1-1 By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 337
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed January 26, 1995; January 30, 1995,
1-3 read first time and referred to Committee on Health and Human
1-4 Services; February 15, 1995, reported favorably by the following
1-5 vote: Yeas 6, Nays 1; February 15, 1995, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to requiring the use of protective helmets for bicycle
1-9 safety.
1-10 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11 SECTION 1. Chapter 757, Health and Safety Code, as added by
1-12 Chapter 801, Acts of the 73rd Legislature, 1993, is redesignated as
1-13 Chapter 758 and amended to read as follows:
1-14 Chapter 758 <757>. BICYCLE SAFETY
1-15 Sec. 758.001 <757.001>. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
1-16 (1) "Bicycle" means a human-powered vehicle with two
1-17 wheels in tandem designed to transport by a pedaling action of a
1-18 person seated on a saddle seat.
1-19 (2) "Department" means the Department of Public
1-20 Safety.
1-21 (3) "Operator" means a person who travels by pedaling
1-22 on a bicycle seated on a saddle seat.
1-23 (4) "Other public right-of-way" means any
1-24 right-of-way, other than a public roadway or public bicycle path,
1-25 that is accessible by the public and designed for use by vehicular
1-26 or pedestrian traffic.
1-27 (5) "Protective bicycle helmet" means headgear that
1-28 meets or exceeds the impact standards for protective bicycle
1-29 helmets set by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI),
1-30 the Snell Memorial Foundation, or an appropriate state agency.
1-31 (6) "Public bicycle path" means a right-of-way under
1-32 the jurisdiction and control of this state or a local political
1-33 subdivision for use primarily by bicycles or by bicycles and
1-34 pedestrians.
1-35 (7) <(6)> "Public roadway" means a right-of-way under
1-36 the jurisdiction and control of this state or a local political
1-37 subdivision for use primarily by motor vehicles.
1-38 <(7) "Tricycle" means a three-wheeled human-powered
1-39 vehicle that is designed to have a seat no more than two feet from
1-40 the ground and be used as a toy by a child younger than six years
1-41 of age.>
1-42 Sec. 758.002 <757.002>. BICYCLE SAFETY EDUCATION PROGRAM.
1-43 (a) The department may establish and administer a statewide
1-44 bicycle safety education program and may adopt rules to implement
1-45 the program. The program must include instruction concerning:
1-46 (1) the safe handling and use of bicycles;
1-47 (2) high risk traffic situations;
1-48 (3) bicycle and traffic handling skills;
1-49 (4) on-bike training;
1-50 (5) correct use of protective bicycle helmets; and
1-51 (6) traffic laws and regulations.
1-52 (b) The department may issue a certificate or other evidence
1-53 of completion to a person who has successfully completed a bicycle
1-54 education course.
1-55 (c) Subject to the establishment of a bicycle education
1-56 program by the department, a person born after December 31, 1985,
1-57 who resides in a metropolitan statistical area as defined by the
1-58 United States Office of Management and Budget may complete a
1-59 bicycle education course approved by the department before
1-60 operating a bicycle on a public roadway, public bicycle path, or
1-61 other public right-of-way. The course may be completed before the
1-62 person's 10th birthday.
1-63 (d) The department may charge a fee for the course not to
1-64 exceed $15.
1-65 (e) The department may:
1-66 (1) determine the qualifications for an instructor in
1-67 the bicycle education program;
1-68 (2) use volunteer instructors; and
2-1 (3) certify organizations to recruit and train
2-2 instructors for the program.
2-3 (f) In administering this section, the department may
2-4 contract with an educational institution, state agency, local
2-5 government, or nonprofit organization interested in bicycle
2-6 education.
2-7 (g) The department may solicit and accept gifts, grants, and
2-8 donations from an individual, business, foundation, or government
2-9 agency to be used to subsidize protective bicycle helmet purchases
2-10 for children from low income families and to educate children about
2-11 bicycle safety issues <in administering this section>.
2-12 Sec. 758.003 <757.003>. FUND. (a) A fee collected by the
2-13 department under this chapter shall be deposited in the state
2-14 treasury to the credit of the bicycle safety fund. The department
2-15 by rule may establish a procedure to allow an educational
2-16 institution, state agency, local government, or nonprofit
2-17 organization interested in bicycle safety to retain an amount from
2-18 the fees collected to cover actual and necessary expenses.
2-19 (b) The fund may be used by the department only to:
2-20 (1) defray the costs of administering this chapter;
2-21 (2) provide a bicycle training course for a child
2-22 younger than 10 years of age who comes from a low income family;
2-23 and
2-24 (3) if funding permits, assist children from low
2-25 income families in purchasing protective bicycle helmets.
2-26 Sec. 758.004. REQUIREMENTS FOR PROTECTIVE BICYCLE HELMET
2-27 USE. (a) This section applies to the use of a bicycle on a public
2-28 roadway, public bicycle path, or other public right-of-way.
2-29 (b) A person younger than 18 years of age who is the
2-30 operator or passenger on a bicycle shall wear a properly fitting
2-31 protective bicycle helmet fastened securely on the head with the
2-32 straps of that helmet.
2-33 (c) A parent or legal guardian of a person younger than 18
2-34 years of age may not knowingly or recklessly permit the person to
2-35 operate a bicycle or to be a passenger on a bicycle unless the
2-36 person is wearing a protective bicycle helmet as prescribed by
2-37 Subsection (b).
2-38 Sec. 758.005. RENTAL OR SALE OF BICYCLES. (a) A person
2-39 regularly engaged in the business of renting or selling bicycles
2-40 shall conspicuously post the law provided by Section 758.004
2-41 requiring a person to wear a protective bicycle helmet.
2-42 (b) A person may not rent a bicycle to or for the use of a
2-43 person younger than 18 years of age unless:
2-44 (1) each person younger than 18 years of age who is
2-45 the operator or passenger on the bicycle possesses a properly
2-46 fitting protective bicycle helmet at the time the bicycle is
2-47 rented; or
2-48 (2) the rental agreement includes the provision of a
2-49 properly fitting protective bicycle helmet for that operator or
2-50 passenger.
2-51 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
2-52 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
2-53 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-54 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-55 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-56 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
2-57 * * * * *