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House Bill 2553 |
House Author: Hilderbran |
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Effective: See below |
Senate Sponsor: Davis, Wendy |
House Bill 2553 amends the Transportation Code to authorize a recreational off-highway vehicle registered by the state, a county, or a municipality to be operated on a public or private beach in the same manner as a golf cart if the operator of the vehicle has a driver's license in the operator's possession. The bill prohibits the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) from registering a golf cart for operation on a public highway, provides for the limited operation of a golf cart, and authorizes TxDOT or a county or municipality to prohibit the operation of a golf cart on a public highway if the prohibition is necessary in the interest of safety. The bill makes provisions relating to all-terrain vehicles also apply to recreational off-highway vehicles. The bill amends the Parks and Wildlife Code to add seat belts, if the vehicle is equipped with seat belts, to the safety equipment that must be worn by a person operating, riding, or being carried on an off-highway vehicle on public property and specifies that the safety equipment requirement does not apply to a motor vehicle that is registered by TxDOT for use on a public highway unless the vehicle is an all-terrain vehicle. The bill makes the provisions described in this paragraph take effect September 1, 2009.
House Bill 2553 makes the fee for registration of a motorcycle also apply to the registration of a moped and establishes registration fees for passenger cars, buses, commercial motor vehicles, truck-tractors, and trailers based on the vehicle's gross weight over, at, or under 6,000 pounds, rather than the vehicle's model year or gross weight and tire equipment. The bill establishes separate provisions for the issuance of replacement license plates and replacement registration insignia and sets the fee for both at $6, plus an additional fee of $1 for services related to the titling of vehicles. The bill authorizes a person to use license plates that were issued in Texas in the same year as the model year of a classic motor vehicle if the plates are approved for the vehicle before January 1, 2011. The bill establishes that there is no fee, rather than a specified fee, for issuance of specialty license plates for classic motor vehicles, travel trailers, cotton vehicles, forestry vehicles, tow trucks, and vehicles carrying mobile amateur radio equipment, and reduces the fee for issuance of license plates for golf carts. The bill authorizes TxDOT to require a nonrefundable design fee for the redesign of an existing specialty license plate at the request of a sponsor. The bill makes the provisions described in this paragraph take effect September 1, 2011.