I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1706 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a credit against 
income tax to facilitate the accelerated development and deployment 
of advanced safety systems for commercial motor vehicles. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 4, 2011 
Mr. DAVIS of Kentucky (for himself and Mr. THOMPSON of California) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways 
and Means 
A BILL 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide 
a credit against income tax to facilitate the accelerated 
development and deployment of advanced safety systems 
for commercial motor vehicles. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Commercial Motor Ve-
hicle Advanced Safety Technology Tax Act of 2011’’. 
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SEC. 2. CREDIT FOR ADVANCED COMMERCIAL VEHICLE 
SAFETY SYSTEMS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of sub-
chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 (relating to business related credits) is amended by 
adding at the end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 45S. CREDIT FOR COMMERCIAL VEHICLE ADVANCED 
SAFETY SYSTEMS. 
‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.—For purposes of sec-
tion 38, the commercial vehicle advanced safety system 
credit determined under this section is an amount equal 
to 50 percent of the cost of any qualified commercial vehi-
cle advanced safety system placed in service by the tax-
payer during the taxable year. 
‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) PER SYSTEM.—The credit allowable under 
subsection (a) for each qualified commercial vehicle 
advanced safety system shall not exceed $1,500. 
‘‘(2) PER
VEHICLE.—The credit allowable 
under subsection (a) with respect to property for 
each qualified commercial vehicle shall not exceed— 
‘‘(A) $3,500, reduced by 
‘‘(B) the aggregate amount of credit al-
lowed to the taxpayer under this section with 
respect to such vehicle for all prior taxable 
years. 
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‘‘(3) PER
TAXPAYER.—The credit allowable 
under subsection (a) to the taxpayer for the taxable 
year shall not exceed $350,000. 
‘‘(c) QUALIFIED COMMERCIAL VEHICLE ADVANCED 
SAFETY SYSTEM.—For purposes of this section, the term 
‘qualified commercial vehicle advanced safety system’ 
means any property which is part of a system installed 
on a qualified commercial vehicle if— 
‘‘(1)(A) such system is a brake stroke moni-
toring system, lane departure warning system, colli-
sion warning system, or vehicle stability system, or 
‘‘(B) such system is specifically identified by 
the Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier 
Safety Administration or the Administrator of the 
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for 
the purposes of this paragraph as significantly en-
hancing the safety or security of the driver, vehicle, 
passengers, or load of a qualified commercial vehicle 
and such identification is in effect as of the date 
such system is placed in service by the taxpayer, 
‘‘(2) such system is certified by the manufac-
turer of such system (before such vehicle is first 
used by the taxpayer for its intended purpose after 
installation of such system)— 
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‘‘(B) has a gross combination weight rat-
ing or a gross vehicle weight rating of 26,001 
pounds or more, or 
‘‘(C) the seating capacity of which is at 
least 15 individuals (not including the driver), 
‘‘(2) the seating capacity of such vehicle is at 
least 11 individuals (not including the driver) and 
such vehicle is reasonably expected to be used as a 
school bus (as defined in section 4221(d)(7)(C)), or 
‘‘(3) such vehicle is reasonably expected to be 
used as an intercity or local bus (as defined in sec-
tion 4221(d)(7)(B)). 
‘‘(e) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this 
section— 
‘‘(1) BRAKE STROKE MONITORING SYSTEM.— 
The term ‘brake stroke monitoring system’ means 
any onboard-monitoring system for air-braked vehi-
cles that— 
‘‘(A) uses electronic sensors to determine if 
the brakes are out of adjustment, not oper-
ational, or not fully releasing, and 
‘‘(B) displays warnings to the driver show-
ing the existence and exact location and nature 
of the problem. 
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‘‘(2) LANE
DEPARTURE
WARNING
SYSTEM.— 
The term ‘lane departure warning system’ means 
any system that alerts a driver (including audio, vis-
ual, and tactile warnings) of unintended movement 
out of the lane of travel or of an object or vehicle 
in the adjacent lane blind spot. 
‘‘(3) COLLISION WARNING SYSTEM.—The term 
‘collision warning system’ means any system that— 
‘‘(A) monitors the roadway in front, to the 
side, or to the rear of the vehicle, 
‘‘(B) warns the driver when a potential col-
lision risk exists by providing the driver with an 
audible, visual, or tactile notification, and 
‘‘(C) may autonomously slow or redirect 
the vehicle. 
‘‘(4) VEHICLE STABILITY SYSTEM.—The term 
‘vehicle stability system’ means any active safety 
system that automatically intervenes when there is a 
high risk of rollover or directional instability. For 
purposes of the preceding sentence, active interven-
tions include automatically reducing vehicle speed or 
by selectively applying appropriate brakes to better 
align the vehicle to the appropriate path of travel. 
‘‘(f) CONTROLLED GROUPS.— 
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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec-
tion, all persons treated as a single employer under 
subsection (a) or (b) of section 52 or subsection (m) 
or (o) of section 414 shall be treated as a single tax-
payer. 
‘‘(2) INCLUSION OF FOREIGN CORPORATIONS.— 
For purposes of paragraph (1), in applying sub-
sections (a) and (b) of section 52 to this section, sec-
tion 1563 shall be applied without regard to sub-
section (b)(2)(C) thereof. 
‘‘(g) SPECIAL RULES.— 
‘‘(1) BASIS
REDUCTION.—The basis of any 
property for which a credit is allowable under sub-
section (a) shall be reduced by the amount of such 
credit. 
‘‘(2) RECAPTURE.—The Secretary shall, by reg-
ulations, provide for recapturing the benefit of any 
credit allowable under subsection (a) with respect to 
any property which ceases to be property eligible for 
such credit. 
‘‘(3) PROPERTY USED OUTSIDE UNITED STATES 
NOT QUALIFIED.—No credit shall be allowed under 
subsection (a) with respect to any property referred 
to in section 50(b)(1) or with respect to the portion 
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of the cost of any property taken into account under 
section 179. 
‘‘(4) PROPERTY USED BY TAX-EXEMPT ENTI-
TY.—In the case of any qualified commercial vehicle 
advanced safety system the use of which is described 
in paragraph (3) or (4) of section 50(b) and which 
is not subject to a lease— 
‘‘(A) the person who sold such property to 
the person or entity using such property shall 
be treated as the taxpayer that placed such 
property in service, but only if such person 
clearly discloses to such person or entity in a 
document the amount of any credit allowable 
under subsection (a) with respect to such prop-
erty (determined without regard to section 
38(c)), and 
‘‘(B) paragraphs (2) and (3) of subsection 
(c) shall not apply to such person with respect 
to such property. 
‘‘(5) ELECTION
NOT
TO
TAKE
CREDIT.—No 
credit shall be allowed under subsection (a) for any 
qualified commercial vehicle advanced safety system 
if the taxpayer elects to not have this section apply 
to such system. 
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‘‘(h) SUPPORTING
DOCUMENTATION.—No credit 
shall be allowed under subsection (a) unless the qualified 
commercial vehicle owner receives such documentation as 
the Secretary may require, including— 
‘‘(1) at the time of purchase of the qualified ad-
vanced commercial vehicle advanced safety system— 
‘‘(A) documentation that identifies— 
‘‘(i) the type of each such system to 
be installed on the vehicle, and 
‘‘(ii) the purchase date of the vehicle 
containing such system (or the installation 
date of such system in the case of installa-
tion after the date of the first retail sale 
of such vehicle), and 
‘‘(B) the certification required under sub-
section (c)(2), and 
‘‘(2) in the case of a system for which a certifi-
cation is required under subsection (c)(3), at the 
time of the installation of such system, the certifi-
cation required under subsection (c)(3). 
‘‘(i) TERMINATION.—This section shall not apply to 
property placed in service after December 31, 2016.’’. 
(b) CREDIT TO BE PART OF GENERAL BUSINESS 
CREDIT.—Subsection (b) of section 38 of such Code (re-
lating to general business credit) is amended by striking 
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‘‘plus’’ at the end of paragraph (35), by striking the period 
at the end of paragraph (36) and inserting ‘‘, plus’’, and 
by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(37) the commercial vehicle advanced safety 
system credit determined under section 45S(a).’’. 
(c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) Section 1016(a) of such Code is amended 
by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph (36), by 
striking the period at the end of paragraph (37) and 
inserting ‘‘, and’’, and by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new paragraph: 
‘‘(38) to the extent provided in section 
45S(g)(1).’’. 
(2) Subsection (m) of section 6501 of such 
Code is amended by inserting ‘‘45S(g)(5),’’ after 
‘‘45H(g),’’. 
(3) The table of sections for subpart D of part 
IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of such Code is 
amended by inserting after the item relating to sec-
tion 45R the following new item: 
‘‘Sec. 45S. Credit for commercial vehicle advanced safety systems.’’. 
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to property placed in service after 
the date of the enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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