Bill Text: TX HB1748 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the use of a portable electronic device while operating a motor vehicle; creating a criminal offense.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-03-06 - Referred to Transportation [HB1748 Detail]

Download: Texas-2017-HB1748-Introduced.html

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85R5176 JXC-D
By: VanDeaver H.B. No. 1748

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the use of a portable electronic device while operating
a motor vehicle; creating a criminal offense.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 545.424(c), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(c) This section does not apply to[:
[(1)] a person operating a motor vehicle while
accompanied in the manner required by Section 521.222(d)(2) for the
holder of an instruction permit[; or
[(2) a person licensed by the Federal Communications
Commission to operate a wireless communication device or a radio
frequency device].
SECTION 2. Section 545.425, Transportation Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 545.425. USE OF PORTABLE ELECTRONIC [WIRELESS
COMMUNICATION] DEVICE [IN A SCHOOL CROSSING ZONE OR] WHILE
OPERATING A MOTOR VEHICLE [SCHOOL BUS WITH A MINOR PASSENGER];
OFFENSE. (a) In this section:
(1) "Hands-free device" means speakerphone capability
or a telephone attachment or other piece of equipment, regardless
of whether permanently installed in the motor vehicle, that allows
use of the wireless communication device without use of either of
the operator's hands.
(2) "Portable electronic device" means a hand-held
mobile telephone, personal digital assistant, MP3 player or other
hand-held music player, electronic reading device, laptop
computer, pager, broadband personal communication device, global
positioning or navigation system, electronic game device, or
computing device. ["Wireless communication device" means a device
that uses a commercial mobile service, as defined by 47 U.S.C.
Section 332.]
(b) An [Except as provided by Subsection (c), an] operator
may not use a portable electronic [wireless communication] device
while holding or touching the device and operating a moving motor
vehicle. This subsection applies to any use of a portable
electronic device, including:
(1) dialing or deactivating a telephone call;
(2) speaking in or listening to a conversation;
(3) viewing, taking, or transmitting electronic
images;
(4) composing, sending, viewing, accessing, browsing,
retrieving, or saving e-mail messages, text messages, or other
electronic data;
(5) entering or changing information in a global
positioning or navigation system or any software or application
designed for navigation;
(6) accessing or viewing an Internet website or
computer application; or
(7) playing a game [within a school crossing zone, as
defined by Section 541.302, Transportation Code, unless:
[(1) the vehicle is stopped; or
[(2) the wireless communication device is used with a
hands-free device].
[(b-1) Except as provided by Subsection (b-2), a
municipality, county, or other political subdivision that enforces
this section shall post a sign that complies with the standards
described by this subsection at the entrance to each school
crossing zone in the municipality, county, or other political
subdivision. The department shall adopt standards that:
[(1) allow for a sign required to be posted under this
subsection to be attached to an existing sign at a minimal cost; and
[(2) require that a sign required to be posted under
this subsection inform an operator that:
[(A) the use of a wireless communication device
is prohibited in the school crossing zone; and
[(B) the operator is subject to a fine if the
operator uses a wireless communication device in the school
crossing zone.
[(b-2) A municipality, county, or other political
subdivision that by ordinance or rule prohibits the use of a
wireless communication device while operating a motor vehicle
throughout the jurisdiction of the political subdivision is not
required to post a sign as required by Subsection (b-1) if the
political subdivision:
[(1) posts signs that are located at each point at
which a state highway, U.S. highway, or interstate highway enters
the political subdivision and that state:
[(A) that an operator is prohibited from using a
wireless communication device while operating a motor vehicle in
the political subdivision; and
[(B) that the operator is subject to a fine if the
operator uses a wireless communication device while operating a
motor vehicle in the political subdivision; and
[(2) subject to all applicable United States
Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration rules,
posts a message that complies with Subdivision (1) on any dynamic
message sign operated by the political subdivision located on a
state highway, U.S. highway, or interstate highway in the political
subdivision.
[(b-3) A sign posted under Subsection (b-2)(1) must be
readable to an operator traveling at the applicable speed limit.
[(b-4) The political subdivision shall pay the costs
associated with the posting of signs under Subsection (b-2).
[(c) An operator may not use a wireless communication device
while operating a passenger bus with a minor passenger on the bus
unless the passenger bus is stopped.]
(d) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution of an
offense under this section that[:
[(1)] the portable electronic [wireless
communication] device was used:
(1) for global positioning or navigation and the
device was affixed to the motor vehicle;
(2) with a hands-free device to engage in telephone
communication or to listen to audio transmissions;
(3) to make an emergency report of a crime, traffic
accident, serious traffic hazard, or medical emergency;
(4) in the reasonable belief that a person's life or
safety was in immediate danger; or
(5) to prevent a crime about to be committed [call to:
[(A) an emergency response service, including a
rescue, emergency medical, or hazardous material response service;
[(B) a hospital;
[(C) a fire department;
[(D) a health clinic;
[(E) a medical doctor's office;
[(F) an individual to administer first aid
treatment; or
[(G) a police department; or
[(2) a sign required by Subsection (b-1) was not
posted at the entrance to the school crossing zone at the time of an
offense committed in the school crossing zone].
(d-1) The affirmative defense available in Subsection
(d)(2) is not available for an offense under Subsection (b)
committed by a person under 18 years of age or by a person operating
a school bus with a minor passenger on the bus [in a school crossing
zone located in a municipality, county, or other political
subdivision that is in compliance with Subsection (b-2)].
(e) This section does not apply to:
(1) an operator of an authorized emergency vehicle
using a portable electronic [a wireless communication] device while
acting in an official capacity; [or]
(2) an operator who is licensed by the Federal
Communications Commission while operating a radio frequency device
other than a portable electronic [a wireless communication] device;
or
(3) an operator using two-way radio communication in a
commercial motor vehicle.
(f) This [Except as provided by Subsection (b-2), this]
section does not preempt [preempts all] local ordinances, rules, or
regulations that are consistent [inconsistent] with or more
stringent than the [specific] provisions of this section adopted by
a local authority [political subdivision of this state] relating to
the use of a portable electronic [a wireless communication] device
by the operator of a motor vehicle.
SECTION 3. Sections 545.424(a), (b), and (f) and 545.4252,
Transportation Code, are repealed.
SECTION 4. The changes in law made by this Act to Chapter
545, Transportation Code, 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 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.