88R11953 SCL-F
By: Leach H.B. No. 4218
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to civil actions involving commercial motor vehicles.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 72.051(2) and (4), Civil Practice and
Remedies Code, are amended to read as follows:
(2) "Civil action" means an action in which:
(A) a claimant seeks recovery of damages for
bodily injury or death caused in an accident; and
(B) a defendant:
(i) operated a commercial motor vehicle
involved in the accident; or
(ii) owned, leased, rented, or [otherwise]
held or exercised legal control over a commercial motor vehicle or
operator of a commercial motor vehicle involved in the accident.
(4) "Commercial motor vehicle" means a motor vehicle
being used for commercial purposes in interstate or intrastate
commerce to transport property or passengers, deliver or transport
goods, or provide services. [The term does not include a motor
vehicle being used at the time of the accident for personal, family,
or household purposes.]
SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 72, Civil Practice and
Remedies Code, is amended by adding Section 72.0512 to read as
follows:
Sec. 72.0512. APPLICABILITY OF SUBCHAPTER.
Notwithstanding Section 72.051, a motor vehicle being used at the
time of an accident for personal, family, or household purposes is
not considered a commercial motor vehicle for purposes of this
subchapter unless:
(1) the motor vehicle had a gross vehicle weight
rating or gross vehicle weight of at least 6,000 pounds; and
(2) the owner's liability for the accident is governed
by 49 U.S.C. Section 30106.
SECTION 3. Section 72.053, Civil Practice and Remedies
Code, is amended by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) In a civil action under this subchapter, the duty of
care applicable to an owner, lessor, or operator of a commercial
motor vehicle involved in an accident or a person renting the
vehicle to another person does not include an obligation or duty to
retrofit the vehicle with component parts or equipment, or to have
selected component parts or equipment to be included on the
vehicle, that were not required by applicable federal motor vehicle
safety standards at the time the vehicle was manufactured or sold.
Evidence related to such an alleged duty is not admissible in any
phase of trial.
SECTION 4. (a) The change in law made by this Act applies
only to an action:
(1) commenced on or after the effective date of this
Act; or
(2) pending on the effective date of this Act and in
which the trial, or any new trial or retrial following motion,
appeal, or otherwise, begins on or after the effective date of this
Act.
(b) In an action commenced before the effective date of this
Act, a trial, new trial, or retrial that is in progress on the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law applicable to the
trial, new trial, or retrial immediately before the effective date
of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2023.