By Carter H.B. No. 619
74R3153 MLR-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to requiring the use of protective helmets for bicycle
1-3 safety; providing criminal penalties.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Chapter 757, Health and Safety Code, as added by
1-6 Chapter 801, Acts of the 73rd Legislature, Regular Session, 1993,
1-7 is redesignated as Chapter 758 and amended to read as follows:
1-8 CHAPTER 758 <757>. BICYCLE SAFETY
1-9 Sec. 758.001 <757.001>. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
1-10 (1) "Bicycle" means a human-powered vehicle with two
1-11 wheels in tandem designed to transport by a pedaling action of a
1-12 person seated on a saddle seat.
1-13 (2) "Department" means the Department of Public
1-14 Safety.
1-15 (3) "Operator" means a person who travels by pedaling
1-16 on a bicycle seated on a saddle seat.
1-17 (4) "Other public right-of-way" means any
1-18 right-of-way, other than a public roadway or public bicycle path,
1-19 that is accessible by the public and designed for use by vehicular
1-20 or pedestrian traffic.
1-21 (5) "Protective bicycle helmet" means headgear that
1-22 meets or exceeds the impact standards for protective bicycle
1-23 helmets set by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI),
1-24 the Snell Memorial Foundation, or an appropriate state agency.
2-1 (6) "Public bicycle path" means a right-of-way under
2-2 the jurisdiction and control of this state or a local political
2-3 subdivision for use primarily by bicycles or by bicycles and
2-4 pedestrians.
2-5 (7) <(6)> "Public roadway" means a right-of-way under
2-6 the jurisdiction and control of this state or a local political
2-7 subdivision for use primarily by motor vehicles.
2-8 <(7) "Tricycle" means a three-wheeled human-powered
2-9 vehicle that is designed to have a seat no more than two feet from
2-10 the ground and be used as a toy by a child younger than six years
2-11 of age.>
2-12 Sec. 758.002 <757.002>. BICYCLE SAFETY EDUCATION PROGRAM.
2-13 (a) The department may establish and administer a statewide
2-14 bicycle safety education program and may adopt rules to implement
2-15 the program. The program must include instruction concerning:
2-16 (1) the safe handling and use of bicycles;
2-17 (2) high risk traffic situations;
2-18 (3) bicycle and traffic handling skills;
2-19 (4) on-bike training;
2-20 (5) correct use of protective bicycle helmets; and
2-21 (6) traffic laws and regulations.
2-22 (b) The department may issue a certificate or other evidence
2-23 of completion to a person who has successfully completed a bicycle
2-24 education course.
2-25 (c) Subject to the establishment of a bicycle education
2-26 program by the department, a person born after December 31, 1985,
2-27 who resides in a metropolitan statistical area as defined by the
3-1 United States Office of Management and Budget may complete a
3-2 bicycle education course approved by the department before
3-3 operating a bicycle on a public roadway, public bicycle path, or
3-4 other public right-of-way. The course may be completed before the
3-5 person's 10th birthday.
3-6 (d) The department may charge a fee for the course not to
3-7 exceed $15.
3-8 (e) The department may:
3-9 (1) determine the qualifications for an instructor in
3-10 the bicycle education program;
3-11 (2) use volunteer instructors; and
3-12 (3) certify organizations to recruit and train
3-13 instructors for the program.
3-14 (f) In administering this section, the department may
3-15 contract with an educational institution, state agency, local
3-16 government, or nonprofit organization interested in bicycle
3-17 education.
3-18 (g) The department may accept gifts, grants, and donations
3-19 to be used in administering this section.
3-20 Sec. 758.003 <757.003>. FUND. (a) A fee collected by the
3-21 department under this chapter shall be deposited in the state
3-22 treasury to the credit of the bicycle safety fund. The department
3-23 by rule may establish a procedure to allow an educational
3-24 institution, state agency, local government, or nonprofit
3-25 organization interested in bicycle safety to retain an amount from
3-26 the fees collected to cover actual and necessary expenses.
