H.R. 851 (119th)Bill Overview

DOT Victim and Survivor Advocate Act

Transportation and Public Works|Transportation and Public Works
Cosponsors
Support
Democratic
Introduced
Jan 31, 2025
Discussions
Bill Text
Current stageCommittee

Referred to the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit.

Introduced
Committee
Floor
President
Law
Congressional Activities
01 · The brief
Plain-English summaryWhat this bill actually does

<p><strong>DOT Victim and Survivor Advocate Act</strong></p><p>This bill directs the Department of Transportation (DOT) to establish the position of National Roadway Safety Advocate to work directly with victims and survivors of road crashes and their families (i.e., stakeholders).</p><p>Specifically, the purposes of the advocate are to (1) document and communicate recommendations from stakeholders to DOT on the needs, objectives, plans, approaches, content, and accomplishments of DOT's roadway safety programs and activities; and (2) serve as a resource and point of contact for stakeholders on relevant roadway safety issues.</p><p>The bill specifies that the advocate position must be filled by a career appointment.</p><p>The bill prohibits the advocate from taking certain actions, such as</p><ul><li>creating or authorizing DOT policies, priorities, or activities; or</li><li>disclosing or discussing any enforcement matters that are under investigation or in litigation.</li></ul><p>The advocate must submit an annual report to DOT highlighting systemic issues relating to roadway safety based on information provided by stakeholders. The report must include recommendations on how to remedy the issues.</p>

Why people may split

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

Watch point

The next hurdle is converting committee movement into a floor coalition.

<p><strong>DOT Victim and Survivor Advocate Act</strong></p><p>This bill directs the Department of Transportation (DOT) to establish the position of National Roadway Safety Advocate to work directly with victims and survivors of road crashes and their families (i.e., stakeholders).</p><p>Specifically, the purposes of the advocate are to (1) document and communicate recommendations from stakeholders to DOT on the needs, objectives, plans, approaches, content, and accomplishments of DOT's roadway safety programs and activities; and (2) serve as a resource and point of contact for stakeholders on relevant roadway safety issues.</p><p>The bill specifies that the advocate position must be filled by a career appointment.</p><p>The bill prohibits the advocate from taking certain actions, such as</p><ul><li>creating or authorizing DOT policies, priorities, or activities; or</li><li>disclosing or discussing any enforcement matters that are under investigation or in litigation.</li></ul><p>The advocate must submit an annual report to DOT highlighting systemic issues relating to roadway safety based on information provided by stakeholders.

The report must include recommendations on how to remedy the issues.</p>

Passage38/100

This bill has moved beyond introduction, but committee and floor dynamics still determine whether it can build durable support.

CredibilityPartial

How solid the drafting looks.

Contention62/100

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

02 · What it does

Who stands to gain, and who may push back.

Likely benefits vs burdens0% / 100%
Likely helpedLikely burdened

These are examples from the analysis, not a ranked list of the most-affected groups.

Likely helped
  • No clear beneficiaries surfaced yet.
Likely burdened
  • No clear downsides surfaced yet.
03 · Why people split

Why the argument around this bill splits.

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.
Progressive

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

Unclear
Centrist

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

Unclear
Conservative

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

Unclear
04 · Can it pass?

The path through Congress.

Introduced

Reached or meaningfully advanced

Committee

Reached or meaningfully advanced

Floor

Still ahead

President

Still ahead

Law

Still ahead

Passage likelihood38/100

This bill has moved beyond introduction, but committee and floor dynamics still determine whether it can build durable support.

Why this could stall
  • The next hurdle is converting committee movement into a floor coalition.
05 · Recent votes

Recent votes on the bill.

No vote history yet

The bill has not accumulated any surfaced votes yet.

06 · Go deeper

Go deeper than the headline read.

Included on this page

The main political fault lines are not fully surfaced yet, so coalition durability is still unclear.

This bill has moved beyond introduction, but committee and floor dynamics still determine whether it can build durable support.

Unlocked analysis

Pro readers get the full perspective split, passage barriers, legislative design review, stakeholder impact map, and lens-based policy tradeoff analysis for DOT Victim and Survivor Advocate Act.

Go beyond the headline summary with full stakeholder mapping, legislative design analysis, passage barriers, and lens-by-lens tradeoff breakdowns.

Perspective breakdownsPassage barriersLegislative design reviewStakeholder impact map
Open full analysis