I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1371 
To improve the Compliance, Safety, Accountability initiative of the Federal 
Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 16, 2015 
Mr. BARLETTA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To improve the Compliance, Safety, Accountability initiative 
of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and 
for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Safer Trucks and 
Buses Act of 2015’’. 
SEC. 2. COMPLIANCE, SAFETY, ACCOUNTABILITY INITIA-
TIVE. 
(a) DATA AVAILABILITY AND USE.— 
(1) AVAILABILITY.— 
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(A) 
IN
GENERAL.—The 
Secretary 
of 
Transportation shall ensure that covered motor 
carrier data is not made available to the public. 
(B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Subpara-
graph (A) may not be construed to prevent cov-
ered motor carrier data from being made avail-
able to law enforcement personnel. 
(C) 
TERMINATION.—Subparagraph 
(A) 
shall cease to have effect on the date on which 
the Secretary submits to Congress the report 
required under subsection (e). 
(2) USE.—Covered motor carrier data may not 
be admitted into evidence or otherwise used in a civil 
action for damages resulting from an incident involv-
ing a motor carrier. 
(b) STUDY.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
shall enter into an agreement with the National 
Academy of Public Administration to have the Acad-
emy conduct a study on how to improve the Compli-
ance, Safety, Accountability initiative of the Federal 
Motor Carrier Safety Administration, including how 
to ensure that the initiative— 
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(A) utilizes only safety data determined to 
be predictive of motor carrier crashes; 
(B) appropriately addresses concerns relat-
ing to the age of utilized safety data, including 
violations; 
(C) does not unfairly harm small motor 
carriers as a result of limited safety data avail-
ability; 
(D) appropriately addresses differences be-
tween motor carriers transporting passengers 
and motor carriers transporting freight; 
(E) allows individual motor carriers to be 
effectively compared; and 
(F) utilizes accurate safety data, includ-
ing— 
(i) by appropriately addressing vari-
ations between State- and self-reported 
data; 
(ii) by accounting for geographic dif-
ferences with respect to enforcement; and 
(iii) by not utilizing crash data from 
crashes with respect to which a motor car-
rier was free from fault. 
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(2) FREE FROM FAULT.—For purposes of para-
graph (1)(F)(iii), a motor carrier is free from fault 
with respect to a crash if— 
(A) the vehicle of the carrier was struck by 
another vehicle that— 
(i) crossed the center line or median 
of a roadway; 
(ii) was driving the wrong way on a 
roadway; 
(iii) struck the rear of the carrier’s ve-
hicle while the vehicle was being lawfully 
operated; 
(iv) struck the carrier’s vehicle while 
the vehicle was legally stopped at a traffic 
control device or off the traveled portion of 
a roadway; or 
(v) was operated by an individual— 
(I) found to be driving under the 
influence of alcohol; 
(II) found by a law enforcement 
officer or agency to be responsible for 
the crash; or 
(III) who was the sole party cited 
by law enforcement for an action that 
contributed to the crash; 
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(B) the crash was the result of an indi-
vidual, other than the driver of the carrier’s ve-
hicle, committing suicide; 
(C) the vehicle of the carrier was struck by 
an animal; or 
(D) the carrier is otherwise determined not 
responsible for the crash. 
(c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 
on which the Secretary enters into an agreement under 
subsection (b), the National Academy of Public Adminis-
tration shall submit to the Secretary, the Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Rep-
resentatives, and the Committee on Commerce, Science, 
and Transportation of the Senate a report on the results 
of the study conducted under subsection (b), including rec-
ommendations for improvement based on those results. 
(d) IMPLEMENTATION OF RECOMMENDATIONS.—Not 
later than 90 days after the date on which the National 
Academy of Public Administration submits the report re-
quired under subsection (c), the Secretary shall begin im-
plementing the recommendations included in that report. 
(e) CERTIFICATION
OF
IMPLEMENTATION.—Not 
later than 1 year after the date on which the Secretary 
begins implementing recommendations under subsection 
(d), the Secretary shall complete the implementation of 
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such recommendations and shall submit to Congress a re-
port that— 
(1) describes the implementation of such rec-
ommendations; 
(2) contains a document in which the Secretary 
certifies that such implementation is complete; and 
(3) contains a document in which the Inspector 
General of the Department of Transportation cer-
tifies that such implementation is complete. 
(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following defi-
nitions apply: 
(1) COVERED
MOTOR
CARRIER
DATA.—The 
term ‘‘covered motor carrier data’’ means the Com-
pliance, Safety, Accountability Safety Measurement 
System scores and performance data of the Federal 
Motor Carrier Safety Administration. 
(2) MOTOR CARRIER.—The term ‘‘motor car-
rier’’ has the meaning given that term in section 
13102 of title 49, United States Code. 
Æ 
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