Bill Text: TX HB554 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: Relating to the operation of a motor vehicle passing a pedestrian or a person operating a bicycle; creating a criminal offense.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-05-08 - Committee report sent to Calendars [HB554 Detail]

Download: Texas-2021-HB554-Comm_Sub.html

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87R24364 SRA-D
By: Lopez, Cain, Rodriguez, et al. H.B. No. 554
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 554:
By: Martinez C.S.H.B. No. 554

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.