By:  Zaffirini                                         S.B. No. 337
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
                                        AN ACT
    1-1  relating to requiring the use of protective helmets for bicycle
    1-2  safety.
    1-3        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-4        SECTION 1.  Chapter 757, Health and Safety Code, as added by
    1-5  Chapter 801, Acts of the 73rd Legislature, 1993, is redesignated as
    1-6  Chapter 758 and amended to read as follows:
    1-7                  CHAPTER 758 <757>.  BICYCLE SAFETY
    1-8        Sec. 758.001 <757.001>.  DEFINITIONS.  In this chapter:
    1-9              (1)  "Bicycle" means a human-powered vehicle with two
   1-10  wheels in tandem designed to transport by a pedaling action of a
   1-11  person seated on a saddle seat.
   1-12              (2)  "Department" means the Department of Public
   1-13  Safety.
   1-14              (3)  "Operator" means a person who travels by pedaling
   1-15  on a bicycle seated on a saddle seat.
   1-16              (4)  "Other public right-of-way" means any public
   1-17  right-of-way, other than a public roadway or public bicycle path,
   1-18  that is accessible by the public and designed for use by vehicular
   1-19  or pedestrian traffic.  The term does not include a road on private
   1-20  property or a driveway to a residence.
   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 solicit and accept gifts, grants, and
   3-19  donations from an individual, business, foundation, or government
   3-20  agency to be used to subsidize protective bicycle helmet purchases
   3-21  for children from low income families and to educate children about
   3-22  bicycle safety issues <in administering this section>.
   3-23        Sec. 758.003 <757.003>.  FUND.  (a)  A fee collected by the
   3-24  department under this chapter shall be deposited in the state
   3-25  treasury to the credit of the bicycle safety fund.  The department
   3-26  by rule may establish a procedure to allow an educational
   3-27  institution, state agency, local government, or nonprofit
    4-1  organization interested in bicycle safety to retain an amount from
    4-2  the fees collected to cover actual and necessary expenses.
    4-3        (b)  The fund may be used by the department only to:
    4-4              (1)  defray the costs of administering this chapter;
    4-5              (2)  provide a bicycle training course for a child
    4-6  younger than 10 years of age who comes from a low income family;
    4-7  and
    4-8              (3)  if funding permits, assist children from low
    4-9  income families in purchasing protective bicycle helmets.
   4-10        Sec. 758.004.  REQUIREMENTS FOR PROTECTIVE BICYCLE HELMET
   4-11  USE.  (a)  This section applies to the use of a bicycle on a public
   4-12  roadway, public bicycle path, or other public right-of-way.
   4-13        (b)  A person younger than 18 years of age who is the
   4-14  operator or passenger on a bicycle shall wear a properly fitting
   4-15  protective bicycle helmet fastened securely on the head with the
   4-16  straps of that helmet.
   4-17        (c)  A parent or legal guardian of a person younger than 18
   4-18  years of age may not knowingly or recklessly permit the person to
   4-19  operate a bicycle or to be a passenger on a bicycle unless the
   4-20  person is wearing a protective bicycle helmet as prescribed by
   4-21  Subsection (b).
   4-22        Sec. 758.005.  RENTAL OR SALE OF BICYCLES.  (a)  A person
   4-23  regularly engaged in the business of renting or selling bicycles
   4-24  shall conspicuously post the law provided by Section 758.004
   4-25  requiring a person to wear a protective bicycle helmet.
   4-26        (b)  A person may not rent a bicycle to or for the use of a
   4-27  person younger than 18 years of age unless:
    5-1              (1)  each person younger than 18 years of age who is
    5-2  the operator or passenger on the bicycle possesses a properly
    5-3  fitting protective bicycle helmet at the time the bicycle is
    5-4  rented; or
    5-5              (2)  the rental agreement includes the provision of a
    5-6  properly fitting protective bicycle helmet for that operator or
    5-7  passenger.
    5-8        Sec. 758.006.  COMPLIANCE AS EVIDENCE.  Compliance or
    5-9  noncompliance with Section 758.004 or 758.005(b) is not admissible
   5-10  as evidence in a civil trial.
   5-11        SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
   5-12        SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
   5-13  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   5-14  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   5-15  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   5-16  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.