81R3865 KJM-D
By: Howard of Fort Bend H.B. No. 2412
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the registration and compulsory inspection of certain
street rods and custom vehicles.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 504.502(a), (b), and (i),
Transportation Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The department shall issue specialty license plates for
a passenger car, truck, motorcycle, or former military vehicle
that:
(1) is at least 25 years old, if the vehicle is a
passenger car, truck, or motorcycle or is a street rod or custom
vehicle;
(2) is a collector's item;
(3) is used exclusively for exhibitions, club
activities, parades, and other functions of public interest and is
not used for regular transportation; and
(4) does not carry advertising.
(b) The license plates must include the words "Antique
Auto," "Antique Truck," "Antique Motorcycle," "Street Rod,"
"Custom Vehicle," or "Military Vehicle," as appropriate.
(i) In this section:
(1) "Custom vehicle" means a vehicle that:
(A) is:
(i) at least 25 years old and of a model
year after 1948; or
(ii) manufactured to resemble a vehicle
that is at least 25 years old and of a model year after 1948; and
(B) has:
(i) been altered from the manufacturer's
original design; or
(ii) a body constructed from materials not
original to the vehicle.
(2) "Former[, "former] military vehicle" means a
vehicle, including a trailer, regardless of the vehicle's size,
weight, or year of manufacture, that:
(A) [(1)] was manufactured for use in any
country's military forces; and
(B) [(2)] is maintained to represent its military
design and markings accurately.
(3) "Street rod" means a vehicle that:
(A) was manufactured:
(i) before 1949; or
(ii) after 1948 to resemble a vehicle
manufactured before 1949; and
(B) has:
(i) been altered from the manufacturer's
original design; or
(ii) a body constructed from materials not
original to the vehicle.
SECTION 2. Section 548.052, Transportation Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 548.052. VEHICLES NOT SUBJECT TO INSPECTION. This
chapter does not apply to:
(1) a trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, or mobile
home moving under or bearing a current factory-delivery license
plate or current in-transit license plate;
(2) a vehicle moving under or bearing a paper dealer
in-transit tag, machinery license, disaster license, parade
license, prorate tab, one-trip permit, antique license, custom
vehicle license, street rod license, temporary 24-hour permit, or
permit license;
(3) a trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, or mobile
home having an actual gross weight or registered gross weight of
4,500 pounds or less;
(4) farm machinery, road-building equipment, a farm
trailer, or a vehicle required to display a slow-moving-vehicle
emblem under Section 547.703;
(5) a former military vehicle, as defined by Section
504.502(i) [502.275];
(6) a vehicle qualified for a tax exemption under
Section 152.092, Tax Code; or
(7) a vehicle for which a certificate of title has been
issued but that is not required to be registered.
SECTION 3. Section 504.502, Transportation Code, as amended
by this Act, applies only to a registration period beginning on or
after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.