Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HB5300 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R10661 AND-D
2	2	By: Goodwin H.B. No. 5300
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5	5
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7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to a project to identify and address high injury road
10	10	segments and the designation of highway safety corridors;
11	11	increasing a fine.
12	12	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
13	13	SECTION 1. This Act shall be known as the Dr. Michael James
14	14	Babineaux Act.
15	15	SECTION 2. Subchapter H, Chapter 201, Transportation Code,
16	16	is amended by adding Section 201.6014 to read as follows:
17	17	Sec. 201.6014. HIGH INJURY NETWORK PROJECT. (a) In this
18	18	section:
19	19	(1) "High injury network project" means the project
20	20	developed by the institute under this section.
21	21	(2) "Institute" means the Texas A&M Transportation
22	22	Institute.
23	23	(3) "Intervention strategy" means a department plan to
24	24	reduce traffic deaths and serious injuries in a certain public
25	25	roadway segment.
26	26	(4) "Political subdivision" means a municipality or
27	27	county.
28	28	(5) "Safety action plan" means a plan prepared for the
29	29	Safe Streets and Roads for All grant program.
30	30	(b) Subject to the availability of funds, the institute
31	31	shall develop and maintain a high injury network project that
32	32	includes an interactive map and data that allows ranking of all
33	33	public roadway segments in the state according to the estimated
34	34	total cost of traffic crashes for each roadway segment during the
35	35	preceding five years, accounting for personal injuries, personal
36	36	property damage, and cost of repairs to the roadway. The institute
37	37	shall update the project's map and rankings at least once every five
38	38	years.
39	39	(c) The department shall annually develop an intervention
40	40	strategy for:
41	41	(1) the two highest ranking roadway segments in a
42	42	rural district on the high injury network project;
43	43	(2) the two highest ranking roadway segments in an
44	44	urban district on the high injury network project; and
45	45	(3) each of the 10 highest ranking roadway segments in
46	46	any district on the high injury network project that are not
47	47	described by Subdivisions (1) and (2).
48	48	(d) The department may partner with a political subdivision
49	49	to implement, on its own initiative or in collaboration with any
50	50	governmental unit, for a roadway segment among the 100 highest
51	51	ranking roadway segments on the high injury network project:
52	52	(1) adaptive signal timing, signal preemption for
53	53	emergency vehicles, wrong-way driving alerts, intelligent
54	54	transportation systems, vehicle-to-infrastructure technology, or
55	55	traffic demand management;
56	56	(2) highway safety corridors or variable speed limits;
57	57	(3) interim or innovative design improvements,
58	58	including temporary improvements that do not involve permanent
59	59	roadway reconstruction, including painting, plastic delineator
60	60	posts, water-filled plastic barriers, planters, traffic cones,
61	61	raised line separators, and temporary speed humps/bumps that may be
62	62	used to right-size roadways, create curb extensions, shorten
63	63	crosswalk distances, create roundabouts, establish bike lanes, and
64	64	implement other safety countermeasures that slow speeds and make
65	65	roads safer for multiple road user types;
66	66	(4) upgrades to any portion of a right-of-way to
67	67	optimize safe travel by any mode of transportation, including
68	68	reducing the portion of a right-of-way dedicated to single occupant
69	69	vehicle lanes if the department determines through an engineering
70	70	and traffic investigation that an updated design will be an
71	71	effective way to reduce deaths and serious injuries on one of the
72	72	100 highest ranking roadways identified in the high injury network
73	73	plan; or
74	74	(5) any proven safety measure, including any measure
75	75	listed in the Texas Strategic Highway Safety Plan, the Federal
76	76	Highway Administration's Proven Safety Countermeasures initiative
77	77	as it existed on May 1, 2025, or Proven Safety Countermeasures in
78	78	Rural Communities publication as the publication existed on May 1,
79	79	2025, or a local or regional safety action plan if the roadway
80	80	segment is within the area covered by the safety action plan.
81	81	(e) Notwithstanding any other law, a safety measure under
82	82	Subsection (d)(1) or (5) may be implemented with no requirement for
83	83	environmental process, public input opportunity, engineering and
84	84	traffic investigation, or any other administrative procedure.
85	85	(f) The department may not implement a safety measure under
86	86	Subsection (d)(2), (3), or (4) before a simple majority vote in
87	87	support of implementing the measure on that roadway segment or a
88	88	broader area by:
89	89	(1) the governing body of the municipality in which
90	90	the roadway segment is located; or
91	91	(2) the commissioners court of the county in which the
92	92	roadway segment is located, if the roadway segment is in an
93	93	unincorporated area.
94	94	(g) This subsection applies only to an on-system roadway
95	95	segment that is not a controlled access highway and has been listed
96	96	as one of the 100 highest ranking roadway segments under the high
97	97	injury network project for three or more years and for which total
98	98	deaths and serious injuries have not decreased by an average of at
99	99	least three percent per year. A municipality in which a roadway
100	100	segment to which this subsection applies is located or a county in
101	101	which a roadway segment to which this subsection applies is located
102	102	if in an unincorporated area may request that:
103	103	(1) the department address the safety problems in a
104	104	manner consistent with department plans and guidelines, the
105	105	political subdivision's design manuals, local or regional safety
106	106	action plans that include the roadway segment, and other local
107	107	transportation plans that include the roadway segment; or
108	108	(2) the department transfer ownership, operations, or
109	109	maintenance responsibility for the roadway segment to the political
110	110	subdivision.
