The bill, titled the Dr. Michael James Babineaux Act, aims to enhance highway safety by establishing a project to identify and address high injury road segments and designating highway safety corridors. It introduces a new section to the Transportation Code, Section 201.6014, which mandates the Texas A&M Transportation Institute to develop and maintain a high injury network project. This project will include an interactive map ranking public roadway segments based on the estimated costs of traffic crashes over the past five years. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is required to create annual intervention strategies for the highest-ranking roadway segments and may collaborate with local governments to implement various safety measures without the need for extensive administrative procedures.

Additionally, the bill establishes a new section, Section 201.9051, allowing TxDOT to designate highway safety corridors based on the high injury network project rankings. It also introduces a new fine structure for offenses committed within these corridors, effectively doubling the minimum and maximum fines compared to offenses outside these areas. The bill further allows for the establishment of variable speed limits on high injury segments, supported by engineering investigations. The changes in law will apply only to offenses committed after the bill's effective date, which is contingent on legislative approval.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: Transportation Code 545.353 (Transportation Code 545)