BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 1287

By: Israel

Transportation

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

It has been suggested that lowering the default speed limit in residential neighborhoods will ensure motor vehicles are driven at more reasonable speeds in the presence of pedestrians and children at play. Recent reports indicate that even a speed limit reduction of five miles per hour may raise a pedestrian's odds of survival in an accident. C.S.H.B. 1287 seeks to address this issue by setting the prima facie speed limit in those areas at 25 miles per hour.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 1287 amends the Transportation Code to set at 25 miles per hour the prima facie speed limit of a street in an urban district that is located in a residence district and is not officially designated or marked as part of the state highway system, unless a special hazard exists that requires a slower speed. The bill removes from the report that the governing body of a municipality that declares a speed limit lower than the prima facie speed limit on a certain highway or part of a highway is required to publish on its website and submit to the Department of Public Safety the number of warning citations issued by peace officers of the municipality on the highway or part of the highway and comparable data from previous years.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2019.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 1287 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

The substitute includes a provision setting the prima facie speed limit of a street in an urban district that is located in a residence district and is not officially designated or marked as part of the state highway system. The substitute does not include provisions reducing speed limits relating to other specified areas.