| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the operation of a motor vehicle passing a pedestrian or |
|
|
a person operating a bicycle; creating a criminal offense. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 545, Transportation Code, |
|
|
is amended by adding Section 545.0571 to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 545.0571. MOTOR VEHICLE PASSING PEDESTRIAN OR BICYCLE |
|
|
OPERATOR. (a) An operator of a motor vehicle shall exercise due |
|
|
care to avoid colliding with a pedestrian or a person operating a |
|
|
bicycle on a highway or street. |
|
|
(b) For the purposes of Section 545.053(a), safe distance |
|
|
from a pedestrian or any part of a bicycle is: |
|
|
(1) at least three feet if the operator's vehicle is a |
|
|
passenger car or a light truck; or |
|
|
(2) at least six feet if the operator's vehicle is a |
|
|
commercial motor vehicle as defined by Section 522.003 or a truck |
|
|
other than a light truck. |
|
|
(c) For the purposes of Section 545.057(a), conditions |
|
|
permit safely passing a pedestrian or a bicycle to the right only if |
|
|
the motor vehicle passes: |
|
|
(1) at least three feet from the pedestrian or any part |
|
|
of the bicycle if the operator's vehicle is a passenger car or a |
|
|
light truck; or |
|
|
(2) at least six feet from the pedestrian or any part |
|
|
of the bicycle if the operator's vehicle is a commercial motor |
|
|
vehicle as defined by Section 522.003 or a truck other than a light |
|
|
truck. |
|
|
(d) An operator of a motor vehicle passing a pedestrian or a |
|
|
person operating a bicycle on a highway or street that has two or |
|
|
more marked lanes running in the same direction shall move the motor |
|
|
vehicle to a lane other than the lane used by the pedestrian or |
|
|
bicycle operator while passing the pedestrian or bicycle operator. |
|
|
(e) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this |
|
|
section that at the time of the offense the pedestrian or bicycle |
|
|
operator was acting in violation of a traffic law in a manner that |
|
|
contributed to the offense under this section. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Section 545.055, Transportation Code, is amended |
|
|
by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (b-1) to read as |
|
|
follows: |
|
|
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (b-1), an [An] operator |
|
|
may not drive on the left side of the roadway in a no-passing zone or |
|
|
on the left side of any pavement striping designed to mark a |
|
|
no-passing zone. |
|
|
(b-1) Subsection (b) [This subsection] does not prohibit a |
|
|
driver from: |
|
|
(1) crossing pavement striping, or the center line in |
|
|
a no-passing zone marked by signs only, to make a left turn into or |
|
|
out of an alley or private road or driveway; or |
|
|
(2) passing a pedestrian or a person operating a |
|
|
bicycle in a no-passing zone if the operator of the motor vehicle |
|
|
otherwise complies with the requirements of this chapter. |
|
|
SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to |
|
|
an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An |
|
|
offense committed before the effective date of this Act is governed |
|
|
by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, and the |
|
|
former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of |
|
|
this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of |
|
|
this Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date. |
|
|
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021. |