By: Averitt S.B. No. 1218
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the collection of data by the Texas Department of
Transportation regarding bridge collapses.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 201.805, Transportation Code, as added
by Chapter 1407 (S.B. 766), Acts of the 80th Legislature, Regular
Session, 2007, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 201.805. ACCIDENT REPORTS. (a) The department shall:
(1) tabulate and analyze the vehicle accident reports
it receives;
(2) annually or more frequently publish statistical
information derived from the accident reports as to the number,
cause, and location of highway accidents, including information
regarding the number of:
(A) accidents involving injury to, death of, or
property damage to a bicyclist or pedestrian; and
(B) fatalities caused by a bridge collapse, as
defined by Section 550.081; and
(3) not later than December 15 of each even-numbered
year provide to the governor and the legislature:
(A) an abstract of the statistical information
for the biennium ending on the preceding August 31; and
(B) a report with the department's conclusions,
findings, and recommendations for decreasing highway accidents and
increasing highway and bridge safety.
(b) The department shall provide electronic access to the
system containing the accident reports so that the Department of
Public Safety can perform its duties, including the duty to make
timely entries on driver records.
SECTION 2. Section 550.081, Transportation Code, as amended
by Chapters 74 (H.B. 423) and 1407 (S.B. 766), Acts of the 80th
Legislature, Regular Session, 2007, is reenacted and amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 550.081. REPORT OF MEDICAL EXAMINER OR JUSTICE OF THE
PEACE. (a) In this section:
(1) "Department" means the Texas Department of
Transportation.
(2) "Bridge collapse" means the abrupt failure of the
basic structure of a bridge that impairs the ability of the bridge
to serve its intended purpose and that damages a highway located on
or under the structure.
(b) A medical examiner or justice of the peace acting as
coroner in a county that does not have a medical examiner's office
or that is not part of a medical examiner's district shall submit a
report in writing to the department [Texas Department of
Transportation] of the death of a person that was the result of a
traffic accident or bridge collapse:
(1) to which this chapter applies; and
(2) that occurred within the jurisdiction of the
medical examiner or justice of the peace in the preceding calendar
quarter.
(c) [(b)] The report must be submitted before the 11th day
of each calendar month and include:
(1) the name of the deceased and a statement as to
whether the deceased was:
(A) the operator of or a passenger in a vehicle
involved in the accident; or
(B) a pedestrian or other nonoccupant of a
vehicle;
(2) the date of the accident and the name of the county
in which the accident occurred, and, if a bridge collapse, the
location of the bridge in that county;
(3) the name of any laboratory, medical examiner's
office, or other facility that conducted toxicological testing
relative to the deceased; and
(4) the results of any toxicological testing that was
conducted.
(d) [(c)] A report required by this section shall be sent
to:
(1) the crash records bureau of the department at its
headquarters in Austin; or
(2) any other office or bureau of the department that
the department designates.
(e) [(d)] If toxicological test results are not available
to the medical examiner or justice of the peace on the date a report
must be submitted, the medical examiner or justice shall:
(1) submit a report that includes the statement
"toxicological test results unavailable"; and
(2) submit a supplement to the report that contains
the information required by Subsections (c)(3) [(b)(3)] and (4) as
soon as practicable after the toxicological test results become
available.
(f) [(e)] The department shall prepare and when requested
supply to medical examiners' offices and justices of the peace the
forms necessary to make the reports required by this section.
SECTION 3. To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails
over another Act of the 81st Legislature, Regular Session, 2009,
relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
codes.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.