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Tex. Transp. Code § 545.156

VEHICLE APPROACHED BY AUTHORIZED EMERGENCY VEHICLE

Applied in 4 court decisions — leading case City of Amarillo v. Martin (1998)

Most recently applied in Mahaffey v. State (June 2010)

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

How often courts cite this section

19982000201020
citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

(a) This section applies only to:

(1) an authorized emergency vehicle using audible and visual signals that meet the requirements of Sections 547.305 and 547.702;

(2) a medical examiner vehicle, as defined by Section 547.751, lawfully using a visual signal in accordance with that section;

(3) a vehicle operated by a justice of the peace for a purpose described by Section 547.752 and lawfully using a visual signal in accordance with that section; and

(4) a police vehicle lawfully using only an audible or visual signal.

(a-1) On the immediate approach of a vehicle described by Subsection (a), an operator, unless otherwise directed by a police officer, shall:

(1) yield the right-of-way;

(2) immediately drive to a position parallel to and as close as possible to the right-hand edge or curb of the roadway clear of any intersection; and

(3) stop and remain standing until the authorized emergency vehicle has passed.

(b) This section does not exempt the operator of a vehicle described by Subsection (a) from the duty to drive with due regard for the safety of all persons using the highway.

Official source: Texas Constitution and Statutes. Reproduced from public-domain Texas statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.