By: Phillips (Senate Sponsor - Estes) H.B. No. 2469
         (In the Senate - Received from the House April 26, 2011;
  April 29, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on
  Transportation and Homeland Security; May 17, 2011, reported
  adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the following
  vote:  Yeas 6, Nays 0; May 17, 2011, sent to printer.)
 
  COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 2469 By:  Nichols
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to a memorial sign program for victims of motorcycle
  accidents.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  This Act shall be known as the Mike Grove
  Motorcycle Fatality Awareness Act.
         SECTION 2.  Subchapter K, Chapter 201, Transportation Code,
  is amended by adding Section 201.911 to read as follows:
         Sec. 201.911.  MEMORIAL SIGN PROGRAM FOR MOTORCYCLISTS.
  (a)  In this section, "victim" means a person killed in a highway
  accident while operating or riding on a motorcycle.
         (b)  The commission by rule shall establish and administer a
  memorial sign program to publicly memorialize the victims of
  motorcycle accidents.
         (c)  A sign designed and posted under this section shall
  include:
               (1)  a red cross;
               (2)  the phrase "In Memory Of" and the name of one or
  more victims in accordance with the commission rule; and
               (3)  the date of the accident that resulted in the
  victim's death.
         (d)  The sign may include the names of more than one victim if
  the total length of the names does not exceed one line of text.
         (e)  A person may request that a sign be posted under this
  section by:
               (1)  making an application to the department on a form
  prescribed by the department; and
               (2)  submitting a fee to the department in an amount
  determined by the department to cover the costs of posting the
  memorial sign.
         (f)  If the application meets the department's requirements
  and the applicant pays the memorial sign fee, the department shall
  erect a sign.  A sign posted under this section may remain posted
  for one year.  At the end of the one-year period, the department may
  release the sign to the applicant.  The department is not required
  to release a sign that has been damaged.
         (g)  The department shall remove a sign posted under this
  section that is damaged.  Except as provided by Subsection (h), the
  department may post a new sign if less than one year has passed from
  the posting of the original sign and a person:
               (1)  submits a written request to the department to
  replace the sign; and
               (2)  submits a replacement fee in the amount provided
  by Subsection (e)(2).
         (h)  During the one-year posting period, the department
  shall replace a sign posted under this section if the sign is
  damaged because of the department's negligence.
         (i)  This section does not authorize the department to remove
  an existing privately funded memorial that conforms to state law
  and department rules.  A privately funded memorial may remain
  indefinitely as long as the memorial conforms to state law and
  department rules.
         (j)  The commission shall adopt rules to implement this
  section.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
  a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
  provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
  Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
  Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
 
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