II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 561

To improve child safety in motor vehicles. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 8, 2005

Mr. DEWINE (for himself and Mr. ROCKEFELLER) introduced the following 

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

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL

To improve child safety 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 ‘‘Safe Kids and Cars 

5 Act of 2005’’. 

6 (a) INCORPORATION OF CHILD DUMMIES IN SAFETY

7 TESTS.—

8 (1) REVIEW PROCESS REQUIRED.—Not later 

9 than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this 

10 Act, the Administrator of the National Highway 

11 Traffic Safety Administration shall conduct a review 
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1 process to increase utilization of child dummies, in2 cluding Hybrid-III child dummies, in motor vehicle 

3 safety tests, including crash tests, conducted by the 

4 Administration. 

5 (2) CRITERIA.—In conducting the review proc6 ess under subsection (a), the Administrator shall se7 lect motor vehicle safety tests in which the inclusion 

8 of child dummies will lead to— 

9 (A) increased understanding of crash dy10 namics with respect to children; and 

11 (B) measurably improved child safety. 

12 (3) PUBLIC INPUT.—The Secretary of Trans13 portation shall solicit and consider input from the 

14 public regarding the review process under paragraph 

15 (1). 

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

17 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

18 shall publish a report regarding the implementation 

19 of this section. The report shall include information 

20 regarding the current status of the Hybrid-III 10 

21 year old child test dummy. 

22 (b) CHILD SAFETY INFORMATION PROGRAMS.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months 

24 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec25 retary of Transportation shall supplement ongoing 
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1 consumer information programs relating to child 

2 safety with information regarding hazards to chil3 dren in nontraffic, noncrash accident situations. 

4 (2) ACTIVITIES TO SUPPLEMENT INFORMA5 TION.—In supplementing such programs, the Sec6 retary shall—

7 (A) utilize information collected in the 

8 database maintained under subsection (e) re9 garding nontraffic, noncrash injuries, as well as 

10 other relevant data from private organizations, 

11 to establish priorities for the program; 

12 (B) address ways in which parents can 

13 mitigate dangers to small children arising from 

14 preventable causes, including backover inci15 dents, hyperthermia in closed vehicles, and acci16 dental activation of power windows; 

17 (C) partner with national child safety re18 search organizations and other interested orga19 nizations with respect to the delivery of pro20 gram information; and 

21 (D) make information related to child safe22 ty available to the public via the Internet and 

23 other means. 

24 (c) REPORT ON VEHICLE VISIBILITY.—Not later 

25 than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
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1 the Secretary of Transportation shall submit a report to 

2 Congress on the extent to which driver visibility of the 

3 area immediately surrounding light passenger vehicles and 

4 obstructions to such visibility affect pedestrian safety, in5 cluding the safety of infants and small children, in non6 traffic, noncrash situations. 

7 (d) REPORT ON ENHANCED VEHICLE SAFETY TECH8 NOLOGIES.—Not later than 18 months after the date of 

9 the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation 

10 shall submit to Congress a report that describes, evalu11 ates, and determines the relative effectiveness of— 

12 (1) currently available and emerging tech13 nologies, including auto-reverse functions, that are 

14 designed to prevent and reduce the number of inju15 ries and deaths to children left unattended inside 

16 parked motor vehicles, including injuries and deaths 

17 that result from hyperthermia or are related to 

18 power windows or power sunroofs; and 

19 (2) currently available and emerging tech20 nologies that are designed to prevent deaths and in21 juries to small children resulting from vehicle blind 

22 spots and backover incidents. 

23 (e) DATABASE ON INJURIES AND DEATHS IN NON24 TRAFFIC, NONCRASH EVENTS.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transpor2 tation shall maintain a database of, and regularly 

3 collect data regarding, injuries and deaths in non4 traffic, noncrash events involving motor vehicles. 

5 The database shall include information regarding— 

6 (A) the number, types, and proximate 

7 causes of injuries and deaths resulting from 

8 such events; 

9 (B) the characteristics of motor vehicles 

10 involved in such events; 

11 (C) the characteristics of the motor vehicle 

12 operators and victims involved in such events; 

13 and 

14 (D) the presence or absence in motor vehi15 cles involved in such events of advanced tech16 nologies designed to prevent such injuries and 

17 deaths. 

18 (2) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall pre19 scribe regulations regarding how to structure and 

20 compile the database. The Secretary shall solicit and 

21 consider input from the public regarding data collec22 tion procedures and the structure of the database 

23 maintained under paragraph (1). 

24 (3) DEADLINES.—The Secretary shall—
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1 (A) complete the prescription of regula2 tions and the consideration of public input 

3 under paragraph (2) not later than September 

4 1, 2006; and 

5 (B) commence the collection of data under 

6 paragraph (1) not later than January 1, 2007. 

7 (4) AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary shall make 

8 the database maintained under paragraph (1) avail9 able to the public.

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