HR 1216 Update

President Bush Signs H.R. 1216 and H.R. 5270 into Law

On Thursday, February 28, 2008, the President signed into law:

H.R. 1216, the "Cameron Gulbransen Kids Transportation Safety Act of 2007 or the K.T. Safety Act of 2007," which requires the Department of Transportation to issue regulations related to power window safety, rearward visibility, and rollaway prevention intended to reduce the incidence of child injury and death occurring inside and near motor vehicles; and

Equip your vehicle with a Color Back Up Camera.

Document Summary

Cameron Gulbransen Kids Transportation Safety Act of 2007 or the K.T. Safety Act of 2007

Directs the Secretary of Transportation to initiate a rulemaking for motor vehicles to require:

(1) automatic reversal of direction by power windows and panels when they detect an obstruction;

(2) an expanded rearward field of view to prevent backing incidents; and

(3) automatic transmissions to have an anti-rollaway system that requires the service brake to be depressed before the transmission can be shifted out of park, which shall function in any starting system key position in which the transmission can be shifted out of park.

Requires the Secretary, if it is determined that no additional safety standards are reasonable and appropriate, to:

(1) report to Congress the reason such standards were not prescribed; and

(2) make available to the public information on which vehicles are or are not equipped with automatic reversal of direction by power windows and panels when they detect an obstruction.

Provides a phase-in period for the power window and rearward visibility provisions.

Requires:

(1) motor vehicle manufacturers for each year through 2010 to transmit to the Secretary the make and model of motor vehicles with automatic transmissions that do not have an anti-rollaway system; and

(2) the Secretary to make such information available to the public.

Requires the Secretary to:

(1) establish and maintain a database of injuries and deaths in nontraffic, noncrash motor vehicle events;

(2) supplement an existing consumer information program on child safety or create a new program with information about hazards to children in nontraffic, noncrash incident situations; and

(3) make such information available to the public.

(the original government document should always be your final reference. That document is here)