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1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, The National Highway Traffic Safety | ||||||
3 | Administration (NHTSA), a division of the United States | ||||||
4 | Department of Transportation, has a mission to save lives, | ||||||
5 | prevent injuries, and reduce economic costs due to road traffic | ||||||
6 | crashes, through education, research, safety standards, and | ||||||
7 | enforcement; and
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8 | WHEREAS, The Office of Defects Investigation of the NHTSA | ||||||
9 | is responsible for conducting defect investigations and | ||||||
10 | administering safety recalls to support the NHTSA's mission to | ||||||
11 | improve safety on the nation's highways; and
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12 | WHEREAS, An investigation by the Chicago Tribune in | ||||||
13 | November 2009 concluded that as many as 2,000 school buses | ||||||
14 | across the nation have potentially serious safety problems and | ||||||
15 | are transporting students even though school bus equipment and | ||||||
16 | parts manufacturers and the NHTSA have known about recalled | ||||||
17 | equipment and parts for as many as eight years; and
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18 | WHEREAS, The federal recall process is lengthy and without | ||||||
19 | suitable accountability and safety procedures to ensure that | ||||||
20 | children travel in school buses that are safe and properly | ||||||
21 | maintained; and
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1 | WHEREAS, Recall procedures for vehicles, such as school | ||||||
2 | buses with faulty equipment or parts are a matter of public | ||||||
3 | record as soon as a manufacturer officially files a recall | ||||||
4 | notice; bus companies, however, are not required to review the | ||||||
5 | recall list on the NHTSA website; and
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6 | WHEREAS, The NHTSA has not enforced timely recall efforts | ||||||
7 | by manufacturers of faulty parts and equipment, nor does it | ||||||
8 | have the responsibility to ensure the school bus owners are | ||||||
9 | notified immediately of potential safety issues; and
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10 | WHEREAS, The Illinois Department of Transportation is the | ||||||
11 | agency required by statute to conduct periodic, non-scheduled | ||||||
12 | inspections of school buses in this State; therefore, be it
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13 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
14 | NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | ||||||
15 | urge the United States Department of Transportation to request | ||||||
16 | NHTSA to evaluate the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation's | ||||||
17 | procedural and administrative duties in relation to the | ||||||
18 | promptness and effectiveness of manufacturer recalls; and be it | ||||||
19 | further
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20 | RESOLVED, That we urge the Illinois Department of | ||||||
21 | Transportation to review its procedures and duties to ensure | ||||||
22 | that (1) school buses in Illinois are not being driven with |
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1 | recalled equipment and parts and (2) children being transported | ||||||
2 | on school buses are safe; and be it further | ||||||
3 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
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4 | delivered to the Illinois congressional delegation, the | ||||||
5 | Secretary of the United States Department
of Transportation, | ||||||
6 | and the Secretary of the Illinois Department of Transportation.
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