(5) The National Transportation Safety Board 
has recommended that event data recorders be in-
stalled 
on 
light 
passenger 
vehicles 
and 
on 
schoolbuses and motorcoaches. 
SEC. 3. EVENT DATA RECORDERS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 301 of 
part A of subtitle VI of title 49, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new sections: 
‘‘§ 30129. Event data recorders required for model 
year 2012 or later 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 
date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary of 
Transportation shall promulgate a rule that— 
‘‘(1) requires each motor vehicle manufacturer 
to equip each motor vehicle of model year 2012 or 
later manufactured by such manufacturer, regard-
less of the gross vehicle weight rating of the motor 
vehicle, with an event data recorder that meets the 
specifications set forth in subsection (b); and 
‘‘(2) establishes the uniform data retrieval 
method described in subsection (c). 
‘‘(b) 
SPECIFICATIONS
OF
EVENT
DATA
RE-
CORDER.— 
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‘‘(1) SURVIVABILITY.—The event data recorder 
required under subsection (a)(1) shall be capable 
of— 
‘‘(A) sustaining without a loss of data— 
‘‘(i) a crash that results in a fire in 
which the motor vehicle reaches a max-
imum temperature to be determined by the 
Secretary for a maximum period of time to 
be determined by the Secretary; and 
‘‘(ii) a crash that results in the motor 
vehicle becoming immersed in not greater 
than 10 feet of water; and 
‘‘(B) sustaining without a loss of data or 
function— 
‘‘(i) a frontal barrier crash test at not 
less than 65 miles per hour; 
‘‘(ii) the rear moving barrier crash 
test described in S6.2 of Federal Motor 
Vehicle Safety Standard 301 (49 C.F.R. 
571.301) that is applicable to the motor 
vehicle on which the event data recorder is 
installed; and 
‘‘(iii) a side barrier crash test to be 
determined by the Secretary. 
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‘‘(2) DATA
ELEMENTS.—The event data re-
corder required under subsection (a)(1) shall record 
the following data elements: 
‘‘(A) Yaw data. 
‘‘(B) Safety belt status by seating location, 
number of occupants, and location in the vehi-
cle. 
‘‘(C) Data regarding vehicle speed, engine 
rotations per minute, change in acceleration, 
and control signal status for the braking, accel-
eration, and steering systems. 
‘‘(D) Driver and front passenger airbag 
deployment level, deactivation status, deploy-
ment time, and deployment stage. 
‘‘(E) Rollover data. 
‘‘(F) Data regarding the operation of the 
antilock brake system, the traction control sys-
tem, and the electronic stability control system, 
including the roll stability control system. 
‘‘(G) A stamp including the motor vehicle’s 
vehicle identification number and the date, 
time, and odometer reading corresponding to 
each event collected. 
‘‘(H) Tire pressure. 
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‘‘(I) All other data elements listed in the 
left-hand column of table I or the left-hand col-
umn of table II of section 563.7 of title 49, 
Code of Federal Regulations, as such section is 
in effect on the date of the enactment of this 
section. 
‘‘(J) Such other data as the Secretary con-
siders appropriate, including any data element 
in the event data recorder standards issued by 
the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engi-
neers or the Society of Automotive Engineers. 
‘‘(3) LENGTH OF RECORDING TIME.—The event 
data recorder required under subsection (a)(1) shall 
record data related to a crash event for a period of 
not less than 60 seconds before time zero and 15 
seconds after time zero. For purposes of the pre-
ceding sentence, the term ‘time zero’ has the mean-
ing given such term in section 563.5(b) of title 49, 
Code of Federal Regulations, as such section is in 
effect on the date of the enactment of this section. 
‘‘(4) TAMPER RESISTANCE.—The event data re-
corder required under subsection (a)(1) shall have 
such safeguards as the Secretary considers appro-
priate to prevent alteration of the data recorded. 
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‘‘(5) COMPATIBILITY
WITH
UNIVERSAL
DATA 
RETRIEVAL METHOD.—The event data recorder re-
quired under subsection (a)(1) shall permit the data 
recorded by such recorder to be retrieved using the 
universal data retrieval method established under 
subsection (a)(2). The Secretary shall specify any 
data format requirements the Secretary considers 
appropriate to facilitate the establishment of such 
universal data retrieval method. 
‘‘(c) UNIVERSAL DATA RETRIEVAL METHOD.—The 
universal data retrieval method required under subsection 
(a)(2) shall be a single method by which the recorded data 
in an event data recorder on any motor vehicle to which 
this section applies, regardless of manufacturer or model, 
may be removed from such event data recorder and put 
into readable form. For purposes of the preceding sen-
tence, data are in readable form if they conform to any 
data format requirements established by the Secretary and 
can be used to analyze the safety performance of a vehicle 
using commercially available equipment. 
‘‘(d) DATA COLLECTION.— 
‘‘(1) PROCESS FOR RECEIVING DATA.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 
establish a process by which an individual or 
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entity may transmit to the Secretary data from 
an event data recorder. 
‘‘(B) PERIODIC EVALUATIONS AND MODI-
FICATIONS.—The Secretary shall conduct peri-
odic evaluations of the process established 
under subparagraph (A) and make such modi-
fications as the Secretary considers appropriate 
to ensure that the process is as effective and ef-
ficient as possible. 
‘‘(2) EVENT DATA RECORDER DATABASE.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 
create a database for purposes of research and 
analysis that contains, in electronic format, all 
data available to the Secretary from event data 
recorders. Such database shall not include any 
data that were not obtained from an event data 
recorder, except for such data from other 
sources as the Secretary considers— 
‘‘(i) relevant to performing research 
and analysis using data from event data 
recorders, including police accident reports 
and other similar official information re-
garding the conditions and circumstances 
under which the data were collected; or 
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