It's not a laser WEAPON, unfortunately

[shadowinthelight]

Some stuff, like helmet laws, varies city to city so make sure to ask when you get here.

[Dave11]

Some stuff, like helmet laws, varies city to city so make sure to ask when you get here.

Helmets are never optional (just my opinion). My brain is my most valuable organ, so I'll be wearing the bucket whenever I'm riding .

I'm going to be unemployed on arrival (anyone in the Fort Worth area know of companies seeking candidates with a BS in Mechanical Engineering and 4 years of work experience?), so I'll be doing my research then.

[Jabberwonky]

Given that I'm moving to Texas shortly, this is good information for me to have. I guess I'll need to get an ID card for when I'm riding (I often don't carry my wallet), in addition to a new driver's license.

Texas has a lot of room, you can move in a tall fashion...

[shadowinthelight]

Dave11, if you are coming to DFW then we do need a Wapsi get-together. Julie and who knows how many others are around here as well.

[Julie]

Dave11, if you are coming to DFW then we do need a Wapsi get-together. Julie and who knows how many others are around here as well.

Truth! Unfortunately, I don't know a thing about mechanical engineering-related jobs, so I've got no tips for you. It also doesn't help that I'm on the Dallas side of the metroplex, so I'm not super-aware of things in Ft. Worth. I'll check with some of the guys in my office though...see if anyone knows anything.

[Dave11]

Given that I'm moving to Texas shortly, this is good information for me to have. I guess I'll need to get an ID card for when I'm riding (I often don't carry my wallet), in addition to a new driver's license.

Texas has a lot of room, you can move in a tall fashion...

Is that the pun jar I hear rattling threateningly?

[Jabberwonky]

Given that I'm moving to Texas shortly, this is good information for me to have. I guess I'll need to get an ID card for when I'm riding (I often don't carry my wallet), in addition to a new driver's license.

Texas has a lot of room, you can move in a tall fashion...

Is that the pun jar I hear rattling threateningly?

Get used to that sound, we's got some mighty big rattlers in Texas...

Deposits a 78rpm vinyl of 'Yellow Rose of Texas' into the audio section

Yellow Rose.jpg (173.74 KiB) Viewed 11200 times

Edit: cain't spell sound...

[Fairportfan]

In College Station proper, there are bike lanes which bikes must be in, and you must have lights when driving after dark. Cops on bikes can and *WILL* ticket you, and they will demand a state issued photo ID to pin it on you. While they can't demand a driver's license, every adult in the state of Texas is supposed to carry ID on them at all times. No ID, and you go downtown, your bike impounded, until your identity is confirmed.

Outside the city proper, however, bikers have to be on the shoulder of the highways. Fortunately, there's a *LOT* of shoulder in many places. It's generally also paved, and relatively clean (the sweepers apparently hit the shoulders as well as the lanes).

Given that I'm moving to Texas shortly, this is good information for me to have. I guess I'll need to get an ID card for when I'm riding (I often don't carry my wallet), in addition to a new driver's license.

Ummm ... regarding the part about outside the city limits, the OP appears to be wrong - nowhere in this page (posted by Texas A&M) summarising Texas bicycle laws does it say anything about a requirement to ride on the shoulder; in fact, the phrases

All bicyclists must operate under Texas Motor Vehicle Laws while on public roadways, including stopping at stop signs, yielding to pedestrians in crosswalks, displaying proper illumination, and riding with the traffic flow on designated "One way" streets in designated bicycle lanes. University Police offers bicycle engraving services free of charge.

Bicycles should only be operated on streets, roadways, bike paths, routes and areas specifically designated for bicycle riding.

would seem to indicate rather the opposite.

Also, at no point does the page mention anything about requirements to carry ID while riding, but other Texas law may trump that.

[Julie]

Also, at no point does the page mention anything about requirements to carry ID while riding, but other Texas law may trump that.

Texas law is blech...just saying.

That said, I did look up the relevant laws on bicycle operation. There's apparently a nifty website that outlines all of the state laws and the state constitution.

Sec. 551.103. OPERATION ON ROADWAY.
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a person operating a bicycle on a roadway who is moving slower than the other traffic on the roadway shall ride as near as practicable to the right curb or edge of the roadway, unless:

• (1) the person is passing another vehicle moving in the same direction;

• (2) the person is preparing to turn left at an intersection or onto a private road or driveway;

• (3) a condition on or of the roadway, including a fixed or moving object, parked or moving vehicle, pedestrian, animal, or surface hazard prevents the person from safely riding next to the right curb or edge of the roadway; or

• (4) the person is operating a bicycle in an outside lane that is:
  • (A) less than 14 feet in width and does not have a designated bicycle lane adjacent to that lane; or
  • (B) too narrow for a bicycle and a motor vehicle to safely travel side by side.

