By: Canales (Senate Sponsor - Hinojosa) H.B. No. 2837
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 24, 2019;
April 29, 2019, read first time and referred to Committee on
Transportation; May 9, 2019, reported adversely, with favorable
Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 8, Nays 0;
May 9, 2019, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 2837 By: Hinojosa
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the operation of and equipment for vehicles.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 522.004(a), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) This chapter does not apply to:
(1) a vehicle that is controlled and operated by a
farmer and:
(A) used to transport agricultural products,
farm machinery, or farm supplies to or from a farm;
(B) used within 150 miles of the person's farm;
and
(C) not used in the operations of a common or
contract motor carrier;
(2) a fire-fighting or emergency vehicle necessary to
the preservation of life or property or the execution of emergency
governmental functions, whether operated by an employee of a
political subdivision or by a volunteer fire fighter;
(3) a military vehicle or a commercial motor vehicle,
when operated for military purposes by military personnel,
including:
(A) active duty military personnel, including
personnel serving in the United States Coast Guard; and
(B) members of the reserves and national guard on
active duty, including personnel on full-time national guard duty,
personnel engaged in part-time training, and national guard
military technicians;
(4) a recreational vehicle that is driven for personal
use;
(5) a vehicle that is owned, leased, or controlled by
an air carrier, as defined by Section 21.155, and that is driven or
operated exclusively by an employee of the air carrier only on the
premises of an airport, as defined by Section 22.001, on service
roads to which the public does not have access; [or]
(6) a vehicle used exclusively to transport seed
cotton modules or cotton burrs;
(7) a vehicle, including a vehicle described by
Section 504.502(i), that is:
(A) operated intrastate; and
(B) driven by an individual not for compensation
and not in the furtherance of a commercial enterprise; or
(8) a covered farm vehicle as defined by 49 C.F.R.
Section 390.5.
SECTION 2. Section 545.058(c), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(c) A limitation in this section on driving on an improved
shoulder does not apply to:
(1) an authorized emergency vehicle responding to a
call;
(2) a police patrol; [or]
(3) a bicycle; or
(4) a slow-moving vehicle, as defined by Section
547.001.
SECTION 3. Section 545.156(a), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) On the immediate approach of an authorized emergency
vehicle using audible and visual signals that meet the requirements
of Sections 547.305 and 547.702, or of a police vehicle lawfully
using only an audible or visual signal, an operator, unless
otherwise directed by a police officer, shall:
(1) yield the right-of-way;
(2) immediately drive to a position parallel to and as
close as possible to the right-hand edge or curb of the roadway
clear of any intersection; and
(3) stop and remain standing until the authorized
emergency vehicle has passed.
SECTION 4. Section 546.002(b), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) Sections 546.001(2), (3), and (4) apply [Section
546.001 applies] only when the operator is:
(1) responding to an emergency call;
(2) pursuing an actual or suspected violator of the
law;
(3) responding to but not returning from a fire alarm;
(4) directing or diverting traffic for public safety
purposes; or
(5) conducting a police escort.
SECTION 5. Section 547.405(d), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(d) A trailer, semitrailer, or pole trailer that is equipped
with air or vacuum brakes or that has a gross weight heavier than
4,500 [3,000] pounds shall be equipped with brakes that:
(1) operate on all wheels required to have brakes
under Section 547.402; and
(2) are promptly applied automatically and remain
applied for at least 15 minutes in case of a breakaway from the
towing vehicle.
SECTION 6. Section 547.703(a), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a slow-moving
vehicle shall display a slow-moving-vehicle emblem that:
(1) has a reflective surface designed to be clearly
visible in daylight or at night from the light of standard
automobile headlamps at a distance of at least 500 feet;
(2) is mounted base down on the rear of the vehicle and
at a height that does not impair the visibility of the emblem [from
three to five feet above the road surface]; and
(3) is maintained in a clean, reflective condition.
SECTION 7. Section 504.947, Transportation Code, is
repealed.
SECTION 8. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed,
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the
effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred
before that date.
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.
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