Motorcoach Enhanced Safety Act of 2011
Latest action. Placed on Senate legislative calendarThe list of measures reported out of committee and eligible for floor action. Being on the calendar is not a promise of a vote.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) under General Orders. Calendar No. 227.
Motorcoach Enhanced Safety Act of 2011 - (Sec. 3) Directs the Secretary of Transportation (DOT) to prescribe regulations requiring motorcoaches (manufactured more than two years after publication of a final rule) to be installed with: (1) safety seat belts at each seating position, (2) improved fire extinguishers or other firefighting equipment, (3) advanced glazing in each portal to prevent passenger ejection, (4) stability enhancing technology to reduce the number and frequency of rollover crashes, and (5) direct tire pressure monitoring systems.
Requires the Secretary to prescribe regulations establishing improved strength and crush resistance standards for motorcoach roofs.
(Sec. 4) Requires the Secretary to evaluate and issue performance requirements relating to: (1) the feasibility of establishing flammability standards for motorcoach exterior and interior components, (2) technologies to prevent wheel well fires, and (3) requirements for motorcoaches to be equipped with improved designs for emergency passenger evacuation and fire suppression systems.
(Sec. 5) Requires the Secretary to: (1) conduct compartmentalization safety countermeasures, occupant impact protection, and collision avoidance research; and (2) prescribe a standard or regulation based on research results.
(Sec. 6) Prohibits the Secretary from registering a person to provide motorcoach services until after that person: (1) undergoes a pre-authorization safety audit, including verification of drug and alcohol testing, vehicle maintenance, and safety management programs; (2) has been interviewed about the carrier's safety management controls and written safety oversight policies and practices; and (3) has demonstrated proficiency to comply with such requirements.
Requires pre-authorization safety audits of new registrants to be completed onsite no later than 90 days after submission of an application to operate a motorcoach.
Authorizes the Secretary to establish a fee of $1,200 for new registrants to cover the costs of performing such audits.
Directs the Secretary to require newly registered motorcoach operators transporting property to undergo a safety review within 18 months after motorcoach operations begin.
(Sec. 7) Directs the Secretary to require applicants for authority to transport passengers to disclose any relationship involving common ownership, common management, or common familial relationship between that person and another motorcoach carrier that occurred during the three-year period prior to the filing of the registration application.
The summary continues for 18 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Reported to Senate with amendment(s)" stage on November 9, 2011. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on November 9, 2011: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 227.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 112th Congress (2011-12), 283 of the 10,618 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.7 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Sherrod Brown (D-OH) introduced it on March 2, 2011, and 8 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 7 Democrats, 1 Republican.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on March 2, 2011, 5671 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 5419 days ago, on November 9, 2011.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 112th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2013 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers