Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HB537 Compare Versions

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1	1	H.B. No. 537
2	2
3	3
4	4	AN ACT
5	5	relating to the transportation of children in motor vehicles;
6	6	creating an offense.
7	7	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
8	8	SECTION 1. Sections 545.412(e) and (f), Transportation
9	9	Code, are amended to read as follows:
10	10	(e) This section does not apply to a person:
11	11	(1) operating a vehicle transporting passengers for
12	12	hire, excluding [including] third-party transport service
13	13	providers when transporting clients pursuant to a contract to
14	14	provide nonemergency Medicaid transportation; or
15	15	(2) transporting a child in a vehicle in which all
16	16	seating positions equipped with child passenger safety seat systems
17	17	or safety belts are occupied.
18	18	(f) In this section:
19	19	(1) "Child passenger safety seat system" means an
20	20	infant or child passenger restraint system that meets the federal
21	21	standards for crash-tested restraint systems as set by the National
22	22	Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
23	23	(2) "Passenger vehicle" means a passenger car, light
24	24	truck, sport utility vehicle, passenger van designed to transport
25	25	15 or fewer passengers, including the driver, truck, or truck
26	26	tractor.
27	27	(3) "Safety belt" means a lap belt and any shoulder
28	28	straps included as original equipment on or added to a vehicle.
29	29	(4) "Secured," in connection with use of a safety
30	30	belt, means using the lap belt and any shoulder straps according to
31	31	the instructions of:
32	32	(A) the manufacturer of the vehicle, if the
33	33	safety belt is original equipment; or
34	34	(B) the manufacturer of the safety belt, if the
35	35	safety belt has been added to the vehicle.
36	36	SECTION 2. Section 545.413, Transportation Code, is amended
37	37	by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (b-1) to read as
38	38	follows:
39	39	(a) A person commits an offense if:
40	40	(1) the person:
41	41	(A) is at least 15 years of age;
42	42	(B) is riding in [the front seat of] a passenger
43	43	vehicle while the vehicle is being operated;
44	44	(C) is occupying a seat that is equipped with a
45	45	safety belt; and
46	46	(D) is not secured by a safety belt; or
47	47	(2) as the operator of a school bus equipped with a
48	48	safety belt for the operator's seat, the person is not secured by
49	49	the safety belt.
50	50	(b-1) A person commits an offense if the person allows a
51	51	child who is younger than 17 years of age and who is not required to
52	52	be secured in a child passenger safety seat system under Section
53	53	545.412(a) to ride in a passenger van designed to transport 15 or
54	54	fewer passengers, including the driver, without securing the child
55	55	individually by a safety belt, if the child is occupying a seat that
56	56	is equipped with a safety belt.
57	57	SECTION 3. Section 545.416, Transportation Code, is amended
58	58	by adding Subsections (d) and (e) to read as follows:
59	59	(d) Except as provided by Subsection (e), an operator may
60	60	not carry another person on a motorcycle unless the other person is
61	61	at least five years of age. An offense under this subsection is a
62	62	misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than $100 or more than
63	63	$200. It is a defense to prosecution under this subsection that the
64	64	operator was operating the motorcycle in an emergency or for a law
65	65	enforcement purpose.
66	66	(e) Subsection (d) does not prohibit an operator from
67	67	carrying on a motorcycle a person younger than five years of age who
68	68	is seated in a sidecar attached to the motorcycle.
69	69	SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act applies only
70	70	to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
71	71	An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
72	72	covered by the law in effect immediately before the effective date
73	73	of this Act, and the former law is continued in effect for that
74	74	purpose. For purposes of this section, an offense was committed
75	75	before the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense
76	76	was committed before that date.
77	77	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
78	78	______________________________ ______________________________
79	79	President of the Senate Speaker of the House
80	80	I certify that H.B. No. 537 was passed by the House on May 11,
81	81	2009, by the following vote: Yeas 141, Nays 1, 2 present, not
82	82	voting; that the House refused to concur in Senate amendments to
83	83	H.B. No. 537 on May 29, 2009, and requested the appointment of a
84	84	conference committee to consider the differences between the two
85	85	houses; and that the House adopted the conference committee report
86	86	on H.B. No. 537 on May 31, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 105,
87	87	Nays 34, 1 present, not voting.
88	88	______________________________
89	89	Chief Clerk of the House
90	90	I certify that H.B. No. 537 was passed by the Senate, with
91	91	amendments, on May 23, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
92	92	0; at the request of the House, the Senate appointed a conference
93	93	committee to consider the differences between the two houses; and
94	94	that the Senate adopted the conference committee report on H.B. No.
95	95	537 on May 31, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
96	96	______________________________
97	97	Secretary of the Senate
98	98	APPROVED: __________________
99	99	Date
100	100	__________________
101	101	Governor