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.