENDENT STUDY.— 

11 (A) AGREEMENT.— 

12 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of 

13 Transportation shall enter into an agree14 ment or a contract with an independent 

15 third-party that does not have any finan16 cial or contractual ties with passenger 

17 motor vehicle manufacturers or technology 

18 companies producing child reminder alert 

19 systems to perform the services under this 

20 paragraph. 

21 (ii) TIMING.—The Secretary shall 

22 enter into the agreement or contract de23 scribed in clause (i) not later than the date 

24 that the Secretary determines is the latest 

25 date by which completion of the services 


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1 under this paragraph will allow the Sec2 retary enough time to prepare and submit 

3 the study required under paragraph (2) in 

4 accordance with such paragraph. 

5 (B) INDEPENDENT STUDY.— 

6 (i) IN GENERAL.—Under an agree7 ment between the Secretary and an inde8 pendent third-party under this paragraph, 

9 the independent third-party shall carry out 

10 a study on retrofitting existing passenger 

11 motor vehicles with technology to address 

12 the problem of children left in rear des13 ignated seating positions of motor vehicles 

14 after the motor vehicles have been deacti15 vated by the operator of the vehicle. 

16 (ii) ELEMENTS.—In carrying out the 

17 study required under clause (i), the inde18 pendent third-party shall— 

19 (I) survey and evaluate a variety 

20 of methods used by current and 

21 emerging aftermarket technology or 

22 products to solve the problem of chil23 dren being left in a rear designated 

24 seating position after the vehicle 

25 motor is deactivated by the operator; 


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1 (II) make recommendations for 

2 manufacturers of such technology or 

3 products to undergo a functional safe4 ty performance to ensure that the 

5 products perform as designed by the 

6 manufacturer under a variety of real 

7 world conditions; and 

8 (III) provide recommendations 

9 for consumers on how to select such 

10 technology or products in order to ret11 rofit existing vehicles. 

12 (2) REPORT.—During the 180-day period be13 ginning on the date on which the Secretary of 

14 Transportation issues the final rule required under 

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

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

17 submit the results of the study carried out under 

18 paragraph (1) to the Committee on Commerce, 

19 Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the 

20 Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House 

21 of Representatives. 


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pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
Calendar No. 404 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1601 

[Report No. 116–204] 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to issue 

and for other purposes. to be equipped with a child safety alert system, a rule requiring all new passenger motor vehicles 

JANUARY 13, 2020 

Reported without amendment 


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