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.