By: Elkins, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Williams) H.B. No. 1353
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 19, 2011;
April 26, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on
Transportation and Homeland Security; May 13, 2011, reported
favorably by the following vote: Yeas 8, Nays 0; May 13, 2011, sent
to printer.)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to speed limits.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 545.352(b), Transportation Code, as
amended by Chapters 663 (H.B. 385), 739 (H.B. 1075), and 1346 (H.B.
676), Acts of the 76th Legislature, Regular Session, 1999, is
reenacted and amended to read as follows:
(b) Unless a special hazard exists that requires a slower
speed for compliance with Section 545.351(b), the following speeds
are lawful:
(1) 30 miles per hour in an urban district on a street
other than an alley and 15 miles per hour in an alley;
(2) except as provided by Subdivision (4), 70 miles
per hour [in daytime and 65 miles per hour in nighttime if the
vehicle is a passenger car, motorcycle, passenger car or light
truck towing a trailer bearing a vessel, as defined by Section
31.003, Parks and Wildlife Code, that is less than 26 feet in
length, passenger car or light truck towing a trailer or
semitrailer used primarily to transport a motorcycle, or passenger
car or light truck towing a trailer or semitrailer designed and used
primarily to transport dogs or livestock,] on a highway numbered by
this state or the United States outside an urban district,
including a farm-to-market or ranch-to-market road;
(3) except as provided by Subdivision (4), 60 miles
per hour [in daytime and 55 miles per hour in nighttime if the
vehicle is a passenger car or motorcycle] on a highway that is
outside an urban district and not a highway numbered by this state
or the United States;
(4) [60 miles per hour outside an urban district if a
speed limit for the vehicle is not otherwise specified by this
section; or
[(5)] outside an urban district:
(A) 60 miles per hour if the vehicle is a school
bus that has passed a commercial motor vehicle inspection under
Section 548.201 and is on a highway numbered by the United States or
this state, including a farm-to-market road; or
(B) 50 miles per hour if the vehicle is a school
bus that:
(i) has not passed a commercial motor
vehicle inspection under Section 548.201; or
(ii) is traveling on a highway not numbered
by the United States or this state; [or
[(C) 60 miles per hour in daytime and 55 miles per
hour in nighttime if the vehicle is a truck, other than a light
truck, or if the vehicle is a truck tractor, trailer, or
semitrailer, or a vehicle towing a trailer other than a trailer
described by Subdivision (2), semitrailer, another motor vehicle or
towable recreational vehicle;]
(5) on a beach, 15 miles per hour; or
(6) on a county road adjacent to a public beach, 15
miles per hour, if declared by the commissioners court of the
county.
SECTION 2. Section 545.352, Transportation Code, is amended
by adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
(e) An entity that establishes or alters a speed limit under
this subchapter shall establish the same speed limit for daytime
and nighttime.
SECTION 3. Sections 545.353(d), (h), and (h-1),
Transportation Code, are amended to read as follows:
(d) Except as provided by Subsection (h-1) [(h)], the
commission may not:
(1) modify the rules established by Section
545.351(b);
(2) establish a speed limit of more than 75 [70] miles
per hour; or
(3) increase the speed limit for a vehicle described
by Section 545.352(b)(4) [545.352(b)(5)].
(h) Notwithstanding Section 545.352(b), the commission may
establish a speed limit of 75 miles per hour [in daytime] on a part
of the highway system if[:
[(1)] the commission determines that 75 miles per hour
[in daytime] is a reasonable and safe speed for that part of the
highway system[; and
[(2) that part of the highway is located in a county
with a population density of less than 15 persons per square mile].
(h-1) Notwithstanding Section 545.352(b), the commission
may establish a speed limit of 80 miles per hour [in daytime] on a
part of Interstate Highway 10 or Interstate Highway 20 in Crockett,
Culberson, Hudspeth, Jeff Davis, Kerr, Kimble, Pecos, Reeves,
Sutton, or Ward County if the commission determines that 80 miles
per hour [in daytime] is a reasonable and safe speed for that part
of the highway.
SECTION 4. Section 545.354(e), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(e) The authority may not:
(1) alter the general rule established by Section
545.351(a); or
(2) establish a speed limit of more than 75 [70] miles
per hour.
SECTION 5. Section 545.355(e), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(e) The commissioners court of a county with a population of
more than 2.8 million may establish from the results of an
engineering and traffic investigation a speed limit of not more
than 75 [70] miles per hour on any part of a highway of that county
that is a limited-access or controlled-access highway, regardless
of the location of the part of the highway.
SECTION 6. Sections 545.356(a) and (b), Transportation
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The governing body of a municipality, for a highway or
part of a highway in the municipality, including a highway of the
state highway system, has the same authority to alter by ordinance
prima facie speed limits from the results of an engineering and
traffic investigation as the Texas Transportation Commission on an
officially designated or marked highway of the state highway
system. The governing body of a municipality may not modify the
rule established by Section 545.351(a) or establish a speed limit
of more than 75 [60] miles per hour.
(b) The governing body of a municipality, for a highway or
part of a highway in the municipality, including a highway of the
state highway system, has the same authority to alter prima facie
speed limits from the results of an engineering and traffic
investigation as the commission for an officially designated or
marked highway of the state highway system, when the highway or part
of the highway is under repair, construction, or maintenance. A
municipality may not modify the rule established by Section
545.351(a) or establish a speed limit of more than 75 [60] miles per
hour.
SECTION 7. Section 545.358, Transportation Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 545.358. AUTHORITY OF COMMANDING OFFICER OF UNITED
STATES MILITARY RESERVATION TO ALTER SPEED LIMITS. The commanding
officer of a United States military reservation, for a highway or
part of a highway in the military reservation, including a highway
of the state highway system, has the same authority by order to
alter prima facie speed limits from the results of an engineering
and traffic investigation as the Texas Transportation Commission
for an officially designated or marked highway of the state highway
system. A commanding officer may not modify the rule established by
Section 545.351(a) or establish a speed limit of more than 75 [60]
miles per hour.
SECTION 8. Section 545.362(a), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) Subject to Subsection (c), the Texas Transportation
Commission may enter an order establishing prima facie speed limits
of not more than 75 [70] miles per hour applicable to all highways,
including a turnpike under the authority of the Texas Turnpike
Authority or a highway under the control of a municipality or
county. An order entered under this section does not have the
effect of increasing a speed limit on any highway.
SECTION 9. Section 545.353(i), Transportation Code, is
repealed.
SECTION 10. As soon as practicable after the effective date
of this Act, the Texas Department of Transportation shall conceal
or remove speed limit signs that do not comply with Section 545.352,
Transportation Code, as amended by this Act, and erect appropriate
signs.
SECTION 11. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
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