Eckhardt’s bill on fake electric bicycles

The text as introduced · 2,293 words

89R9475 BEE-D

By: Eckhardt
S.B. No. 1865

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the regulation and operation of electric bicycles.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 17.46(b), Business & Commerce Code, is

amended to read as follows:

(b) Except as provided in Subsection (d) of this section,

the term "false, misleading, or deceptive acts or practices"

includes, but is not limited to, the following acts:

(1) passing off goods or services as those of another;

(2) causing confusion or misunderstanding as to the

source, sponsorship, approval, or certification of goods or

services;

(3) causing confusion or misunderstanding as to

affiliation, connection, or association with, or certification by,

another;

(4) using deceptive representations or designations

of geographic origin in connection with goods or services;

(5) representing that goods or services have

sponsorship, approval, characteristics, ingredients, uses,

benefits, or quantities which they do not have or that a person has

a sponsorship, approval, status, affiliation, or connection which

the person does not;

(6) representing that goods are original or new if

they are deteriorated, reconditioned, reclaimed, used, or

secondhand;

(7) representing that goods or services are of a

particular standard, quality, or grade, or that goods are of a

particular style or model, if they are of another;

(8) disparaging the goods, services, or business of

another by false or misleading representation of facts;

(9) advertising goods or services with intent not to

sell them as advertised;

(10) advertising goods or services with intent not to

supply a reasonable expectable public demand, unless the

advertisements disclosed a limitation of quantity;

(11) making false or misleading statements of fact

concerning the reasons for, existence of, or amount of price

reductions;

(12) representing that an agreement confers or

involves rights, remedies, or obligations which it does not have or

involve, or which are prohibited by law;

(13) knowingly making false or misleading statements

of fact concerning the need for parts, replacement, or repair

service;

(14) misrepresenting the authority of a salesman,

representative or agent to negotiate the final terms of a consumer

transaction;

(15) basing a charge for the repair of any item in

whole or in part on a guaranty or warranty instead of on the value of

the actual repairs made or work to be performed on the item without

stating separately the charges for the work and the charge for the

warranty or guaranty, if any;

(16) disconnecting, turning back, or resetting the

odometer of any motor vehicle so as to reduce the number of miles

indicated on the odometer gauge;

(17) advertising of any sale by fraudulently

representing that a person is going out of business;

(18) advertising, selling, or distributing a card

which purports to be a prescription drug identification card issued

under Section 4151.152, Insurance Code, in accordance with rules

adopted by the commissioner of insurance, which offers a discount

on the purchase of health care goods or services from a third party

provider, and which is not evidence of insurance coverage, unless:

(A) the discount is authorized under an agreement

between the seller of the card and the provider of those goods and

services or the discount or card is offered to members of the

seller;

(B) the seller does not represent that the card

provides insurance coverage of any kind; and

(C) the discount is not false, misleading, or

deceptive;

(19) using or employing a chain referral sales plan in

connection with the sale or offer to sell of goods, merchandise, or

anything of value, which uses the sales technique, plan,

arrangement, or agreement in which the buyer or prospective buyer

is offered the opportunity to purchase merchandise or goods and in

connection with the purchase receives the seller's promise or

representation that the buyer shall have the right to receive

compensation or consideration in any form for furnishing to the

seller the names of other prospective buyers if receipt of the

compensation or consideration is contingent upon the occurrence of

an event subsequent to the time the buyer purchases the merchandise

or goods;

(20) representing that a guaranty or warranty confers

or involves rights or remedies which it does not have or involve,

provided, however, that nothing in this subchapter shall be

construed to expand the implied warranty of merchantability as

defined in Sections 2.314 through 2.318 and Sections 2A.212 through

2A.216 to involve obligations in excess of those which are

appropriate to the goods;

(21) promoting a pyramid promotional scheme, as

defined by Section 17.461;

(22) representing that work or services have been

performed on, or parts replaced in, goods when the work or services

were not performed or the parts replaced;

