I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6151 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to prohibit staged collisions with 

commercial motor vehicles, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 7, 2021 

Mr. CUELLAR (for himself and Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to prohibit staged 

collisions with commercial motor vehicles, 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 ‘‘Highway Accident 

5 Fairness Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

7 The purposes of the Act are to— 

8 (1) assure fair and prompt recoveries for high9 way accident victims; 


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1 (2) benefit society by preserving predictability 

2 and stability in the movement of freight in interstate 

3 commerce and lowering costs to the supply chain 

4 and, ultimately, all Americans; 

5 (3) protect the motoring public from the safety 

6 hazard of staged collisions between passenger cars 

7 and commercial motor vehicles; 

8 (4) prevent fraudulent claims that result from 

9 staged collisions; 

10 (5) protect law enforcement agencies and high11 way departments from expending resources dealing 

12 with the aftermath of staged collisions; and 

13 (6) minimize the impact of staged collisions on 

14 the supply chain and the movement of goods in 

15 interstate commerce. 

16 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON STAGED COLLISIONS WITH COM17 MERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLES. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 805 of title 49, United 

19 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol20 lowing new section: 

21 ‘‘§ 80505. Staging of motor vehicle collisions with 

22 commercial motor vehicles 

23 ‘‘(a) PENALTY FOR STAGING COLLISION.—A person 

24 operating a motor vehicle who intentionally causes a colli25 sion with a commercial motor vehicle, as defined in section 


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1 31101, or arranges for another person to cause such a 

2 collision, shall be fined under title 18, imprisoned for not 

3 more than 20 years, or both. 

4 ‘‘(b) PENALTY FOR STAGING COLLISION CAUSING

5 SERIOUS BODILY INJURY.—A person operating a motor 

6 vehicle who intentionally causes a collision with a commer7 cial motor vehicle, as defined in section 31132, that results 

8 in serious bodily injury or death to another person, or ar9 ranges for another person to cause such a collision, shall 

10 be fined under title 18, imprisoned for not less than 20 

11 years, or both. 

12 ‘‘(c) LIMITATION ON PROSECUTION.—A person may 

13 not be prosecuted for an act under this section if the per14 son has been convicted or acquitted on the merits for the 

15 same act under the laws of a State, the District of 

16 Columba, or a territory or possession of the United 

17 States.’’. 

18 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—Chapter 805 of title 

19 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

20 the following: 

‘‘80505. Staging of motor vehicle collisions with commercial motor vehicles.’’. 

21 SEC. 4. FEDERAL DISTRICT COURT JURISDICTION FOR 

22 HIGHWAY ACCIDENT ACTIONS AGAINST 

23 INTERSTATE MOTOR CARRIERS. 

24 (a) APPLICATION OF FEDERAL JURISDICTION.—Sec25 tion 1332 of title 28, United States Code, is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub2 section (f); and 

3 (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(e)(1) The district courts shall have original juris6 diction of any civil action alleging bodily harm or loss of 

7 life involving one or more commercial motor vehicles, as 

8 defined in section 31101 of title 49, operating on a public 

9 road in interstate commerce, in which the matter in con10 troversy exceeds the sum or value of $5,000,000, exclusive 

11 of interest and costs, and is a case in which— 

12 ‘‘(A) any plaintiff is a citizen of a State dif13 ferent from any defendant; 

14 ‘‘(B) any plaintiff is a foreign state or a citizen 

15 or subject of a foreign state and any defendant is a 

16 citizen of a State; or 

17 ‘‘(C) any plaintiff is a citizen of a State and 

18 any defendant is a foreign state or a citizen or sub19 ject of a foreign state. 

20 ‘‘(2) Citizenship of plaintiffs shall be determined for 

21 purposes of paragraph (1) as of the date of filing of the 

22 complaint or amended complaint, or, if the case stated by 

23 the initial pleading is not subject to Federal jurisdiction, 

24 as of the date of service by plaintiffs of an amended pleadVerDate Sep 11 2014 15:57 Dec 14, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6151.IH H6151

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1 ing, motion, or other paper, indicating the existence of 

2 Federal jurisdiction. 

3 ‘‘(3) For purposes of this subsection, an unincor4 porated association shall be deemed to be a citizen of the 

5 State where it has its principal place of business and the 

6 State under whose laws it is organized.’’. 

7 SEC. 5. THIRD-PARTY LITIGATION FUNDING DISCLOSURE 

8 IN HIGHWAY ACCIDENT CASES. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 111 of title 28, United 

10 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘§ 1660. Third-party litigation funding disclosure in 

13 highway accident cases 

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In any civil action in State or 

15 Federal court alleging bodily harm or loss of life involving 

16 one or more commercial motor vehicles, as defined in sec17 tion 31101 of title 49, operating on a public road in inter18 state commerce, counsel for plaintiff or plaintiffs shall— 

19 ‘‘(1) disclose in writing to the court and all 

20 other named parties to the action the identity of any 

21 commercial enterprise, other than a plaintiff or 

22 plaintiff’s counsel of record, that has a right to re23 ceive payment that is contingent on the receipt of 

24 monetary relief in the action by settlement, judg25 ment, or otherwise; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) produce for inspection and copying, except 

2 as otherwise stipulated or ordered by the court, any 

3 agreement creating the contingent right. 

4 ‘‘(b) TIMING.—The disclosure required by subsection 

5 (a) shall be made not later than the later of— 

6 ‘‘(1) 10 days after execution of any agreement 

7 described in subsection (a)(2); or 

8 ‘‘(2) the time of service of the action. 

9 ‘‘(c) STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

10 section shall be construed to affect the admissibility of any 

11 materials required to be disclosed or produced under sub12 section (a) as evidence in any civil action.’’. 

13 (c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

14 The table of sections for chapter 111 of title 28, United 

15 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol16 lowing: 

‘‘1660. Third-party litigation funding disclosure in highway accident cases.’’. 

17 SEC. 6. APPLICABILITY. 

18 The amendments made by sections 4 and 5 shall 

19 apply with respect to any case pending on or commenced 

20 on or after the date of enactment of this Act. The amend21 ments made by section 3 shall apply beginning on the date 

22 of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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