CHAPTER 544. TRAFFIC SIGNS, SIGNALS, AND MARKINGS - Texas Statutes

TRANSPORTATION CODE

TITLE 7. VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC

SUBTITLE C. RULES OF THE ROAD

CHAPTER 544. TRAFFIC SIGNS, SIGNALS, AND MARKINGS

Sec. 544.001. ADOPTION OF SIGN MANUAL FOR STATE HIGHWAYS. The

Texas Transportation Commission shall adopt a manual and

specifications for a uniform system of traffic-control devices

consistent with this chapter that correlates with and to the

extent possible conforms to the system approved by the American

Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 165, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.

Sec. 544.002. PLACING AND MAINTAINING TRAFFIC-CONTROL DEVICE.

(a) To implement this subtitle, the Texas Department of

Transportation may place and maintain a traffic-control device on

a state highway as provided by the manual and specifications

adopted under Section 544.001. The Texas Department of

Transportation may provide for the placement and maintenance of

the device under Section 221.002.

(b) To implement this subtitle or a local traffic ordinance, a

local authority may place and maintain a traffic-control device

on a highway under the authority's jurisdiction. The

traffic-control device must conform to the manual and

specifications adopted under Section 544.001.

(c) A local authority may not place or maintain a

traffic-control device on a highway under the jurisdiction of the

Texas Department of Transportation without that department's

permission.

Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 165, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.

Sec. 544.003. AUTHORITY TO DESIGNATE THROUGH HIGHWAY AND STOP

AND YIELD INTERSECTIONS. (a) The Texas Transportation

Commission may:

(1) designate a state or county highway as a through highway and

place a stop or yield sign at a specified entrance; or

(2) designate an intersection on a state or county highway as a

stop intersection or a yield intersection and place a sign at one

or more entrances to the intersection.

(b) A local authority may:

(1) designate a highway under its jurisdiction as a through

highway and place a stop or yield sign at a specified entrance;

or

(2) designate an intersection on a highway under its

jurisdiction as a stop intersection or a yield intersection and

place a sign at one or more entrances to the intersection.

(c) The stop or yield sign indicating the preferential

right-of-way must:

(1) conform to the manual and specifications adopted under

Section 544.001; and

(2) be located:

(A) as near as practicable to the nearest line of the crosswalk;

or

(B) in the absence of a crosswalk, at the nearest line of the

roadway.

Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 165, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.

Sec. 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:

(1) otherwise directed by a traffic or police officer; or

(2) operating an authorized emergency vehicle and is subject to

exceptions under this subtitle.

(b) A provision of this subtitle requiring an official

traffic-control device may not be enforced against an alleged

violator if at the time and place of the alleged violation the

device is not in proper position and sufficiently legible to an

ordinarily observant person. A provision of this subtitle that

does not require an official traffic-control device is effective

regardless of whether a device is in place.

Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 165, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.

Sec. 544.005. INTERFERENCE WITH TRAFFIC-CONTROL DEVICE OR

RAILROAD SIGN OR SIGNAL. A person may not, without lawful

authority, alter, injure, knock down, or remove or attempt to

alter, injure, knock down, or remove:

(1) an official traffic-control device or railroad sign or

signal;

(2) an inscription, shield, or insignia on an official

traffic-control device or railroad sign or signal; or

(3) another part of an official traffic-control device or

railroad sign or signal.

Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 165, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.

Sec. 544.0055. TRAFFIC-CONTROL SIGNAL PREEMPTION DEVICE;

OFFENSE. (a) In this section, "traffic-control signal

preemption device" means a device designed, intended, or used to

interfere with or alter the operation of a traffic-control

signal.

(b) Except as provided by Subsection (e), a person commits an

offense if the person uses, sells, offers for sale, purchases, or

possesses for use or sale a traffic-control signal preemption

device.

(c) The possession of a traffic-control signal preemption device

creates the presumption that the person possessed the device for

use or sale.

(d) An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor.

