II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3271 

To amend section 30166 of title 49, United States Code, to require the 

installation of event data recorders in all motor vehicles manufactured 

for sale in the United States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 28, 2010 

Mr. UDALL of New Mexico introduced the following bill; which was read twice 

and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To amend section 30166 of title 49, United States Code, 

to require the installation of event data recorders in 

all motor vehicles manufactured for sale in the United 

States, 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 ‘‘Vehicle Event History 

5 Information Capturing Leads to Engineering Safety Im6 provements Act of 2010’’ or the ‘‘VEHICLE Safety Im7 provements Act of 2010’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress makes the following findings: 

3 (1) In August 2001, the National Highway 

4 Traffic Safety Administration Research and Devel5 opment Event Data Recorder Working Group pub6 lished the following findings: 

7 (A) ‘‘EDRs [event data recorders] have the 

8 potential to greatly improve highway safety, for 

9 example, by improving occupant protection sys10 tems and improving the accuracy of crash re11 constructions.’’. 

12 (B) ‘‘EDR technology has potential safety 

13 applications for all classes of motor vehicles.’’. 

14 (C) ‘‘A wide range of crash related and 

15 other data elements have been identified which 

16 might usefully be captured by future EDR sys17 tems.’’. 

18 (D) ‘‘NHTSA has incorporated EDR data 

19 collection in its motor vehicle research data20 bases.’’. 

21 (E) ‘‘Open access to EDR data (minus 

22 personal identifiers) will benefit researchers, 

23 crash investigators, and manufacturers in im24 proving safety on the highways.’’. 

25 (F) ‘‘Studies of EDRs in Europe and the 

26 U.S. have shown that driver and employee 


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1 awareness of an on-board EDR reduces the 

2 number and severity of drivers’ crashes.’’. 

3 (G) ‘‘Given the differing nature of cars, 

4 vans, SUVs, and other lightweight vehicles, 

5 compared to heavy trucks, school buses, and 

6 motorcoaches, different EDR systems may be 

7 required to meet the needs of each vehicle 

8 class.’’. 

9 (H) ‘‘Most systems utilize proprietary tech10 nology and require the manufacturer to 

11 download and analyze the data.’’. 

12 (2) The National Highway Traffic Safety Ad13 ministration (NHTSA) issued an event data re14 corder rule on August 28, 2006 (71 Fed. Reg. 

15 50998), that— 

16 (A) included a number of technical require17 ments for event data recorders if they were pro18 vided in the motor vehicle, including standard19 ized data required to be collected, the data for20 mat, and requirements for the event data re21 corder to be readable following severe crashes; 

22 and 

23 (B) did not require the installation of 

24 event data recorders in any motor vehicle. 


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1 (3) Recent NHTSA investigations have high2 lighted the importance of event data recorders in de3 termining the nature and cause of motor vehicle 

4 crashes and malfunctions. 

5 SEC. 3. EVENT DATA RECORDERS. 

6 Section 30166 of title 49, United States Code, is 

7 amended— 

8 (1) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol9 lows: 

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

11 ‘‘(1) MODEL YEAR.—The term ‘model year’ 

12 means— 

13 ‘‘(A) the annual production period of a 

14 manufacturer that begins on September 1 of 

15 the year preceding the calendar year for which 

16 the model year is named; and 

17 ‘‘(B) the calendar year for which the model 

18 year is named, if the manufacturer has no an19 nual production period. 

20 ‘‘(2) MOTOR VEHICLE CRASH.—The term 

21 ‘motor vehicle crash’ means an occurrence associated 

22 with the maintenance or operation of a motor vehicle 

23 or motor vehicle equipment resulting in personal in24 jury, death, or property damage. 


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1 ‘‘(3) OWNER.—The term ‘owner’ means a per2 son who— 

3 ‘‘(A) has all the incidents of ownership of 

4 a motor vehicle, including legal title, regardless 

5 of whether the person lends, rents, or creates a 

6 security interest in the vehicle; or 

7 ‘‘(B) is entitled to possession of a motor 

8 vehicle as— 

9 ‘‘(i) a purchaser under a security 

10 agreement; or 

11 ‘‘(ii) a lessee under a written lease 

12 agreement for a period of at least 3 

13 months. 

14 ‘‘(4) RECORDING DEVICE.—The term ‘recording 

15 device’ means a feature that— 

16 ‘‘(A) is installed by the manufacturer in a 

17 motor vehicle; and 

18 ‘‘(B) complies with part 563 of title 49, 

19 Code of Federal Regulations, for the purpose of 

20 retrieving information from the motor vehicle 

21 after an event involving the motor vehicle.’’; 

22 and 

23 (2) in subsection (b)(1)(B), by striking ‘‘acci24 dent’’ and inserting ‘‘crash’’; 


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1 (3) in subsection (c)(3), by striking ‘‘accident’’ 

2 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘crash’’; and 

3 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(o) EVENT DATA RECORDERS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) INSTALLATION REQUIREMENT.— 

6 ‘‘(A) LIGHT-DUTY MOTOR VEHICLES.—Be7 ginning not later than the September 1 that is 

8 between 1 and 2 years after the date on which 

9 regulations are promulgated under section 4(a) 

10 of the VEHICLE Safety Improvements Act of 

11 2010— 

12 ‘‘(i) each new motor vehicle with a 

13 gross vehicle weight rating of not more 

14 than 8,500 pounds that manufactured for 

15 sale or lease in the United States shall be 

16 equipped with a recording device that com17 plies with part 563 of title 49, Code of 

18 Federal Regulations (or any successor reg19 ulation); and 

20 ‘‘(ii) the data stored on any recording 

21 device installed in any such new motor ve22 hicle shall be accessible and retrievable by 

23 a commercially available universal data 

24 reader. 


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1 ‘‘(B) MEDIUM- AND HEAVY-DUTY MOTOR

2 VEHICLES.—Beginning not later than the Sep3 tember 1 that is between 3 and 4 years after 

4 the date on which regulations are promulgated 

5 under section 4(b) of the VEHICLE Safety Im6 provements Act of 2010— 

7 ‘‘(i) each new motor vehicle with a 

8 gross vehicle weight rating of more than 

9 8,500 pounds that is manufactured for sale 

10 or lease in the United States shall be 

11 equipped with a recording device that com12 plies with part 563 of title 49, Code of 

13 Federal Regulations (or any successor reg14 ulation); and 

15 ‘‘(ii) the data stored on any recording 

16 device installed in any such new motor ve17 hicle shall be accessible and retrievable by 

18 a commercially available universal data 

19 reader. 

20 ‘‘(2) DISCLOSURE.—The owner’s manual of 

21 each new motor vehicle sold or leased in the United 

22 States that is equipped with a recording device shall 

23 clearly indicate the presence of such a recording de24 vice, in accordance with section 563.11 of title 49, 


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1 Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor regu2 lation). 

3 ‘‘(3) PRIVACY PROTECTION.—Information re4 corded or transmitted by a recording device may not 

5 be retrieved by a person other than the owner of the 

6 motor vehicle in which the recording device is in7 stalled unless— 

8 ‘‘(A) a court authorizes retrieval of such 

9 information in furtherance of a legal pro10 ceeding; 

11 ‘‘(B) the owner consents to such retrieval 

12 for any purpose, including diagnosing, servicing, 

13 or repairing the motor vehicle; or 

14 ‘‘(C)(i) the information is retrieved by a 

15 government motor vehicle safety agency for the 

16 purpose of improving motor vehicle safety; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) the personally identifiable information 

18 of the owner or driver of the vehicle or the vehi19 cle identification number is not disclosed in con20 nection with the retrieved information.’’. 

21 SEC. 4. RULEMAKING. 

22 (a) LIGHT-DUTY MOTOR VEHICLES.—Not later than 

23 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

24 the Secretary of Transportation shall promulgate regula25 tions to carry out the provisions of section 30166(o) of 


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1 title 49, United States Code, relating to light-duty motor 

2 vehicles. 

3 (b) MEDIUM- AND HEAVY-DUTY MOTOR VEHI4 CLES.—Not later than 3 years after the date of the enact5 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall 

6 promulgate regulations to carry out the provisions of sec7 tion 30166(o) of title 49, United States Code, relating to 

8 medium- and heavy-duty motor vehicles. 

Æ 


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