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2015 SESSION

15103893D
HOUSE BILL NO. 2332
Offered January 23, 2015
A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 33.2-274.1, relating to equipping of roadside safety devices with radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips.
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Patron-- Habeeb
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Referred to Committee on Transportation
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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding a section numbered 33.2-274.1 as follows:

§ 33.2-274.1. Roadside safety devices to be equipped with radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips.

A. The Department shall require that certain roadside safety devices installed on or after July 1, 2015, in connection with any highway construction or maintenance project funded in whole or in part with revenues of the Commonwealth be equipped by the manufacturer with radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips that will provide objective data useful to the Department in performing safety performance evaluations of such roadside safety devices. The RFID chips shall be programmed to contain the following information, up to 2,112 bits:

1. An identification number specific to the device and stamped on the device itself;

2. The product manufacturer and model;

3. The location and date of the product's manufacture;

4. The date of the product's last inspection;

5. The location of the installation, including the highway route number, the number of the nearest milepost, the direction of travel, and the side of the roadway; and

6. The email addresses of the product manufacturer and the Federal Highway Administration.

B. RFID chips shall be required to be installed on all proprietary highway safety hardware and shall be compatible with software on law-enforcement officers' telephones and dedicated readers that download data and write investigator identification and date to the RFID chip. Software shall be incorporated on law-enforcement officers' computers that automatically transmits accident reports to:

1. The product manufacturer;

2. The Federal Highway Administration;

3. The Department; and

4. When appropriate, the Fatality Analysis Reporting System of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

2. That the Department of Transportation shall adopt regulations in order to effectuate the purposes of this act by December 1, 2015. Such regulations shall (i) include requirements that Department inspectors read RFID chips after initial installation and after each repair and write the hardware location to the chip during initial inspection and note the date of each inspection on the chip; (ii) provide for the rapid discovery of unapproved project design changes and performance issues; (iii) provide for continued feedback to the Department, product manufacturers, and the general public on the actual performance of highway safety devices using reports and data from localities within the Commonwealth and from other states; (iv) develop policies that adjust the qualified product lists and procurement policies to ensure that the most cost-beneficial safety devices are installed on the highways of the Commonwealth; (v) include assurance of authenticity, crashworthiness, and approval of highway safety devices installed on and along the highways of the Commonwealth; and (vi) provide for the improvement of the Department's inventory control.

3. That the Department of Transportation shall submit a report to the Chairmen of the House and Senate Committees on Transportation by December 1, 2015, detailing the progress of installing RFID chips pursuant to this act.