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2023 SESSION

23102390D
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 525
Offered January 11, 2023
Prefiled January 10, 2023
Requesting the Department of Transportation to study the need for an alert program, known as the STARR Alert Program, to notify vehicle repair shops of nearby reported traffic incidents. Report.
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Patrons-- Mundon King, Clark, Guzman, Shin and Simon
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Referred to Committee on Rules
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WHEREAS, in 2021, there were an estimated 118,498 crashes in the Commonwealth, a 12.2 percent increase from 2020, and 83,047 of such crashes were multivehicle crashes; and

WHEREAS, vehicles that have been involved in a reported traffic incident may require repair or maintenance soon or immediately after such reported incident; and

WHEREAS, vehicle repair shops near the site of a reported traffic incident may receive one or many vehicles involved in such crash or incident for repair or maintenance shortly after the reported incident, and early notification of any such reported incident could help vehicle repair shops to better provide their services; and

WHEREAS, the Department of State Police already administers AMBER, Blue, Critically Missing Adult, Missing Person with Autism, and Senior Alert Programs, using various communication systems to transmit data to the community and entities regarding ongoing awareness and response to situations, and a similar program, to be known as STARR Alert, could provide notifications to vehicle repair shops that would provide services to vehicles that have been involved in reported traffic incidents; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the Department of Transportation be requested to study the need for an alert program, to be known as the STARR Alert Program, to notify vehicle repair shops of nearby reported traffic incidents.

In conducting its study, the Department of Transportation shall (i) investigate and collect data regarding how an alert program to notify vehicle repair shops of nearby reported traffic incidents may be implemented, the cost of such implementation, how often such a program would be used, and the efficacy of such program in improving post-crash service; (ii) collect traffic incident data, including the number of reported hit-and-run incidents that have occurred in the last three years; (iii) estimate the number of vehicle repair shops that would participate in such a program and any registration process to be part of such system, collect suggestions from such shops to successfully implement such an alert, and investigate the effect on the preparedness and quality of service such notice would have for a vehicle repair shop and those using its services; (iv) collaborate with the Department of State Police to determine needs and capabilities for reporting incidents and associated data through the system, how such a program would affect police efforts in responding to reported traffic incidents, and any problems or insights with the sharing of such data; and (v) determine an appropriate alert radius from a given reported traffic incident site to a number of vehicle repair shops and whether such an alert would be feasible for widespread use in all areas of the Commonwealth.

All agencies of the Commonwealth shall provide assistance to the Department of Transportation for this study, upon request.

The Department of Transportation shall complete its meetings by November 30, 2023, and shall submit to the Governor and the General Assembly an executive summary and a report of its findings and recommendations for publication as a House or Senate document. The executive summary and report shall be submitted as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents and reports no later than the first day of the 2024 Regular Session of the General Assembly and shall be posted on the General Assembly's website.