Congress expands highway safety for disabled motorists and roadside workers

What it does

This bill amends federal highway safety law to expand protections for people in roadside and work zone crashes, including disabled motorists and roadside workers. It requires the Department of Transportation to convene working groups with industry, labor, safety experts, and first responders to collect crash data, develop safety solutions, and improve data-sharing with federal safety agencies; it also mandates annual congressional reporting on how states use work zone safety funds.

Why we flagged it

The bill's operative mechanism is to broaden federal highway safety programs and mandate data-driven safety planning for two underprotected populations: disabled motorists and roadside workers. It is a straightforward public-safety measure with no hidden carve-outs or industry immunity.

What the text implies

• Working groups may be dominated by industry representatives (contractors, manufacturers, insurers) whose interests in liability minimization or cost-control may conflict with aggressive safety mandates; the bill does not specify voting power or decision-making authority.
• Data collection and 'strategic plans' are advisory only—the bill does not mandate implementation of recommendations, creating a risk that findings are published but ignored.
• Expansion of crash data collection may increase liability exposure for states and contractors if data reveals systemic negligence; this could incentivize underreporting or data gatekeeping despite the bill's transparency intent.
• The bill does not appropriate funds for working group operations, data collection infrastructure, or implementation of safety solutions—effectiveness depends on future appropriations and agency prioritization.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

The bill expands the scope of federal highway safety programs to explicitly cover disabled motorists and roadside workers—populations previously underprotected—and mandates data collection and strategic planning to reduce fatal crashes. The working groups include labor unions, first responders, and high-risk communities, ensuring affected parties have a voice in safety solutions.

Who stands to gain

• traffic safety technology and data analytics firms
• automobile and commercial vehicle manufacturers (safety equipment)
• construction and road-building contractors (if safety improvements reduce liability)

Named in the bill

Department of Transportation (SecDOT), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Title 23, United States Code, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117–58), Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria

Where it stands

1 cosponsor: 1 Republicans.

• Feb 12, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
• Feb 12, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

1 lobbying clients named this bill on 1 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $150,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 15 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.

Richard Blumenthal, the sponsor, reported $111,550 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• National Asphalt Pavement Association — $150,000 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 23, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.