111	111	(h) If the department determines that a measure requested
112	112	under Subsection (g)(1) is warranted through an engineering and
113	113	traffic investigation, the department may implement the measure
114	114	following a majority vote of:
115	115	(1) the governing body of a municipality; or
116	116	(2) the commissioners court of a county if the roadway
117	117	segment is in an unincorporated area.
118	118	(i) The department may, at the request of a political
119	119	subdivision under Subsection (g)(2), transfer ownership,
120	120	operations, or maintenance responsibility of a roadway segment to
121	121	the political subdivision to allow for the political subdivision to
122	122	address the safety issues on the roadway.
123	123	(j) The commission shall adopt rules as necessary to
124	124	administer this section.
125	125	(k) This section may not be construed to limit existing
126	126	department practices for making roadways safer.
127	127	SECTION 3. Subchapter K, Chapter 201, Transportation Code,
128	128	is amended by adding Section 201.9051 to read as follows:
129	129	Sec. 201.9051. HIGHWAY SAFETY CORRIDOR. (a) In this
130	130	section, "political subdivision" means a municipality or county.
131	131	(b) The department may designate as a highway safety
132	132	corridor a portion of a roadway if the roadway segment is one of the
133	133	100 highest ranking roadway segments in the high injury network
134	134	project under Section 201.6014, and the governing body of the
135	135	political subdivision identified under Section 201.6014(f) has
136	136	approved the designation.
137	137	(c) The department shall remove a highway safety corridor
138	138	designation made under Subsection (b) on the 10th anniversary of
139	139	the designation unless the governing body of the political
140	140	subdivision that approved the designation notifies the department
141	141	that the designation should be removed before that date or extended
142	142	after that date. Each designation extension made under this
143	143	subsection must be for a period of 10 years unless a shorter period
144	144	is requested by the governing body and may be removed or extended as
145	145	provided by this subsection for an initial designation.
146	146	(d) The department may:
147	147	(1) designate as a highway safety corridor a portion
148	148	of a roadway containing a site with a high number of traffic
149	149	collisions that lead to a serious injury or fatality as identified
150	150	by the department; and
151	151	(2) at the department's discretion, remove a
152	152	designation made under this subsection.
153	153	(e) The department shall erect a sign at each end of a
154	154	designated portion of a roadway and at appropriate intermediate
155	155	sites along the roadway:
156	156	(1) indicating that the roadway is a highway safety
157	157	corridor; and
158	158	(2) stating "Fines double: highway safety corridor."
159	159	(f) The department by rule may prescribe forms for use by a
160	160	political subdivision for the designation of a highway safety
161	161	corridor under Subsection (b) and the removal or extension of a
162	162	highway safety corridor designation under Subsection (c).
163	163	(g) The department may distribute literature to the public
164	164	concerning highway safety corridors designated under this section.
165	165	SECTION 4. Subchapter D, Chapter 542, Transportation Code,
166	166	is amended by adding Section 542.405 to read as follows:
167	167	Sec. 542.405. FINE FOR OFFENSE IN HIGHWAY SAFETY CORRIDOR.
168	168	(a) In this section, "highway safety corridor" means a portion of a
169	169	roadway designated under Section 201.9051.
170	170	(b) If an offense under this subtitle, other than an offense
171	171	under Chapter 548 or 552 or Section 545.412 or 545.413, is committed
172	172	in a highway safety corridor:
173	173	(1) the minimum fine applicable to the offense is
174	174	twice the minimum fine that would be applicable to the offense if it
175	175	were committed outside a highway safety corridor; and
176	176	(2) the maximum fine applicable to the offense is
177	177	twice the maximum fine that would be applicable to the offense if it
178	178	were committed outside a highway safety corridor.
179	179	SECTION 5. Section 545.353, Transportation Code, is amended
180	180	by adding Subsection (l) to read as follows:
181	181	(l) A speed limit established under the program established
182	182	under Subsection (k) may be set at any speed supported by an
183	183	engineering and traffic investigation if:
184	184	(1) the roadway segment is one of the 100 highest
185	185	ranking roadway segments under the high injury network project
186	186	established under Section 201.6014; and
187	187	(2) the department has determined a variable speed
188	188	limit may be an effective way to reduce deaths and serious injuries
189	189	on the roadway segment.
190	190	SECTION 6. The change in law made by this Act applies only
191	191	to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
192	192	An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
193	193	covered by the law in effect immediately before the effective date
194	194	of this Act, and the former law is continued in effect for that
195	195	purpose. For purposes of this section, an offense was committed
196	196	before the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense
197	197	was committed before that date.
198	198	SECTION 7. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
199	199	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
200	200	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
201	201	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
202	202	Act takes effect September 1, 2025.