Bellaire City Council recently adopted a No Wake Law in order to address drivers who travel too fast down flooded streets and cause a wake that may damage property.
The ordinance was modeled after similar ordinances in other nearby cities.
Sec. 30-36. – Traversing flooded street with vehicle.
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to traverse a flooded street in an automobile, truck, boat, or other vehicle or vessel at such speed as to create a wake therein that may or is likely to cause personal injury or damage or increased flooding to the property or premises adjoining such flooded street or streets.
(b) It shall be an affirmative defense to prosecution under this section that the person was performing a rescue operation or was protecting the public order and safety.
In Mayor Friedberg’s latest blog post, he acknowledges that the ordinance may be hard to enforce and that “In most cases a police officer would have to personally witness the offense before writing a ticket. Of course, without the law there’s even less officers could do about it.”
He states that “the emphasis of the law is to deter the targeted behavior by reminding drivers to slow down, or better yet, avoid driving through flooded streets altogether.”
Read the Mayor’s full blog post HERE.
