H.B. No. 2469

	AN ACT
	relating to a memorial sign program for victims of motorcycle
	accidents.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  This Act shall be known as the Mike Grove
	Motorcycle Fatality Awareness Act.
	SECTION 2.  Subchapter K, Chapter 201, Transportation Code,
	is amended by adding Section 201.911 to read as follows:
	Sec. 201.911.  MEMORIAL SIGN PROGRAM FOR MOTORCYCLISTS. (a)
	In this section, "victim" means a person killed in a highway
	accident while operating or riding on a motorcycle.
	(b)  The commission by rule shall establish and administer a
	memorial sign program to publicly memorialize the victims of
	motorcycle accidents.
	(c)  A sign designed and posted under this section shall
	include:
	(1)  a red cross;
	(2)  the phrase "In Memory Of" and the name of one or
	more victims in accordance with the commission rule; and
	(3)  the date of the accident that resulted in the
	victim's death.
	(d)  The sign may include the names of more than one victim if
	the total length of the names does not exceed one line of text.
	(e)  A person may request that a sign be posted under this
	section by:
	(1)  making an application to the department on a form
	prescribed by the department; and
	(2)  submitting a fee to the department in an amount
	determined by the department to cover the costs of posting the
	memorial sign.
	(f)  If the application meets the department's requirements
	and the applicant pays the memorial sign fee, the department shall
	erect a sign. A sign posted under this section may remain posted for
	one year.  At the end of the one-year period, the department may
	release the sign to the applicant.  The department is not required
	to release a sign that has been damaged.
	(g)  The department shall remove a sign posted under this
	section that is damaged.  Except as provided by Subsection (h), the
	department may post a new sign if less than one year has passed from
	the posting of the original sign and a person:
	(1)  submits a written request to the department to
	replace the sign; and
	(2)  submits a replacement fee in the amount provided
	by Subsection (e)(2).
	(h)  During the one-year posting period, the department
	shall replace a sign posted under this section if the sign is
	damaged because of the department's negligence.
	(i)  This section does not authorize the department to remove
	an existing privately funded memorial that conforms to state law
	and department rules.  A privately funded memorial may remain
	indefinitely as long as the memorial conforms to state law and
	department rules.
	(j)  The commission shall adopt rules to implement this
	section.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
	Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
	______________________________	______________________________
	President of the Senate	Speaker of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 2469 was passed by the House on April
	21, 2011, by the following vote:  Yeas 148, Nays 0, 1 present, not
	voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
	No. 2469 on May 25, 2011, by the following vote:  Yeas 144, Nays 0,
	2 present, not voting.
	______________________________
	Chief Clerk of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 2469 was passed by the Senate, with
	amendments, on May 24, 2011, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays
	0.
	______________________________
	Secretary of the Senate
	APPROVED: __________________
	Date
	__________________
	Governor