(e) This section does not apply to:

(1) a person who provides fire-fighting, law enforcement,

ambulance, medical, or other emergency services in the course of

providing those services;

(2) a manufacturer, wholesaler, or retailer of traffic-control

signal preemption devices in the course of manufacturing,

selling, providing, or transporting a traffic-control signal

preemption device to a person described by Subdivision (1); or

(3) a transit vehicle operated by an authority under Chapter 451

or 452 or a transit department under Chapter 453.

Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch.

244, Sec. 1, eff. May 30, 2005.

Sec. 544.006. DISPLAY OF UNAUTHORIZED SIGNS, SIGNALS, OR

MARKINGS. (a) A person may not place, maintain, or display on

or in view of a highway an unauthorized sign, signal, marking, or

device that:

(1) imitates or resembles an official traffic-control device or

railroad sign or signal;

(2) attempts to direct the movement of traffic; or

(3) hides from view or hinders the effectiveness of an official

traffic-control device or railroad sign or signal.

(b) A person may not place or maintain on a highway, and a

public authority may not permit on a highway, a traffic sign or

signal bearing commercial advertising.

(c) A person may not place or maintain a flashing light or

flashing electric sign within 1,000 feet of an intersection

except under a permit issued by the Texas Transportation

Commission.

(d) This section does not prohibit a person from placing on

private property adjacent to a highway a sign that gives useful

directional information and that cannot be mistaken for an

official sign.

(e) A sign, signal, light, or marking prohibited under this

section is a public nuisance. The authority with jurisdiction

over the highway may remove that sign, signal, light, or marking

without notice.

Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 165, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.

Sec. 544.007. TRAFFIC-CONTROL SIGNALS IN GENERAL. (a) A

traffic-control signal displaying different colored lights or

colored lighted arrows successively or in combination may display

only green, yellow, or red and applies to operators of vehicles

as provided by this section.

(b) An operator of a vehicle facing a circular green signal may

proceed straight or turn right or left unless a sign prohibits

the turn. The operator shall yield the right-of-way to other

vehicles and to pedestrians lawfully in the intersection or an

adjacent crosswalk when the signal is exhibited.

(c) An operator of a vehicle facing a green arrow signal,

displayed alone or with another signal, may cautiously enter the

intersection to move in the direction permitted by the arrow or

other indication shown simultaneously. The operator shall yield

the right-of-way to a pedestrian lawfully in an adjacent

crosswalk and other traffic lawfully using the intersection.

(d) An operator of a vehicle facing only a steady red signal

shall stop at a clearly marked stop line. In the absence of a

stop line, the operator shall stop before entering the crosswalk

on the near side of the intersection. A vehicle that is not

turning shall remain standing until an indication to proceed is

shown. After stopping, standing until the intersection may be

entered safely, and yielding right-of-way to pedestrians lawfully

in an adjacent crosswalk and other traffic lawfully using the

intersection, the operator may:

(1) turn right; or

(2) turn left, if the intersecting streets are both one-way

streets and a left turn is permissible.

(e) An operator of a vehicle facing a steady yellow signal is

warned by that signal that:

(1) movement authorized by a green signal is being terminated;

or

(2) a red signal is to be given.

(f) The Texas Transportation Commission, a municipal authority,

or the commissioners court of a county may prohibit within the

entity's jurisdiction a turn by an operator of a vehicle facing a

steady red signal by posting notice at the intersection that the

turn is prohibited.

(g) This section applies to an official traffic-control signal

placed and maintained at a place other than an intersection,

except for a provision that by its nature cannot apply. A

required stop shall be made at a sign or marking on the pavement

indicating where the stop shall be made. In the absence of such a

sign or marking, the stop shall be made at the signal.

(h) The obligations imposed by this section apply to an operator

of a streetcar in the same manner they apply to the operator of a

vehicle.

(i) An operator of a vehicle facing a traffic-control signal

that does not display an indication in any of the signal heads

shall stop as provided by Section 544.010 as if the intersection

had a stop sign.

Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 165, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.

Amended by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1325, Sec. 19.04, eff. Sept.

1, 2003.

Sec. 544.0075. CERTAIN TRAFFIC-ACTUATED ELECTRIC TRAFFIC-CONTROL

SIGNALS. (a) This section applies only to a traffic-actuated

electric traffic-control signal that consists of a

traffic-control signal for which the intervals vary according to

the demands of vehicular traffic as registered by a detector and

that is installed and operating at an intersection.

