83R10688 JXC-F

By: Martinez H.B. No. 3290

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the operation of a motor vehicle in the vicinity of a vulnerable road user; providing penalties.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Subchapter I, Chapter 545, Transportation Code, is amended by adding Section 545.428 to read as follows:

Sec. 545.428. VULNERABLE ROAD USERS. (a) In this section, "vulnerable road user" means:

(1) a pedestrian, including a runner, physically disabled person, community or school volunteer, child, skater, highway construction or maintenance worker, tow truck operator, utility worker, law enforcement officer, worker with legitimate business in or near the road or right-of-way, or stranded or detained motorist or passenger;

(2) a person on horseback; or

(3) a person operating equipment other than a motor vehicle, including a bicycle, moped, motor-driven cycle, or motor-assisted scooter.

(b) An operator of a motor vehicle approaching or passing a vulnerable road user operating on a highway or street shall:

(1) vacate the lane in which the vulnerable road user is located if the highway has two or more marked lanes running in the same direction; and

(2) if passing, pass the vulnerable road user at a safe distance and a reasonable speed.

(c) For the purposes of Subsection (b)(2), when road conditions allow, safe distance is at least:

(1) three feet if the operator's vehicle is a passenger car or light truck; or

(2) six feet if the operator's vehicle is a truck other than a light truck or a commercial motor vehicle as defined by Section 522.003.

(d) An operator of a motor vehicle that is making a turn at an intersection, including an intersection with an alley or private road or driveway, shall yield the right-of-way to a vulnerable road user who is in the intersection or in such proximity to the intersection as to be an immediate hazard.

(e) An operator of a motor vehicle may not overtake a vulnerable road user traveling in the same direction and subsequently turn in front of the vulnerable road user unless the operator is safely clear of the vulnerable road user, taking into account the speed at which the vulnerable road user is traveling and the braking requirements of the vehicle making the turn.

(f) An operator of a motor vehicle may not maneuver the vehicle in a manner that:

(1) is intended to cause intimidation or harassment to a vulnerable road user; or

(2) threatens a vulnerable road user.

(g) An operator of a motor vehicle shall exercise due care to avoid colliding with a vulnerable road user on a roadway or in an intersection of roadways.

(h) A violation of this section is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than $50 or more than $500. A person accused of violating this section who fails to appear at a hearing or trial on the violation is subject to the maximum applicable penalty for failing to appear.

(i) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this section that at the time of the offense the vulnerable road user was acting in violation of the law.

SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.