Tagged: safety

At times house members were shouting over each other as they debated HB 63, a bill that would outlaw the practice of texting while driving. 

Fiesta gets underway tomorrow and the Boston Marathon bombings have San Antonio police and firefighters strengthening their presence to make sure people stay safe during the 11-day celebration.

Fiesta is San Antonio's way to honor the heroes of the Alamo and Battle of San Jacinto and it all started in 1891 with a hugely successful Battle of Flowers Parade.

Though the years since have been full of fun and festivities, there was one incident that changed everything.

Neighborhood electric vehicles (NEV's), haven't been allowed on San Antonio side streets since 2006, but they could be making a comeback.

Several serious accidents - often times involving young drivers - prompted a ban of such vehicles, sometimes called low speed vehicles, by the San Antonio City Council. That was seven years ago, but new state laws require them to be licensed and registered and an amendment to the Transportation Code allows the vehicles to travel on roads with a posted speed of 45 miles per hour or less.

The city's new boarding home ordinance is now in place and has been well publicized, but code enforcement officers like Jenny Ramirez are making the rounds to neighborhood associations to make sure everyone knows the rules.

"Today what I really, really wanted to do is focus on giving you a really good concise definition of what we adopted as far as our boarding home ordinance," she said.

Last year San Antonio Police reported that dozens of people were struck and killed crossing busy roadways. As a result, Police Chief William McManus instituted stricter jaywalking policies.

However, people continued illegally crossing the street, and one area where it kept happening was on Fredericksburg Road, which sees more than 16,000 cars each day.