The identity of the victim, who appeared to be about 30 years old, was not released, Travis County sheriff’s Capt. Art Cardenas said.

Witnesses told investigators they saw the man walking on the side of the road about 8 a.m., and the victim’s car was found parked nearby. It appears the man stepped into the roadway, where he was struck at highway speed by a westbound 18-wheeler, Cardenas said.

The truck driver stopped and notified authorities, he said, and no charges were filed in connection with the incident.

Angie Hughes, 31, was in critical condition Tuesday afternoon at University. Medical Center Brackenridge, according to DPS spokesman Lisa Block. Her, husband, Samuel Hughes, 47, was in fair condition at Brackenridge.

Susan Madson, 54, of Cedar Park, the driver of a 2005 Dodge Stratus that collided with the bicycle, was not hurt, Block said.

Investigators are trying to determine what might have caused the 5;50 a.m. crash on southbound Parmer Lane at Dallas Drive in North Austin, Block said.

No charges have been filed in connection with the collision, Block said.

He was struck by a Mazda Tribute SUV traveling north in the outside lane and taken to Darnall Army Medical Center.

The driver of the Mazda has not been charged.

Police Lt. Darrell Boydston said the man, whose name and age have not been released, was struck in the 1900 block of East Texas 71 near Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.

Boydston said no one was charged in the collision.

A City of Austin ordinance requiring car drivers to give cyclists a 3-foot berth when passing (for truck drivers the buffer is 6 feet) takes effect today.

During the meeting, police leaders told the council that they have abandoned plans to train a group of officers to act as phlebotomists.

Police Chief Art Acevedo had previously said he was interested in teaching officers to collect blood evidence, setting off a public debate that went on for months.

Assistant City Attorney David Douglas told council members before their vote that barring Austin officers from collecting such evidence could conflict with state statutes, which require officers ‘to use “all lawful means” to enforce the law.

Civil libertarians oppose police officers taking blood, saying it could put the city at risk of lawsuits if a suspect is injured. They also said they thought city officials should instead focus their efforts on programs that would prevent drunken driving, such as offering free taxi rides for intoxicated motorists.

The police department is now exploring other options and told council members that police officials have been, and will continue to, have blood drawn at Austin hospitals.

Austin police administrators also are in talks with Travis’ County Sheriff Greg Hamilton about creating a partnership in which blood would be drawn by phlebotomists at the county’s central booking facility.

The August 2008 accident happened when a charter bus carrying 55 passengers to a retreat in Missouri plunged over a highway bridge in Sherman, about 60 miles north of Dallas.

The safety board found that a retreaded tire on the vehicle’s right front axle became underinflated and failed. Federal regulations prohibit retreads from being affixed to the front of buses. However, the fact that the tire was a retread wasn’t cited as a cause of the blowout.

The board also found that the failure of the bridge’s railing and a lack of seat belts contributed to the wreck and its casualties.

The ban was supposed to take effect November 2; instead, it will take effect January 1. Council Member Mike Martinez suggested the delay, saying it will give the public and city commissions more time to review and suggest tweaks to the ordinance. He also asked city staffers to use the time to conduct an educational campaign about the ban.

Drivers will still be able to text when their vehicle is stopped. The ordinance will prohibit writing, sending or viewing electronic messages on a cell phone, BlackBerry, iPhone or any wireless communication device while driving. Electronic messages include text messages, e-mails, posts on social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook, and “a command or request to access an Internet site.”

The ordinance exempts placing a phone call, using a navigation system or a wireless device permanently installed in a vehicle and texting in emergency situations. It also exempts public safety personnel who use wireless, devices while on duty. Drivers could still use a voice-activated mode on their wireless devices to send messages.

Violations will be Class C misdemeanors, which carry a fine of up to $500 and can be appealed in Municipal Court. The penalty could be increased if a driver is caught engaging in another dangerous driving behavior, such as speeding.

Debbie Russell of the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union questioned why public safety employees would be exempt, saying texting while driving poses the same risks for them. She added that the ban could be tough to enforce and may lead to intrusive searches of wireless devices as police or prosecutors gather evidence against violators.

The Texas Transportation Commission is scheduled to consider the new reporting form at a meeting today in Fort Worth.

The inclusion of phone numbers on the reports has prompted several transportation commissioners to express concerns about privacy. If adopted by the commission, the new form would be used starting Jan. 1.

“The need for and uses of the phone number do not outweigh the privacy concerns that the collection, storage, and release of the phone number creates,” Texas Department of Transportation staff members said in their recommendation to the commission. The commission oversees TxDOT.

The Texas Department of Public Safety, which also has a say on the forms, agreed in 2008 to drop the numbers after questions were raised about the potential for insurance fraud.
The numbers were reinstated after a lawsuit by a chiropractor and a business that gathers crash report information for clients. They argued that the state had to follow a formal rule-making process to make the change.

This year, DPS officials changed course and said they wanted to keep the numbers on the forms for law enforcement purposes. Transportation commissioners balked; the two agencies said they’d talk.

In the latest turn, the Tx-DOT staff recommendation posted Monday said “The Department of Public Safety has determined that, although the phone number can be helpful for follow up crash investigation issues, it is not vital to the form.”

DPS spokesman Tom Vinger said by e-mail that his agency is “confident the concerns we have previously expressed regarding the contents of the form can be adequately addressed in other ways.”

An investigating officer can still put a phone number into the narrative portion of the report or into separate notes, TxDOT spokesman Chris Lippincott said.

Deleting it from the form, however, would make things difficult for businesses that purchase crash records from local law enforcement agencies so that they can call and offer medical or other services to those involved.

Insurers say that such telemarketing prompts fraud, creating or inflating claims. Insurance regulators supported removing the numbers. Businesses using the phone numbers say poor people in particular benefit from calls that allow them to get services paid for by the insurer of the at-fault driver.

Douglas Becker, attorney for the two entities that sued last year, said: “I think it’s sacrificing what’s good for the people in favor of what’s good for the insurance companies. I just think it’s disgusting and not the way government ought to act.”

Mark Hanna of the Texas Committee on Insurance Fraud and the Insurance Council of Texas, which represents hundreds of insur ance companies, said “The recommendation allows Texas transportation commissioners to go, with their gut feeling that no one wants this type of solicitation.”

I, for once, agree with the insurance company as I have multiple clients who have had phone calls for medical and legal services before and after they hire me.  In addition, some have claimed they worked for the insurance company or the doctor worked for the insurance company.

Filius is charged with intoxicated manslaughter in the accident with bail set at $250,000 in Williamson County.

Filius was driving a red Ford pickup heading west on Lakeline when he ran the red light and hit the white Plymouth sedan on the driver’s side.

It was the 52nd traffic fatality in Austin this year.

The crash happened about 10 a.m. Friday in Conroe. Conroe police Sgt. Bob Berry says witnesses reported seeing the truck moving quickly in and out of traffic before slamming into the car, killing all three people in it.

Police identified the victims as Craig Rector, 50, Freedom Fitch, 24, and Felicia Hicks, 20. The pickup’s driver, Casey McKinley, 18, was booked into the Montgomery County Jail on three counts of vehicular manslaughter, authorities said.