By Whitmire S.B. No. 1089 74R1815 JD-F A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1-1 AN ACT 1-2 relating to the applicability of certain traffic laws to peace 1-3 officers on horseback. 1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-5 SECTION 1. Section 25, Uniform Act Regulating Traffic on 1-6 Highways (Article 6701d, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended 1-7 to read as follows: 1-8 Sec. 25. Traffic Laws Apply to Persons Riding Animals or 1-9 Driving Animal-Drawn Vehicles. (a) Every person riding an animal 1-10 or driving any animal-drawn vehicle upon a roadway shall be granted 1-11 all of the rights and shall be subject to all of the duties 1-12 applicable to the driver of a vehicle by this Act, except those 1-13 provisions of this Act which by their very nature can have no 1-14 application and except as provided by Subsection (b) of this 1-15 section. 1-16 (b) A peace officer who is riding a horse in the actual 1-17 discharge of the officer's official duties may: 1-18 (1) disregard regulations governing direction of 1-19 movement or turning in specified directions; 1-20 (2) cross a roadway: 1-21 (A) at a location other than a marked crosswalk; 1-22 or 1-23 (B) between adjacent intersections at which 1-24 traffic-control signals are in operation; 2-1 (3) ride or stop the horse on a sidewalk; and 2-2 (4) when responding to an emergency call or when in 2-3 pursuit of an actual or suspected violator, proceed past a red or 2-4 stop signal or stop sign, but only after slowing the horse as may 2-5 be necessary for the safety of the officer and others. 2-6 (c) A peace officer who is riding a horse and is engaged in 2-7 conduct described by Subsection (b) of this section has the same 2-8 duty and potential liability as the operator of an authorized 2-9 emergency vehicle under Section 24(e) of this Act. 2-10 SECTION 2. The importance of this legislation and the 2-11 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an 2-12 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the 2-13 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several 2-14 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended, 2-15 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its 2-16 passage, and it is so enacted.