(b) A person operating a bicycle on a one-way roadway with two or more marked traffic lanes may ride as near as practicable to the left curb or edge of the roadway.
(c) Persons operating bicycles on a roadway may ride two abreast. Persons riding two abreast on a laned roadway shall ride in a single lane. Persons riding two abreast may not impede the normal and reasonable flow of traffic on the roadway. Persons may not ride more than two abreast unless they are riding on a part of a roadway set aside for the exclusive operation of bicycles.
(d) Repealed by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1085, Sec. 13, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.
Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 165, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995. Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1085, Sec. 10, 13, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.

Not sure what the repealed bit is supposed to mean (I couldn't find the Acts 2001 by a quick Google search), but I also found a website specifically for Biking Laws in Texas. There's mention (on both sites) about the rights and duties of cyclists being the same as the rights and duties of motor vehicle operators, so it's possible that this could be taken to mean that the law requiring drivers to carry a valid driver's license applies to cyclists as well (or since a license isn't required for cycling, a valid state issued photo ID), but I didn't see it spelled out that clearly. *shrugs* I'd bet that it ends up boiling down to the city or county, and how strictly they want to interpret that law...and how much of a bad day the officer is having when he pulls over a cyclist.

[Fairportfan]

I'd say the odds are that you won't be dealing with a cop like Officer Nice Guy in Plano, though...

(Heh. All those old stories about handing the cop a twenty along with your license...)

[ShneekeyTheLost]

In College Station proper, there are bike lanes which bikes must be in, and you must have lights when driving after dark. Cops on bikes can and *WILL* ticket you, and they will demand a state issued photo ID to pin it on you. While they can't demand a driver's license, every adult in the state of Texas is supposed to carry ID on them at all times. No ID, and you go downtown, your bike impounded, until your identity is confirmed.

Outside the city proper, however, bikers have to be on the shoulder of the highways. Fortunately, there's a *LOT* of shoulder in many places. It's generally also paved, and relatively clean (the sweepers apparently hit the shoulders as well as the lanes).

Given that I'm moving to Texas shortly, this is good information for me to have. I guess I'll need to get an ID card for when I'm riding (I often don't carry my wallet), in addition to a new driver's license.

Driver's License counts as a state ID. Basically, the state ID is for those who don't have DLs but need some form of government issued photo ID on their person.

[lake_wrangler]

Edit: cain't spell sound...

Can't spell "can't", either, apparently...

[Jabberwonky]

Edit: cain't spell sound...

Can't spell "can't", either, apparently...

[Dave]

Edit: cain't spell sound...

Can't spell "can't", either, apparently...

Well, when I see somebody spell "cain't" I just figure that they are differently abel'd.

[Jabberwonky]

I'm not 'differently abled', I'm using my special brain!

[lake_wrangler]

When everyone's special, then no one is special...


Is that Eve, your mom, calling for you?

[NOTDilbert]

Edit: cain't spell sound...

Can't spell "can't", either, apparently...

Well, that's the way it sounds when I SAY it......(Born in Texas, now living in Arkansaw)

[Fairportfan]

Well, that's the way it sounds when I SAY it......(Born in Texas, now living in Arkansaw)

Fifty-seven years of my sixty-four in SC and Georgia, and i still try to not say it like that.

[NOTDilbert]

Well, that's the way it sounds when I SAY it......(Born in Texas, now living in Arkansaw)

Fifty-seven years of my sixty-four in SC and Georgia, and i still try to not say it like that.

Y'all cain't faght Nature.....

[Julie]

Well, that's the way it sounds when I SAY it......(Born in Texas, now living in Arkansaw)

Fifty-seven years of my sixty-four in SC and Georgia, and i still try to not say it like that.

Y'all cain't faght Nature.....

Apparently I can. I've lived my whole life in Texas, and unless I'm sleepy, drunk, or recently spent a lot of time around my mom's side of the family, I apparently sound like I'm from the Mid-West (according to non-Texans who have been puzzled as to my origins). And before anyone asks, both of my parents have lived their whole lives in Texas as well.