I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2867 

To amend title 23, United States Code, to provide for efforts relating to 

Move Over laws, to amend title 49, United States Code, to require 

crash avoidance technology on motor vehicles, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 28, 2021 

Mrs. BUSTOS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and Reform, and Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend title 23, United States Code, to provide for efforts 

relating to Move Over laws, to amend title 49, United 

States Code, to require crash avoidance technology on 

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 ‘‘Protecting Roadside 

5 First Responders Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. MOVE OVER LAWS. 

2 (a) HIGHWAY SAFETY PROGRAMS.—Section 402 of 

3 title 23, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

4 end the following: 

5 ‘‘(o) MOVE OVER LAWS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION OF MOVE OVER LAW.—In this 

7 subsection, the term ‘Move Over law’ means a State 

8 law intended to ensure first responder and motorist 

9 safety by requiring motorists to change lanes or slow 

10 down when approaching an authorized emergency 

11 vehicle that is parked or otherwise stopped on a 

12 roadway. 

13 ‘‘(2) COMPLIANCE WITH MOVE OVER LAWS.— 

14 For each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026, subject 

15 to the requirements of the highway safety plan of a 

16 State under subsection (k), as approved by the Sec17 retary, a State may use a portion of the amounts re18 ceived under this section to implement statewide ef19 forts to improve compliance with Move Over laws in 

20 the State. 

21 ‘‘(3) USE OF FUNDS.—Statewide efforts under 

22 paragraph (2) may include— 

23 ‘‘(A) purchasing and deploying digital alert 

24 technology that is capable of sending alerts to 

25 civilian drivers to protect first responders on 

26 the scene and en route; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) educating the public about Move Over 

2 laws in the State through public information 

3 campaigns.’’. 

4 (b) STUDY ON MOVE OVER LAW PUBLIC AWARE5 NESS CAMPAIGNS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transpor7 tation shall seek to enter into an agreement with the 

8 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and 

9 Medicine under which the National Academies of 

10 Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine shall carry out 

11 a study on the efficacy of Move Over laws (as de12 fined in section 402(o) of title 23, United States 

13 Code) and related public awareness campaigns. 

14 (2) REPORT.—On the completion of the report 

15 under paragraph (1), the National Academies of 

16 Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine shall submit to 

17 the Secretary of Transportation and to Congress 

18 and make publicly available a report on— 

19 (A) the findings of the study; and 

20 (B) any recommendations to improve pub21 lic awareness campaigns related to the laws de22 scribed in that paragraph. 

23 (c) NATIONAL PRIORITY SAFETY PROGRAMS.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 405 of title 23, 

25 United States Code, is amended— 


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1 (A) in subsection (a)— 

2 (i) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘5’’ 

3 and inserting ‘‘4’’; 

4 (ii) by redesignating paragraphs (8) 

5 through (10) as paragraphs (9) through 

6 (11), respectively; and 

7 (iii) by inserting after paragraph (7) 

8 the following: 

9 ‘‘(8) PREVENTING ROADSIDE DEATHS.—In each 

10 fiscal year, 1 percent of the funds provided under 

11 this section shall be allocated among States that 

12 meet requirements with respect to preventing road13 side deaths (as described in subsection (i)).’’; and 

14 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(i) PREVENTING ROADSIDE DEATHS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 

17 grants to States to prevent death and injury from 

18 crashes involving vehicles striking vehicles and indi19 viduals stopped at the roadside. 

20 ‘‘(2) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of 

21 the cost of carrying out an activity funded through 

22 a grant under this subsection may not exceed 80 

23 percent. 

24 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBILITY.—A State shall receive a 

25 grant under this subsection in a fiscal year if the 


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1 State submits to the Secretary a plan that describes 

2 how the State will use funds provided under the 

3 grant, in accordance with paragraph (4). 

4 ‘‘(4) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts received by a 

5 State under this subsection shall be used by the 

6 State— 

7 ‘‘(A) to purchase and deploy digital alert 

8 technology (as described in section 4(b) of the 

9 Protecting Roadside First Responders Act); 

10 ‘‘(B) to educate the public about the safety 

11 of vehicles and individuals stopped at the road12 side in the State through public information 

13 campaigns for the purpose of reducing roadside 

14 deaths and injury; 

15 ‘‘(C) for law enforcement costs related to 

16 enforcing State laws to protect the safety of ve17 hicles and individuals stopped at the roadside; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(D) for programs to identify, collect, and 

20 report data to State and local government agen21 cies relating to crashes involving vehicles and 

22 individuals stopped at the roadside. 

23 ‘‘(5) GRANT AMOUNT.—The allocation of grant 

24 funds to a State under this subsection for a fiscal 


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1 year shall be in proportion to the apportionment of 

2 that State under section 402 for fiscal year 2009.’’. 

