88R14392 SRA-D
By: Gervin-Hawkins H.B. No. 4464
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the operation of a motor vehicle passing 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 BICYCLE OPERATOR. (a)
An operator of a motor vehicle shall exercise due care to avoid
colliding with a person operating a bicycle on a highway or street.
(b) For the purposes of Section 545.053(a), safe distance
from any part of a bicycle is at least three feet.
(c) For the purposes of Section 545.057(a), conditions
permit safely passing a bicycle to the right only if the motor
vehicle passes at least three feet from any part of the bicycle.
(d) An operator of a motor vehicle passing 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 bicycle operator
while passing the bicycle operator.
(e) Subsections (b), (c), and (d) do not apply when the
bicycle is being operated in a designated bicycle lane.
(f) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this
section that at the time of the offense the 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 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, 2023.