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                               * * * * *