By: Morrison (Senate Sponsor - Nichols) H.B. No. 3087
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 10, 2017;
May 10, 2017, read first time and referred to Committee on
Transportation; May 17, 2017, reported favorably by the following
vote: Yeas 8, Nays 0; May 17, 2017, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the definitions of highway maintenance and service
vehicles for purposes of certain provisions governing vehicle
equipment.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 547.001, Transportation Code, is amended
by adding Subdivisions (2-b) and (6-a) to read as follows:
(2-b) "Highway maintenance vehicle" means a highway or
traffic maintenance vehicle designated by the Texas Department of
Transportation. The term includes equipment for:
(A) road maintenance, including:
(i) equipment for snow removal, line
striping, skid resistance testing, sweeping, and spraying;
(ii) aerial platform lift machines; and
(iii) road profiler machines; and
(B) off-road use, including motor graders, road
rollers, excavators, pneumatic tire equipment, movers, and
tractors.
(6-a) "Service vehicle" means a highway or traffic
maintenance vehicle that:
(A) is owned and operated on a highway by or for a
governmental agency and performs a function requiring the use of a
lamp or illuminating device in accordance with the standards and
specifications adopted under Section 547.105; or
(B) has a public service function, including
public utility vehicles, tow trucks, and any vehicle designated as
a service vehicle by the Texas Department of Transportation or as an
escort flag vehicle under Section 623.099.
SECTION 2. The heading to Section 547.105, Transportation
Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 547.105. MAINTENANCE AND SERVICE VEHICLE [EQUIPMENT]
LIGHTING STANDARDS.
SECTION 3. Sections 547.105(a) and (b), Transportation
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The Texas Department of Transportation shall adopt
standards and specifications that:
(1) apply to lamps on highway maintenance and service
vehicles [equipment, including snow-removal equipment]; and
(2) correlate with and conform as closely as possible
to standards and specifications approved by the American
Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.
(b) The Texas Department of Transportation may adopt
standards and specifications for lighting that permit the use of
flashing lights for identification purposes on highway maintenance
and service vehicles [equipment, including snow-removal
equipment].
SECTION 4. Section 547.305(e), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(e) A person may not operate a highway maintenance or
service vehicle [equipment, including snow-removal equipment,]
that is not equipped with lamps or that does not display lighted
lamps as required by the standards and specifications adopted by
the Texas Department of Transportation.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
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