(23) filing suit founded upon a written contractual

obligation of and signed by the defendant to pay money arising out

of or based on a consumer transaction for goods, services, loans, or

extensions of credit intended primarily for personal, family,

household, or agricultural use in any county other than in the

county in which the defendant resides at the time of the

commencement of the action or in the county in which the defendant

in fact signed the contract; provided, however, that a violation of

this subsection shall not occur where it is shown by the person

filing such suit that the person neither knew or had reason to know

that the county in which such suit was filed was neither the county

in which the defendant resides at the commencement of the suit nor

the county in which the defendant in fact signed the contract;

(24) failing to disclose information concerning goods

or services which was known at the time of the transaction if such

failure to disclose such information was intended to induce the

consumer into a transaction into which the consumer would not have

entered had the information been disclosed;

(25) using the term "corporation," "incorporated," or

an abbreviation of either of those terms in the name of a business

entity that is not incorporated under the laws of this state or

another jurisdiction;

(26) selling, offering to sell, or illegally promoting

an annuity contract under Chapter 22, Acts of the 57th Legislature,

3rd Called Session, 1962 (Article 6228a-5, Vernon's Texas Civil

Statutes), with the intent that the annuity contract will be the

subject of a salary reduction agreement, as defined by that Act, if

the annuity contract is not an eligible qualified investment under

that Act;

(27) subject to Section 17.4625, taking advantage of a

disaster declared by the governor under Chapter 418, Government

Code, or by the president of the United States by:

(A) selling or leasing fuel, food, medicine,

lodging, building materials, construction tools, or another

necessity at an exorbitant or excessive price; or

(B) demanding an exorbitant or excessive price in

connection with the sale or lease of fuel, food, medicine, lodging,

building materials, construction tools, or another necessity;

(28) using the translation into a foreign language of

a title or other word, including "attorney," "immigration

consultant," "immigration expert," "lawyer," "licensed," "notary,"

and "notary public," in any written or electronic material,

including an advertisement, a business card, a letterhead,

stationery, a website, or an online video, in reference to a person

who is not an attorney in order to imply that the person is

authorized to practice law in the United States;

(29) delivering or distributing a solicitation in

connection with a good or service that:

(A) represents that the solicitation is sent on

behalf of a governmental entity when it is not; or

(B) resembles a governmental notice or form that

represents or implies that a criminal penalty may be imposed if the

recipient does not remit payment for the good or service;

(30) delivering or distributing a solicitation in

connection with a good or service that resembles a check or other

negotiable instrument or invoice, unless the portion of the

solicitation that resembles a check or other negotiable instrument

or invoice includes the following notice, clearly and conspicuously

printed in at least 18-point type:

"SPECIMEN-NON-NEGOTIABLE";

(31) in the production, sale, distribution, or

promotion of a synthetic substance that produces and is intended to

produce an effect when consumed or ingested similar to, or in excess

of, the effect of a controlled substance or controlled substance

analogue, as those terms are defined by Section 481.002, Health and

Safety Code:

(A) making a deceptive representation or

designation about the synthetic substance; or

(B) causing confusion or misunderstanding as to

the effects the synthetic substance causes when consumed or

ingested;

(32) a licensed public insurance adjuster directly or

indirectly soliciting employment, as defined by Section 38.01,

Penal Code, for an attorney, or a licensed public insurance

adjuster entering into a contract with an insured for the primary

purpose of referring the insured to an attorney without the intent

to actually perform the services customarily provided by a licensed

public insurance adjuster, provided that this subdivision may not

be construed to prohibit a licensed public insurance adjuster from

recommending a particular attorney to an insured;

(33) owning, operating, maintaining, or advertising a

massage establishment, as defined by Section 455.001, Occupations

Code, that:

(A) is not appropriately licensed under Chapter

455, Occupations Code, or is not in compliance with the applicable

licensing and other requirements of that chapter; or

(B) is not in compliance with an applicable local

ordinance relating to the licensing or regulation of massage

establishments; [ or ]