(b) In addition to any other type of vehicle the presence of

which the detector for the traffic-actuated electric

traffic-control signal may register, the detector for a

traffic-actuated electric traffic-control device to which this

section applies must be capable of registering the presence of a

motorcycle.

Added by Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch.

219, Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2007.

Sec. 544.008. FLASHING SIGNALS. (a) The operator of a vehicle

facing a flashing red signal shall stop at a clearly marked stop

line. In the absence of a stop line, the operator shall stop

before entering the crosswalk on the near side of the

intersection. In the absence of a crosswalk, the operator shall

stop at the place nearest the intersecting roadway where the

operator has a view of approaching traffic on the intersecting

roadway. The right to proceed is subject to the rules applicable

after stopping at a stop sign.

(b) The operator of a vehicle facing a flashing yellow signal

may proceed through an intersection or past the signal only with

caution.

(c) This section does not apply at a railroad crossing.

Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 165, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.

Sec. 544.009. LANE-DIRECTION-CONTROL SIGNALS. If a

lane-direction-control signal is placed over an individual lane

of a highway, a vehicle may travel in a lane over which a green

signal is shown but may not enter or travel in a lane over which

a red signal is shown.

Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 165, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.

Sec. 544.010. STOP SIGNS AND YIELD SIGNS. (a) Unless directed

to proceed by a police officer or traffic-control signal, the

operator of a vehicle or streetcar approaching an intersection

with a stop sign shall stop as provided by Subsection (c).

(b) If safety requires, the operator of a vehicle approaching a

yield sign shall stop as provided by Subsection (c).

(c) An operator required to stop by this section shall stop

before entering the crosswalk on the near side of the

intersection. In the absence of a crosswalk, the operator shall

stop at a clearly marked stop line. In the absence of a stop

line, the operator shall stop at the place nearest the

intersecting roadway where the operator has a view of approaching

traffic on the intersecting roadway.

Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 165, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.

Sec. 544.011. LANE USE SIGNS. If, on a highway having more than

one lane with vehicles traveling in the same direction, the Texas

Department of Transportation or a local authority places a sign

that directs slower traffic to travel in a lane other than the

farthest left lane, the sign must read "left lane for passing

only."

Added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 628, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1,

1997. Amended by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 62, Sec. 17.08, eff.

Sept. 1, 1999.

Sec. 544.012. NOTIFICATION OF PHOTOGRAPHIC TRAFFIC MONITORING

SYSTEM. (a) In this section:

(1) "Photographic traffic monitoring system" means a system

that:

(A) consists of a camera and vehicle sensor installed to work in

conjunction with an electrically operated traffic-control signal;

and

(B) is capable of producing one or more recorded images that

depict the license plate attached to a motor vehicle that is not

operated in compliance with the instructions of the

traffic-control signal.

(2) "Recorded image" means an image that:

(A) depicts a motor vehicle; and

(B) is automatically recorded on a photograph or digital image.

(b) This section applies only to a municipality that pursuant to

an ordinance of the municipality employs a photographic traffic

monitoring system to enforce compliance with the instructions of

traffic-control signals in the municipality.

(c) The municipality shall install signs along each roadway that

leads to an intersection at which a photographic traffic

monitoring system is in active use. The signs must be at least

100 feet from the intersection or located according to standards

established in the manual adopted by the Texas Transportation

Commission under Section 544.001, be easily readable to any

operator approaching the intersection, and clearly indicate the

presence of a photographic monitoring system that records

violations that may result in the issuance of a notice of

violation and the imposition of a monetary penalty.

(d) A municipality that fails to comply with Subsection (c) may

not impose or attempt to impose a civil or administrative penalty

against a person, including the owner of a motor vehicle or an

operator, for a failure to comply with the instructions of a

traffic-control signal located at the applicable intersection.

(e) Subsection (d) does not prohibit a peace officer from

arresting or issuing a citation and notice to appear to a person

whom the officer observes to have failed to comply with the

instructions of a traffic-control signal located at the

intersection.

Added by Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch.

653, Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2007.