A Senate committee today passed a transportation safety bill that continues the ban on lobbying of states by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) and does not include a proposed amendment that would have required state to pass mandatory helmet laws.
S. 1449, the Motor Vehicle and Highway Safety Improvement Act, was approved by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and will now move to the floor of the Senate. In its approval, the committee voted in favor of an amendment offered by Sen. Jim DeMint, R-SC, that continues the current ban on NHTSA lobbying the states on legislation. Another DeMint amendment, that would have kept helmets out of the definition of motor vehicle equipment, failed.
Also failing was the helmet amendment, proposed by New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg. Lautenberg has repeatedly pushed for such a mandate but he has been unable to get it passed.
S. 1449 is expected to be rolled into a larger highway bill that will come up for consideration in 2012.
Comments