3 (2) SENSE OF CONGRESS RELATING TO FUND4 ING.—It is the sense of Congress that the national 

5 priority program for preventing roadside deaths 

6 under subsections (a)(8) and (i) of section 405 of 

7 title 23, United States Code, should receive new and 

8 additional funding in comparison to the funding level 

9 for all national priority programs under section 405 

10 of title 23, United States Code, for the first fiscal 

11 year beginning after the date of enactment of this 

12 Act. 

13 SEC. 3. CRASH AVOIDANCE TECHNOLOGY. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 301 of 

15 title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

16 end the following: 

17 ‘‘§ 30129. Crash avoidance technology 

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

19 date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall issue 

20 a final rule to establish minimum performance standards 

21 with respect to crash avoidance technology and to require 

22 that passenger motor vehicles (as defined in section 

23 32101) and commercial motor vehicles (as defined in sec24 tion 31101) manufactured for sale in the United States 


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1 on or after the compliance date under subsection (b) are 

2 equipped with— 

3 ‘‘(1) a forward collision warning and automatic 

4 emergency braking system that— 

5 ‘‘(A) alerts the driver if the distance to a 

6 vehicle ahead or an object or person, including 

7 a pedestrian, a bicyclist, and any other road 

8 user, in the path of travel ahead is closing too 

9 quickly and a collision is imminent; and 

10 ‘‘(B) automatically applies the brakes if 

11 the driver fails to do so; 

12 ‘‘(2) a lane departure warning and lane keeping 

13 assist system that— 

14 ‘‘(A) warns the driver to maintain the lane 

15 of travel; and 

16 ‘‘(B) corrects the course of travel if the 

17 driver fails to do so; and 

18 ‘‘(3) a blind zone detection system that— 

19 ‘‘(A) warns the driver if another vehicle, 

20 an object, or a person, including a pedestrian, 

21 a bicyclist, and any other road user, is in the 

22 blind zone of the vehicle; and 

23 ‘‘(B) provides an additional alert if the 

24 driver attempts to change the course of travel 

25 while another vehicle, an object, or a person, inVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:50 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2867.IH H2867

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1 cluding a pedestrian, a bicyclist, and any other 

2 road user, is in the blind zone of the vehicle. 

3 ‘‘(b) COMPLIANCE DATE.—Compliance with the final 

4 rule under subsection (a) shall be required beginning for 

5 the model year that begins not later than 2 years after 

6 the date on which the final rule is published in the Federal 

7 Register.’’. 

8 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for sub9 chapter II of chapter 301 of title 49, United States Code, 

10 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

11 30128 the following: 

‘‘30129. Crash avoidance technology.’’. 

12 SEC. 4. REQUIREMENTS FOR FEDERAL VEHICLE FLEETS. 

13 (a) CRASH AVOIDANCE TECHNOLOGY.—Not later 

14 than 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act, in 

15 accordance with section 30129 of title 49, United States 

16 Code, the head of each Federal agency shall ensure that 

17 each new passenger motor vehicle (as defined in section 

18 32101 of that title) and commercial motor vehicle (as de19 fined in section 31101 of that title) purchased or leased 

20 as part of a Federal fleet of the agency is equipped with— 

21 (1) a forward collision warning and automatic 

22 emergency braking system that— 

23 (A) alerts the driver if the distance to a ve24 hicle ahead or an object or person, including a 

25 pedestrian, a bicyclist, or any other road user, 


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1 in the path of travel ahead is closing too quickly 

2 and a collision is imminent; and 

3 (B) automatically applies the brakes if the 

4 driver fails to do so; 

5 (2) a lane departure warning and lane keeping 

6 assist system that— 

7 (A) warns the driver to maintain the lane 

8 of travel; and 

9 (B) corrects the course of travel if the 

10 driver fails to do so; and 

11 (3) a blind zone detection system that— 

12 (A) warns the driver if another vehicle, an 

13 object, or a person, including a pedestrian, a bi14 cyclist, and any other road user, is in the blind 

15 zone of the vehicle; and 

16 (B) provides an additional alert if the driv17 er attempts to change the course of travel while 

18 another vehicle, an object, or a person, includ19 ing a pedestrian, a bicyclist, and any other road 

20 user, is in the blind zone of the vehicle. 

21 (b) DIGITAL ALERT TECHNOLOGY.—Not later than 

22 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the head 

23 of each Federal agency shall ensure that each vehicle in 

24 a Federal fleet of the agency— 


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1 (1) if the vehicle is used for emergency response 

2 activities, is equipped with digital alert technology 

3 that is capable of sending alerts to civilian drivers 

4 to protect first responders on the scene and en 

5 route; and 

6 (2) is equipped with digital alert technology 

7 (which may be provided by an aftermarket device) 

8 that is capable of receiving alerts regarding nearby 

9 first responders. 

Æ 


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