SEC. 3. SAFETY WARNING FOR OCCUPANTS OF HOT CARS. 
(a) OCCUPANT SAFETY.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Subchapter II of Chapter 
301 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by 
adding at the end the following new section: 
‘‘§ 30129. Occupant safety 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) PASSENGER MOTOR VEHICLE.—The term 
‘passenger motor vehicle’ has the meaning given that 
term in section 32101. 
‘‘(2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 
the Secretary of Transportation. 
‘‘(b) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 2 years after the 
date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall issue 
a final rule prescribing a motor vehicle safety standard 
that requires all new passenger motor vehicles with a gross 
vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or less to be 
equipped with a system that detects the presence of an 
unattended occupant in the passenger compartment of the 
vehicle and engages a warning to reduce death and injury 
resulting from vehicular heatstroke, particularly incidents 
involving children. 
‘‘(c) LIMITATION ON CAPABILITY OF BEING DIS-
ABLED.—The motor vehicle safety standard prescribed 
under subsection (b) shall require that the system de-
scribed in that subsection cannot be disabled, overridden, 
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reset, or recalibrated in such a way that the system will 
no longer detect the presence of an unattended occupant 
in the passenger compartment of the vehicle and engage 
a warning. 
‘‘(d) MEANS.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The warning required 
under the motor vehicle safety standard prescribed 
under subsection (b) shall include a distinct auditory 
and visual warning to notify individuals inside and 
outside of the vehicle of the presence of an unat-
tended occupant, which shall be combined with an 
interior haptic warning. 
‘‘(2) CONSIDERATION.—In developing such 
warning, the Secretary shall also consider including 
a secondary additional warning to— 
‘‘(A) notify— 
‘‘(i) operators that are not in close 
proximity to the vehicle; and 
‘‘(ii) emergency responders; and 
‘‘(B) provide the geographical location of 
the vehicle in a manner that allows for an emer-
gency response. 
‘‘(e) COMPLIANCE DEADLINE.—The rule issued pur-
suant to subsection (b) shall require full compliance with 
the motor vehicle safety standard prescribed in the rule 
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not later than 2 years after the date on which the final 
rule is issued.’’. 
(2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec-
tions for subchapter II of chapter 301 of title 49, 
United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following new item: 
‘‘30129. Occupant safety.’’. 
(b) STUDY.— 
(1) INDEPENDENT STUDY.— 
(A) CONTRACT.—Not later than 90 days 
after the date on which a final rule is issued 
pursuant to section 30129(b) of title 49, United 
States Code, as added by subsection (a)(1), and 
every two years thereafter, the Secretary shall 
enter into a contract with an independent third 
party to conduct the study described under sub-
paragraph (B). 
(B) STUDY.— 
(i) IN GENERAL.—Under the contract 
between the Secretary and an independent 
third party under subparagraph (A), the 
independent third party shall carry out a 
study on retrofitting passenger motor vehi-
cles introduced into interstate commerce 
before the effective date of the rule re-
quired pursuant to section 30129(b) of 
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title 49, United States Code, as added by 
subsection (a)(1), with technologies and 
products that meet the safety need ad-
dressed by the motor vehicle safety stand-
ard prescribed under such section. 
(ii) ELEMENTS.—In carrying out the 
study required under clause (i), the inde-
pendent third party shall— 
(I) 
identify 
technologies 
and 
products— 
(aa) manufactured for use in 
passenger motor vehicles intro-
duced into interstate commerce 
before the effective date of the 
rule required by section 30129(b) 
of title 49, United States Code, 
as added by subsection (a)(1); 
and 
(bb) that reduce death and 
injury resulting from vehicular 
heatstroke, particularly incidents 
involving children; and 
(II) make recommendations for 
manufacturers of such technologies 
and products to undergo a functional 
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safety performance assessment to en-
sure that the technologies and prod-
ucts perform as designed by the man-
ufacturer under a variety of real-world 
conditions. 
(2) PUBLICATION; 
PUBLIC
COMMENT.—Not 
later than 2 years after the date on which the Sec-
retary enters into a contract pursuant to paragraph 
(1)(A), and every two years thereafter, the Secretary 
shall— 
(A) publish the study required under para-
graph (1)(B) in the Federal Register; and 
(B) provide a period for public comment of 
not longer than 90 days after the date on which 
the study is published pursuant to subpara-
graph (A). 
(3) CONSUMER INFORMATION.—Not later than 
120 days after expiration of the public comment pe-
riod described under paragraph (2)(B) and upon re-
view of the public comments, the Secretary shall pro-
vide information for consumers through the website 
of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administra-
tion on the performance of the technologies and 
products described in paragraph (1)(B)(ii) to retrofit 
existing vehicles. 
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