3-27 (b) The fund may be used by the department only to:
4-1 (1) defray the costs of administering this chapter;
4-2 (2) provide a bicycle training course for a child
4-3 younger than 10 years of age who comes from a low income family;
4-4 and
4-5 (3) if funding permits, assist children from low
4-6 income families in purchasing protective bicycle helmets.
4-7 (c) Sections 403.094 and 403.095, Government Code, do not
4-8 apply to the bicycle safety fund.
4-9 Sec. 758.004. REQUIREMENTS FOR PROTECTIVE BICYCLE HELMET
4-10 USE. (a) This section applies to the use of a bicycle on a public
4-11 roadway, public bicycle path, or other public right-of-way.
4-12 (b) A person who is the operator or passenger on a bicycle
4-13 shall wear a properly fitting protective bicycle helmet fastened
4-14 securely on the head with the straps of that helmet.
4-15 (c) A parent or legal guardian of a person younger than 18
4-16 years of age may not knowingly or recklessly permit the person to
4-17 operate a bicycle or to be a passenger on a bicycle unless the
4-18 person is wearing a protective bicycle helmet as prescribed by
4-19 Subsection (b).
4-20 Sec. 758.005. SALE OR RENTAL OF BICYCLES. (a) A person
4-21 regularly engaged in the business of selling bicycles shall provide
4-22 to each purchaser a written explanation of the law provided by
4-23 Section 758.004 requiring a person to wear a protective bicycle
4-24 helmet.
4-25 (b) A person may not rent a bicycle to a person unless:
4-26 (1) each person who is the operator or passenger on
4-27 the bicycle possesses a properly fitting protective bicycle helmet
5-1 at the time the bicycle is rented; or
5-2 (2) the rental agreement includes the provision of a
5-3 properly fitting protective bicycle helmet for that operator or
5-4 passenger.
5-5 (c) A person who sells bicycles is not liable in civil
5-6 damages for:
5-7 (1) the failure to provide the written explanation of
5-8 the law as required by Subsection (a); or
5-9 (2) a bicycle operator's or passenger's failure to
5-10 wear a protective bicycle helmet.
5-11 (d) A person who rents bicycles in compliance with
5-12 Subsection (b) is not liable in civil damages for a bicycle
5-13 operator's or passenger's failure to wear a protective bicycle
5-14 helmet.
5-15 Sec. 758.006. CRIMINAL PENALTY. (a) A person commits an
5-16 offense if the person violates Section 758.004 or 758.005.
5-17 (b) An offense under this section is a misdemeanor
5-18 punishable by a fine of $50.
5-19 (c) A court may waive the fine imposed under this section
5-20 for a violation of Section 758.004 if it is the person's first
5-21 offense and the person presents proof to the court that the person
5-22 did not have a protective bicycle helmet at the time of the
5-23 violation, but has since purchased or obtained a protective bicycle
5-24 helmet.
5-25 Sec. 758.007. FINES. The custodian of the county treasury
5-26 shall keep a record of the amount of the fines collected under
5-27 Section 758.006 and, on or before the last day of the month
6-1 following each calendar quarter, remit to the comptroller the fines
6-2 collected under Section 758.006 in the preceding quarter. The
6-3 custodian of the county treasury may retain one-half of the fines
6-4 collected under Section 758.006 and the interest as a service fee
6-5 if the custodian of the treasury keeps records of the amount of
6-6 fines on deposit collected under Section 758.006 and remits the
6-7 funds to the comptroller within the period prescribed by this
6-8 section. The comptroller shall deposit the fines remitted under
6-9 this section in the bicycle safety fund established under Section
6-10 758.003.
6-11 SECTION 2. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), this
6-12 Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
6-13 (b) Sections 758.006 and 758.007, Health and Safety Code, as
6-14 added by this Act, take effect January 1, 1996.
6-15 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
6-16 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-17 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-18 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-19 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.