(34) a warrantor of a vehicle protection product

warranty using, in connection with the product, a name that

includes "casualty," "surety," "insurance," "mutual," or any other

word descriptive of an insurance business, including property or

casualty insurance, or a surety business ; or

(35) selling or offering for sale as an electric

bicycle a vehicle equipped with an electric motor for propulsion

that:

(A) is not an "electric bicycle" as defined by

Section 664.001, Transportation Code; or

(B) is identified by the seller as:

(i) a Class 1 electric bicycle and is not a

"Class 1 electric bicycle" as defined by Section 664.001,

Transportation Code;

(ii) a Class 2 electric bicycle and is not a

"Class 2 electric bicycle" as defined by Section 664.001,

Transportation Code; or

(iii) a Class 3 electric bicycle and is not

a "Class 3 electric bicycle" as defined by Section 664.001,

Transportation Code .

SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 13, Parks and Wildlife

Code, is amended by adding Section 13.024 to read as follows:

Sec. 13.024. OPERATION OF ELECTRIC BICYCLE IN STATE PARK.

(a) In this section:

(1) "Bicycle" has the meaning assigned by Section

541.201, Transportation Code.

(2) "Class 1 electric bicycle," "Class 2 electric

bicycle," "Class 3 electric bicycle," and "electric bicycle" have

the meanings assigned to those terms by Section 664.001,

Transportation Code.

(b) Notwithstanding any other law and subject to Subsection

(c), a person may operate in a state park or on public land under the

department's jurisdiction a Class 1, Class 2, or Class 3 electric

bicycle in an area where the operation of a bicycle solely under

human power is authorized.

(c) A person may not operate a Class 2 or Class 3 electric

bicycle on a natural-surface singletrack trail.

(d) The commission by rule may authorize the operation of an

electric bicycle of any class in a state park or on public land

under the department's jurisdiction, provided that the commission

may not authorize the operation of an electric bicycle in any

location where operation of a bicycle solely under human power is

prohibited.

SECTION 3. Subchapter B, Chapter 551, Transportation Code,

is amended by adding Section 551.108 to read as follows:

Sec. 551.108. OPERATION OF ELECTRIC BICYCLE ON PUBLIC LAND

UNDER STATE AGENCY OR POLITICAL SUBDIVISION JURISDICTION.

Notwithstanding any other law, a state agency or a political

subdivision of this state may regulate the operation of an electric

bicycle on a path or trail on public land under the state agency's

or political subdivision's jurisdiction.

SECTION 4. Section 664.001(4), Transportation Code, is

amended to read as follows:

(4) "Electric bicycle" means a bicycle [ :

[ (A) ] equipped with [ :

[ (i) ] fully operable pedals [ ; ] and

[ (ii) ] an electric motor of fewer than 750

watts and having [ ; and

[ (B) with ] a top assisted speed of 28 miles per

hour or less. The term does not include a bicycle that:

(A) fails to satisfy one or more of the

requirements under Section 17.46(b), Business & Commerce Code, for

an electric bicycle to be sold or offered for sale;

(B) has one or more operating modes, is equipped

with a throttle, and is capable of exceeding 20 miles per hour on

motorized propulsion alone in any mode when the throttle is

engaged; or

(C) has been configured or modified by any person

or is designed, manufactured, or intended by the manufacturer,

importer, or seller to be so configured or modified, to exceed any

required power or speed restriction if the operator engages:

(i) a mechanical switch or button;

(ii) a modification to the software

controlling the bicycle's electric drive system;

(iii) an application; or

(iv) any means intended by the

manufacturer, importer, or seller to modify the vehicle or allow

the vehicle to be modified to exceed any required power or speed

restriction.

SECTION 5. The changes in law made by this Act to Section

17.46(b), Business & Commerce Code, apply only to an act or practice

that occurs on or after the effective date of this Act. An act or

practice that occurs before the effective date of this Act is

governed by the law in effect on the date the act or practice

occurred, and the former law is continued in effect for that

purpose.

SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.