I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3628 

To amend subchapter II of chapter 301 of title 49, United States Code, 

to require crash avoidance technologies, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 28, 2021 

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend subchapter II of chapter 301 of title 49, United 

States Code, to require crash avoidance technologies, 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 ‘‘21st Century Smart 

5 Cars Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. 21ST CENTURY SMART CARS. 

7 (a) CRASH AVOIDANCE RULEMAKING.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 

9 301 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by 

10 adding at the end the following: 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 3628 IH

1 ‘‘§ 30130. Crash avoidance rulemaking 

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

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

4 final rules prescribing motor vehicle safety standards 

5 that— 

6 ‘‘(1) establish minimum performance require7 ments for the crash avoidance systems described in 

8 subsection (b); and 

9 ‘‘(2) require all new passenger motor vehicles 

10 manufactured for sale in the United States, intro11 duced or delivered for introduction in interstate com12 merce, or imported into the United States to be 

13 equipped with the crash avoidance systems described 

14 in subsection (b). 

15 ‘‘(b) CRASH AVOIDANCE SYSTEMS.—The Secretary 

16 shall issue motor vehicle safety standards for each of the 

17 following crash avoidance systems— 

18 ‘‘(1) forward collision warning and automatic 

19 emergency braking that detects potential collisions 

20 with vehicles, objects, pedestrians, bicyclists, and 

21 other vulnerable road users while the vehicle is trav22 eling forward, provides a warning to the driver, and 

23 automatically applies the brakes to avoid or mitigate 

24 the severity of a collision; 

25 ‘‘(2) rear automatic emergency braking that de26 tects a potential collision with vehicles, objects, peVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:05 Jul 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3628.IH H3628

pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 3628 IH

1 destrians, bicyclists, and other vulnerable road users 

2 while a vehicle is travelling in reverse and automati3 cally applies the brakes to avoid or mitigate the se4 verity of a collision; 

5 ‘‘(3) rear cross traffic warning that detects ve6 hicles, objects, pedestrians, bicyclists, and other vul7 nerable road users approaching from the side and 

8 rear of a vehicle as it travels in reverse and alerts 

9 the driver; 

10 ‘‘(4) lane departure warning that monitors a ve11 hicle’s position in its lane and alerts the driver as 

12 the vehicle approaches or crosses lane markers; and 

13 ‘‘(5) blind spot warning that detects a vehicle, 

14 pedestrian, bicyclist, and other vulnerable road user 

15 to the side or rear of a vehicle and alerts the driver 

16 to their presence, including when a driver attempts 

17 to change the course of travel toward another vehicle 

18 or road user in the blind zone of the vehicle. 

19 ‘‘(c) CONSIDERATIONS.—In prescribing the motor ve20 hicle safety standards required in subsection (a), the Sec21 retary shall require that the crash avoidance systems— 

22 ‘‘(1) perform effectively at speeds for which a 

23 passenger motor vehicle is designed to operate, in24 cluding on city streets and highways; and 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 3628 IH

1 ‘‘(2) include self-diagnostic capability and warn2 ing when inoperable. 

3 ‘‘(d) COMPLIANCE DATE.—The compliance date of 

4 the standards prescribed under subsection (a) shall not ex5 ceed more than 2 years from the date final rules are 

6 issued. 

7 ‘‘(e) RULEMAKING ON POINT OF SALE INFORMA8 TION.—Not later than 18 months after the date of enact9 ment of this section, the Secretary shall issue a final rule 

10 to require clear and concise information about the capa11 bilities and limitations of advanced crash avoidance sys12 tems described in subsection (b) to be provided to a con13 sumer at the point of sale and in the vehicle owner’s man14 ual, including a publicly accessible electronic owner’s man15 ual. 

16 ‘‘(f) HEADLAMPS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) Not later than 2 years after the date of 

18 enactment of this section, the Secretary shall issue 

19 a final rule amending section 571.108 of title 49, 

20 Code of Federal Regulations to— 

21 ‘‘(A) improve illumination of the roadway; 

22 ‘‘(B) prevent glare; 

23 ‘‘(C) establish minimum performance 

24 standards for— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 3628 IH

1 ‘‘(i) semi-automatic headlamp beam 

2 switching; 

3 ‘‘(ii) curve adaptive headlamps; and 

4 ‘‘(iii) adaptive driving beam headlamp 

5 technology. 

6 ‘‘(2) The compliance date of the revised stand7 ard prescribed under paragraph (1) shall not exceed 

8 more than 2 years from the effective date. 

9 ‘‘(3) Not later than 1 year after the date of en10 actment of this section, the Secretary shall finalize 

11 the Rulemaking (83 Fed. Reg. 51766) to permit the 

12 certification of adaptive driving beam headlighting 

13 systems. 

