Bill Text: TX HB3290 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the operation of a motor vehicle in the vicinity of a vulnerable road user; providing penalties.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-03-19 - Referred to Transportation [HB3290 Detail]
Download: Texas-2013-HB3290-Introduced.html
83R10688 JXC-F | ||
By: Martinez | H.B. No. 3290 |
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relating to the operation of a motor vehicle in the vicinity of a | ||
vulnerable road user; providing penalties. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Subchapter I, Chapter 545, Transportation Code, | ||
is amended by adding Section 545.428 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 545.428. VULNERABLE ROAD USERS. (a) In this section, | ||
"vulnerable road user" means: | ||
(1) a pedestrian, including a runner, physically | ||
disabled person, community or school volunteer, child, skater, | ||
highway construction or maintenance worker, tow truck operator, | ||
utility worker, law enforcement officer, worker with legitimate | ||
business in or near the road or right-of-way, or stranded or | ||
detained motorist or passenger; | ||
(2) a person on horseback; or | ||
(3) a person operating equipment other than a motor | ||
vehicle, including a bicycle, moped, motor-driven cycle, or | ||
motor-assisted scooter. | ||
(b) An operator of a motor vehicle approaching or passing a | ||
vulnerable road user operating on a highway or street shall: | ||
(1) vacate the lane in which the vulnerable road user | ||
is located if the highway has two or more marked lanes running in | ||
the same direction; and | ||
(2) if passing, pass the vulnerable road user at a safe | ||
distance and a reasonable speed. | ||
(c) For the purposes of Subsection (b)(2), when road | ||
conditions allow, safe distance is at least: | ||
(1) three feet if the operator's vehicle is a passenger | ||
car or light truck; or | ||
(2) six feet if the operator's vehicle is a truck other | ||
than a light truck or a commercial motor vehicle as defined by | ||
Section 522.003. | ||
(d) An operator of a motor vehicle that is making a turn at | ||
an intersection, including an intersection with an alley or private | ||
road or driveway, shall yield the right-of-way to a vulnerable road | ||
user who is in the intersection or in such proximity to the | ||
intersection as to be an immediate hazard. | ||
(e) An operator of a motor vehicle may not overtake a | ||
vulnerable road user traveling in the same direction and | ||
subsequently turn in front of the vulnerable road user unless the | ||
operator is safely clear of the vulnerable road user, taking into | ||
account the speed at which the vulnerable road user is traveling and | ||
the braking requirements of the vehicle making the turn. | ||
(f) An operator of a motor vehicle may not maneuver the | ||
vehicle in a manner that: | ||
(1) is intended to cause intimidation or harassment to | ||
a vulnerable road user; or | ||
(2) threatens a vulnerable road user. | ||
(g) An operator of a motor vehicle shall exercise due care | ||
to avoid colliding with a vulnerable road user on a roadway or in an | ||
intersection of roadways. | ||
(h) A violation of this section is a misdemeanor punishable | ||
by a fine of not less than $50 or more than $500. A person accused of | ||
violating this section who fails to appear at a hearing or trial on | ||
the violation is subject to the maximum applicable penalty for | ||
failing to appear. | ||
(i) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this | ||
section that at the time of the offense the vulnerable road user was | ||
acting in violation of the law. | ||
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013. |