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106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2070

To improve safety standards for child restraints in motor vehicles.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

FEBRUARY 10, 2000

Mr. FITZGERALD (for himself and Mrs. LINCOLN) introduced the following

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

Science, and Transportation

A BILL

To improve safety standards for child restraints in motor

vehicles.

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 ‘‘Child Passenger Pro5 tection Act of 2000’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—

8 (1) each day, an average of 7 children are killed

9 and 866 injured in motor vehicle crashes;
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1 (2) certain standards and testing procedures for

2 child restraints in the United States are not as rig3 orous as those in some other countries;

4 (3) although the Federal Government estab5 lishes safety standards for child restraints, the Fed6 eral Government—

7 (A) permits companies that manufacture

8 child restraints to conduct their own tests for

9 compliance with the safety standards and inter10 pret the results of those tests, but does not re11 quire that the manufacturers make the results

12 of the tests public;

13 (B) has not updated test standards for

14 child restraints—

15 (i) to reflect the modern designs of

16 motor vehicles in use as of the date of en17 actment of this Act;

18 (ii) to take into account the effects of

19 a side-impact crash, a rear-impact crash,

20 or a rollover crash; and

21 (iii) to require the use of

22 anthropomorphic devices that accurately

23 reflect the heights and masses of children

24 at ages other than newborn, 9 months, 3

25 years, and 6 years; and
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1 (C) has not issued motor vehicle safety

2 standards that adequately protect children up

3 to the age of 12 who weigh more than 50

4 pounds; and

5 (4) the Federal Government should update the

6 test standards for child restraints to reduce the

7 number of children killed or injured in automobile

8 accidents in the United States.

9 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

10 In this Act:

11 (1) CHILD RESTRAINT.—The term ‘‘child re12 straint’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘child re13 straint system’’ in section 571.213 of title 49, Code

14 of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date of

15 enactment of this Act).

16 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

17 the Secretary of Transportation.

18 SEC. 4. TESTING OF CHILD RESTRAINTS.

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the

20 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall update

21 and improve crash test standards and conditions for child

22 restraints.

23 (b) ELEMENTS FOR CONSIDERATION.—In carrying

24 out subsection (a), the Secretary shall consider—
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1 (1) whether to conduct more comprehensive and

2 dynamic testing of child restraints than is typically

3 conducted as of the date of enactment of this Act,

4 including the use of test platforms designed—

5 (A) to simulate an array of accident condi6 tions, such as side-impact crashes, rear-impact

7 crashes, and rollover crashes; and

8 (B) to reflect the designs of passenger

9 motor vehicles in use as of the date of enact10 ment of this Act;

11 (2) whether to use an increased number of

12 anthropomorphic devices in a greater variety of

13 heights and masses; and

14 (3) whether to provide improved protection in

15 motor vehicle accidents for children up to 59.2

16 inches tall who weigh more than 50 pounds.

17 (c) REQUIRED ELEMENTS.—In carrying out sub18 section (a), the Secretary shall—

19 (1) require that manufacturers design child re20 straints to minimize head injuries during side-impact

21 and rollover crashes, including requiring that child

22 restraints have side-impact protection;

23 (2) include a child restraint in each vehicle

24 crash-tested under the New Car Assessment Pro25 gram of the Department of Transportation; and
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1 (3) prescribe readily understandable text for

2 any labels that are required to be placed on child re3 straints.

4 (d) FUNDING.—For each fiscal year, of the funds

5 made available to the Secretary for activities relating to

6 safety, not less than $750,000 shall be made available to

7 carry out crash testing of child restraints.

8 SEC. 5. CHILD RESTRAINT SAFETY RATING PROGRAM.

9 Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment

10 of this Act, the Secretary shall develop and implement a

11 safety rating program for child restraints to provide prac12 ticable, readily understandable, and timely information to

13 parents and caretakers for use in making informed deci14 sions in the purchase of child restraints.

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