14 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

15 ‘‘(1) CRASH AVOIDANCE.—The term ‘crash 

16 avoidance’ has the meaning given to that term in 

17 section 32301. 

18 ‘‘(2) PASSENGER MOTOR VEHICLE.—The term 

19 ‘passenger motor vehicle’ has the meaning given to 

20 that term in section 32101.’’. 

21 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of 

22 sections for subchapter II of chapter 301 of title 49, 

23 United States Code, is further amended by adding 

24 after the item relating to section 30129 (as added 

25 by section 32002(a)(2)) the following: 

‘‘30130. Crash avoidance rulemaking.’’. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 3628 IH

1 (b) RESEARCH OF ADVANCED CRASH SYSTEMS.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 

3 301 of title 49, United States Code, as amended by 

4 section(a)(1), is further amended by adding at the 

5 end the following: 

6 ‘‘§ 30131. Advanced crash systems research and con7 sumer education 

8 ‘‘(a) ADVANCED CRASH SYSTEMS RESEARCH.— 

9 ‘‘(1) Not later than 2 years after the date of 

10 enactment of this section, the Secretary shall com11 plete research into the following: 

12 ‘‘(A) Direct driver monitoring systems that 

13 will minimize driver disengagement, driver dis14 traction, prevent automation complacency, and 

15 foreseeable misuse of vehicle automation. 

16 ‘‘(B) Lane keeping assistance that assists 

17 with steering to keep a vehicle within its driving 

18 lane. 

19 ‘‘(C) Automatic collision notification sys20 tems that— 

21 ‘‘(i) notify emergency responders that 

22 a crash has occurred and provide the geo23 graphical location of the vehicle and crash 

24 data in a manner that allows for assessVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:05 Jul 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3628.IH H3628

pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 3628 IH

1 ment of potential injuries and emergency 

2 response; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) transfer to the Secretary 

4 anonymized automatic crash data for the 

5 purposes of safety research and statistical 

6 analysis. 

7 ‘‘(D) Intelligent Speed Assist that— 

8 ‘‘(i) determines the applicable speed 

9 limit where the vehicle is operating; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) alerts the driver to the current 

11 speed limit and discourages exceeding that 

12 limit. 

13 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—In conducting the re14 search required under subsection (a), the Secretary 

15 shall— 

16 ‘‘(A) develop one or more tests to evaluate 

17 the performance of the systems; 

18 ‘‘(B) determine criteria that would be rea19 sonable and practicable at evaluating the per20 formance of the systems; and 

21 ‘‘(C) determine fail, pass, or advanced pass 

22 criteria to assure the systems are performing 

23 their intended function. 

24 ‘‘(3) REPORT.—The Secretary shall submit a 

25 report detailing findings from the research required 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 3628 IH

1 under subsection (a) to the House Energy and Com2 merce Committee and the Senate Commerce, 

3 Science, and Transportation Committee not later 

4 than 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act. 

5 ‘‘(4) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 4 years 

6 after the date of enactment of this section, the Sec7 retary shall issue final rules to establish motor vehi8 cle safety standards for the advanced crash systems 

9 described in this subsection and to require all new 

10 passenger motor vehicles manufactured for sale in 

11 the United States, introduced or delivered for intro12 duction in interstate commerce, or imported into the 

13 United States produced after the compliance date of 

14 such standards to be equipped with advanced crash 

15 avoidance systems described in this subsection. 

16 ‘‘(5) LEAD TIME.—The compliance date of the 

17 standards prescribed under this section shall not ex18 ceed more than 2 model years from the date a motor 

19 vehicle safety standard is finalized. 

20 ‘‘(6) CRASH DATA.—If the Secretary makes a 

21 determination that establishing a motor vehicle safe22 ty standard described in paragraph (1)(C)(ii) does 

23 not meet the requirements and considerations set 

24 forth in subsections (a) and (b) of section 30111 of 

25 title 49, United States Code, the Secretary— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 3628 IH

1 ‘‘(A) shall submit a report describing the 

2 reasons for reaching such a determination to 

3 the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 

4 House of Representatives and the Committee 

5 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation in 

6 the Senate; and 

7 ‘‘(B) may not issue such a standard. 

8 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 ‘‘(1) CRASH AVOIDANCE.—The term ‘crash 

10 avoidance’ has the meaning given to that term in 

11 section 32301. 

12 ‘‘(2) PASSENGER MOTOR VEHICLE.—The term 

13 ‘passenger motor vehicle’ has the meaning given to 

14 that term in section 32101.’’. 

15 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of 

16 section for subchapter II of chapter 301 of title 49, 

17 United States Code, is further amended by adding 

18 after the item relating to section 30129, as added by 

19 section 2(b), the following: 

‘‘30131. Advanced crash systems research and consumer education.’’. 

Æ 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS