By Zaffirini S.B. No. 340
75R2354 SKB-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to requiring the use of protective helmets for bicycle
1-3 safety; providing criminal penalties.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 758.001, Health and Safety Code, is
1-6 amended to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 758.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
1-8 (1) "Bicycle" means a human-powered vehicle with two
1-9 wheels in tandem designed to transport by a pedaling action of a
1-10 person seated on a saddle seat.
1-11 (2) "Department" means the Department of Public
1-12 Safety.
1-13 (3) "Operator" means a person who travels by pedaling
1-14 on a bicycle seated on a saddle seat.
1-15 (4) "Other public right-of-way" means any
1-16 right-of-way, other than a public roadway or public bicycle path,
1-17 that is accessible by the public and designed for use by vehicular
1-18 or pedestrian traffic.
1-19 (5) "Protective bicycle helmet" means headgear that
1-20 meets or exceeds the impact standards for protective bicycle
1-21 helmets set by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI),
1-22 the Snell Memorial Foundation, or an appropriate state agency.
1-23 (6) "Public bicycle path" means a right-of-way under
1-24 the jurisdiction and control of this state or a local political
2-1 subdivision for use primarily by bicycles or by bicycles and
2-2 pedestrians.
2-3 (7) [(6)] "Public roadway" means a right-of-way under
2-4 the jurisdiction and control of this state or a local political
2-5 subdivision for use primarily by motor vehicles.
2-6 [(7) "Tricycle" means a three-wheeled human-powered
2-7 vehicle that is designed to have a seat no more than two feet from
2-8 the ground and be used as a toy by a child younger than six years
2-9 of age.]
2-10 SECTION 2. Section 758.002(a), Health and Safety Code, is
2-11 amended to read as follows:
2-12 (a) The department may establish and administer a statewide
2-13 bicycle safety education program and may adopt rules to implement
2-14 the program. The program must include instruction concerning:
2-15 (1) the safe handling and use of bicycles;
2-16 (2) high risk traffic situations;
2-17 (3) bicycle and traffic handling skills;
2-18 (4) on-bike training;
2-19 (5) correct use of protective bicycle helmets; and
2-20 (6) traffic laws and regulations.
2-21 SECTION 3. Section 758.003(b), Health and Safety Code, is
2-22 amended to read as follows:
2-23 (b) The fund may be used by the department only to:
2-24 (1) defray the costs of administering this chapter;
2-25 (2) provide a bicycle training course for a child
2-26 younger than 10 years of age who comes from a low income family;
2-27 and
3-1 (3) if funding permits, assist children from low
3-2 income families in purchasing protective bicycle helmets.
3-3 SECTION 4. Chapter 758, Health and Safety Code, is amended
3-4 by adding Sections 758.004, 758.005, 758.006, 758.007, 758.008, and
3-5 758.009 to read as follows:
3-6 Sec. 758.004. REQUIREMENTS FOR PROTECTIVE BICYCLE HELMET
3-7 USE. (a) This section applies to the use of a bicycle on a public
3-8 roadway, public bicycle path, or other public right-of-way.
3-9 (b) A person younger than 18 years of age who is an operator
3-10 or passenger on a bicycle shall wear a properly fitting protective
3-11 bicycle helmet fastened securely on the head with the straps or
3-12 other appropriate fastener of that helmet.
3-13 (c) A parent or legal guardian of a person younger than 18
3-14 years of age may not knowingly or recklessly permit the person to
3-15 operate a bicycle or to be a passenger on a bicycle unless the
3-16 person is wearing a protective bicycle helmet as prescribed by
3-17 Subsection (b).
3-18 Sec. 758.005. SALE OR RENTAL OF BICYCLES. (a) A person
3-19 regularly engaged in the business of selling bicycles shall provide
3-20 to each purchaser a written explanation of the law provided by
3-21 Section 758.004 requiring a person to wear a protective bicycle
3-22 helmet.
3-23 (b) A person may not rent a bicycle to another person
3-24 unless:
3-25 (1) each person whom the person renting the bicycle
3-26 knows will be an operator or passenger on the bicycle possesses a
3-27 properly fitting protective bicycle helmet at the time the bicycle
4-1 is rented; or
4-2 (2) the rental agreement includes the provision of a
4-3 properly fitting protective bicycle helmet for each operator or
4-4 passenger.
4-5 (c) A person who sells bicycles is not liable in civil
4-6 damages for:
4-7 (1) the failure to provide the written explanation of
4-8 the law as required by Subsection (a); or
4-9 (2) a bicycle operator's or passenger's failure to
4-10 wear a protective bicycle helmet.
4-11 (d) A person who rents bicycles in compliance with
4-12 Subsection (b) is not liable in civil damages for a bicycle
4-13 operator's or passenger's failure to wear a protective bicycle
4-14 helmet.
4-15 Sec. 758.006. CRIMINAL PENALTY. (a) A person commits an
4-16 offense if the person violates Section 758.004 or 758.005.
4-17 (b) An offense under this section is a misdemeanor
4-18 punishable by a fine of $25, unless the actor has been convicted
4-19 previously under this section, in which event an offense under this
4-20 section is punishable by a fine of $50.
4-21 (c) A court may waive the fine imposed under this section
4-22 for a violation of Section 758.004 if it is the person's first
4-23 offense and the person presents proof to the court that the person
4-24 did not have a protective bicycle helmet at the time of the
4-25 violation but has since purchased or obtained a protective bicycle
4-26 helmet.
4-27 Sec. 758.007. FINES. The custodian of the county treasury
5-1 shall keep a record of the amount of the fines collected under
5-2 Section 758.006 and, on or before the last day of the month
5-3 following each calendar quarter, remit to the comptroller the
5-4 amount of the fines collected under Section 758.006 in the
5-5 preceding quarter. The custodian of the county treasury may retain
5-6 one-half of the fines collected under Section 758.006 and the
5-7 interest as a service fee if the custodian of the treasury keeps
5-8 records of the amount of fines on deposit collected under Section
5-9 758.006 and remits the appropriate amount to the comptroller within
5-10 the period prescribed by this section. The comptroller shall
5-11 deposit the amounts remitted under this section in the bicycle
5-12 safety fund established under Section 758.003.
5-13 Sec. 758.008. LOCAL REGULATION. This section does not
5-14 preempt a local regulation of the use of bicycle helmets or affect
5-15 the authority of a political subdivision to adopt or enforce an
5-16 ordinance or requirement relating to the use of bicycle helmets if
5-17 the regulation, ordinance, or requirement is compatible with and
5-18 equal to or more stringent than this chapter.
5-19 Sec. 758.009. DISMISSAL OF MISDEMEANOR CHARGE ON COMPLETION
5-20 OF TEEN COURT PROGRAM. A juvenile court may defer adjudication
5-21 proceedings under this chapter if the child completes the
5-22 requirements of Article 45.55, Code of Criminal Procedure.
5-23 SECTION 5. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this
5-24 section, this Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
5-25 (b) Sections 758.006 and 758.007, Health and Safety Code, as
5-26 added by this Act, take effect January 1, 1998.
5-27 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
6-1 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-2 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-3 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-4 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.