Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Safe Roads Act of 2021”.
Safe Roads Act of 2021
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Transportation to prescribe a motor vehicle safety standard that requires new commercial motor vehicles to be equipped with an automatic emergency braking system, to require automatic emergency braking installed in commercial motor vehicles to be used while in operation, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Motor vehicle safety standard
Motor vehicle safety standard for truck tractors with electronic stability control— Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary of Transportation shall—
prescribe a motor vehicle safety standard under section 30111 of title 49, United States Code, that requires any truck-tractor subject to Federal motor vehicle safety standard 136 (49 C.F.R. 571.136; relating to electronic stability control systems for heavy vehicles) that is manufactured after the effective date of the standard to be equipped with an automatic emergency braking system; and
include standards that establish the performance requirements for automatic emergency braking systems.
Federal motor carrier safety regulation for truck tractors with electronic stability control— Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall prescribe a regulation under section 31136 of title 49, United States Code, that requires an automatic emergency braking system installed in any truck-tractor subject to Federal motor vehicle safety standard 136 (49 C.F.R. 571.136; relating to electronic stability control systems for heavy vehicles) in operation on or after the effective date to be used at any time during which the truck-tractor is in operation.
Report on automatic emergency braking in medium commercial motor vehicles— Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall—
complete a study on equipping commercial motor vehicles with automatic emergency braking to avoid or mitigate a collision with an obstacle in the path of the vehicle;
submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure and Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives a report on the study described in paragraph (1); and
if the Secretary determines it to be necessary, initiate a Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard for automatic emergency braking for all commercial motor vehicles, if appropriate.
Definitions— In this section:
Automatic emergency braking system— The term automatic emergency braking system means a system on a commercial motor vehicle that, based on a predefined distance and closing rate with respect to an obstacle in the path of the vehicle—
alerts the driver of the obstacle; and
if necessary, to avoid or mitigate a collision with the obstacle, automatically applies the brakes of the vehicle.
Commercial motor vehicle— The term commercial motor vehicle means a motor vehicle or truck-tractor used in commerce to transport property that has a gross vehicle weight rating or a gross vehicle weight of not less than 10,001 pounds.
Secretary— The term Secretary means the Secretary of Transportation.