Originally Posted by
John Forester
All that racing law applies to vehicles. Actually, it applies to motor vehicles, but Texas law, as in several other states, is often written as if "vehicle" means "motor vehicle". That's just bad law writing, but this has occurred in other states as well.
Call it bad law writing if you wish, but in Texas bicycles are considered vehicles and therefore these laws apply.
However, Texas does not class bicycles as vehicles, but as devices moved by human power.
ORLY?
541.201. VEHICLES. In this subtitle:
...
(2) "Bicycle" means a device that a person may ride and that is propelled by human power and has two tandem wheels at least one of which is more than 14 inches in diameter.
(11) "Motor vehicle" means a self-propelled vehicle or a vehicle that is propelled by electric power from overhead trolley wires. The term does not include an electric bicycle or an electric personal assistive mobility device, as defined by Section 551.201.
551.101. RIGHTS AND DUTIES. (a) A person operating a bicycle has the rights and duties applicable to a driver operating a vehicle under this subtitle, unless:
(1) a provision of this chapter alters a right or duty; or
(2) a right or duty applicable to a driver operating a vehicle cannot by its nature apply to a person operating a bicycle.
Now, granted, these subtitles are not in section 544 or 545, but neither section 544 nor 545 defines "vehicle" (or "bicycle") at all, so if one needs to find a definition, this is where it'll have to come from. (The rest of the transportation code explicitly refers back to 541.201 many times for definitions.)
And really, if Texas law doesn't consider a bicycle to be a vehicle, then bicycles don't need to obey most of the traffic laws. For example --
544.004. COMPLIANCE WITH TRAFFIC-CONTROL DEVICE.
(a) The operator of a vehicle or streetcar shall comply with an applicable official traffic-control device placed as provided by this subtitle unless the person is: ...
544.007. TRAFFIC-CONTROL SIGNALS IN GENERAL.
... (d) An operator of a vehicle facing only a steady red signal shall stop at a clearly marked stop line. ...
As far as I can tell, Texas considers bicycles to be vehicles, and therefore the racing law applies and the following distance law applies, even if I've never heard of anybody cited for either. (Though the police are fond of citing people for "following too closely" when somebody rear-ends somebody else, so maybe some cyclists have been cited for that in that situation.)