BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 2224

By: Hernandez

Transportation

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Currently, municipalities may declare a speed limit of not less than 25 miles per hour if the governing body determines that the prima facie speed limit on an applicable highway is unreasonable or unsafe. Municipalities are also required to perform an engineering or traffic investigation to declare a lower speed limit in residence districts. According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, a pedestrian hit by a vehicle traveling at 32 miles per hour has a one in four chance of dying. Studies conducted by the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Institute for Road Safety Research indicate that lowering speed limits on residential streets decreases rates of crashes, and if crashes do occur, injuries are less severe. C.S.H.B. 2224 seeks to authorize municipalities to lower speed limits in a residence district to not lower than 20 miles per hour without having to perform an engineering or traffic investigation.

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. 2224 amends the Transportation Code to make the following changes regarding a municipality's authority to declare a lower speed limit for certain two-lane, undivided highways or parts of a highway if the prima facie speed limit is determined to be unreasonable or unsafe:

· lowers from 25 mph to 20 mph the minimum speed limit a governing body of a municipality may declare upon that determination;

· exempts the municipality from the requirement to perform an engineering or traffic investigation if the applicable street is located in a residence district; and

· excludes such a speed limit alteration from the applicability of the following provisions:

o a provision specifying that an altered speed limit is effective when the municipality's governing body erects signs giving notice of the new limit and at all times or at other times as determined; and

o a provision requiring the annual publication of a report regarding citations and accidents on a highway or part of a highway with a lowered speed limit and the submission of that report to the Department of Public Safety.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2023.

COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 2224 may differ from the introduced 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 absent from the introduced lowering from 25 mph to 20 mph the minimum speed limit the governing body of a municipality may declare for certain highways or parts of highways if the prima facie speed limit is determined to be unreasonable or unsafe.