1-1 By: Junell (Senate Sponsor - Sims) H.B. No. 478
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House March 30, 1993;
1-3 March 31, 1993, read first time and referred to Committee on State
1-4 Affairs; May 3, 1993, reported favorably by the following vote:
1-5 Yeas 10, Nays 0; May 3, 1993, sent to printer.)
1-6 COMMITTEE VOTE
1-7 Yea Nay PNV Absent
1-8 Harris of Dallas x
1-9 Rosson x
1-10 Carriker x
1-11 Henderson x
1-12 Leedom x
1-13 Lucio x
1-14 Luna x
1-15 Nelson x
1-16 Patterson x
1-17 Shelley x
1-18 Sibley x
1-19 West x
1-20 Whitmire x
1-21 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-22 AN ACT
1-23 relating to the speed limit in an alley.
1-24 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-25 SECTION 1. Section 13, Uniform Act Regulating Traffic on
1-26 Highways (Article 6701d, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended
1-27 by adding Subsection (n) to read as follows:
1-28 (n) "Alley" means a street that:
1-29 (1) is not used primarily for through traffic; and
1-30 (2) gives access to rear entrances of buildings or
1-31 lots along the street.
1-32 SECTION 2. Section 166(a), Uniform Act Regulating Traffic on
1-33 Highways (Article 6701d, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended
1-34 to read as follows:
1-35 (a) No person shall drive a vehicle on a highway at a speed
1-36 greater than is reasonable and prudent under the circumstances then
1-37 existing. Except when a special hazard exists that requires lower
1-38 speeds for compliance with paragraph (b) of this Section, the
1-39 limits specified in this Section or established as hereinafter
1-40 authorized shall be lawful, but any speed in excess of the limits
1-41 specified in this Section or established as hereinafter authorized
1-42 shall be prima facie evidence that the speed is not reasonable or
1-43 prudent and that it is unlawful:
1-44 1. Thirty (30) miles per hour in any urban district,
1-45 except as provided by Subdivision 1A of this paragraph;
1-46 1A. Fifteen (15) miles per hour on an alley;
1-47 2. Seventy (70) miles per hour during the daytime and
1-48 sixty-five (65) miles per hour during the nighttime for any
1-49 passenger car, motorcycle, or motor-driven cycle on any State or
1-50 Federal numbered highway outside any urban district, including
1-51 farm- and/or ranch-to-market roads, and sixty (60) miles per hour
1-52 during the daytime and fifty-five (55) miles per hour during the
1-53 nighttime for any passenger car, motorcycle, or motor-driven cycle
1-54 on all other highways outside any urban district;
1-55 3. Sixty (60) miles per hour for all other vehicles on
1-56 any highway outside any urban district;
1-57 4. The speed limits for any bus or other vehicle
1-58 engaged in this State in the business of transporting passengers
1-59 for compensation or hire, for any commercial vehicle which is in
1-60 authorized use as a "Highway Post Office" vehicle furnishing
1-61 Highway Post Office service in the transportation of the United
1-62 States mail, and for any light truck, as described in Subdivision 5
1-63 of this subsection, shall be the same as prescribed for passenger
1-64 cars at the same location.
1-65 5. The above limitations notwithstanding, the
1-66 following prima facie maximum limits are declared, for any highway
1-67 outside any urban district;
1-68 a. Forty-five (45) miles per hour for any
2-1 vehicle towing any house trailer of actual or registered gross
2-2 weight exceeding four thousand, five hundred (4,500) pounds or with
2-3 an over-all length exceeding thirty-two (32) feet, excluding the
2-4 tow bar.
2-5 b. Sixty (60) miles per hour in daytime and
2-6 fifty-five (55) miles per hour during nighttime for any truck,
2-7 except light trucks as described in this Subdivision 5, truck
2-8 tractor, trailer or semitrailer, or for any vehicle towing any
2-9 trailer, semitrailer, another motor vehicle, or any house trailer
2-10 of actual or registered gross weight, less than four thousand, five
2-11 hundred (4,500) pounds and over-all length of thirty-two (32) feet
2-12 or less, excluding the tow bar.
2-13 c. Fifty (50) miles per hour for any school bus.
2-14 "Daytime" means from one-half (1/2) hour before sunrise to
2-15 one-half (1/2) hour after sunset, and "nighttime" means at any
2-16 other hour.
2-17 "Urban District" means the territory contiguous to and
2-18 including any highway or street which is built up with structures
2-19 devoted to business, industry or dwelling houses, situated at
2-20 intervals of less than one hundred (100) feet for a distance of
2-21 one-quarter (1/4) of a mile or more on either side.
2-22 "Passenger car" means every motor vehicle, except motorcycles
2-23 and motor-driven cycles, designed for carrying ten (10) passengers
2-24 or less and used for the transportation of persons.
2-25 "Light truck" means any truck, as defined in this Act, with a
2-26 manufacturer's rated carrying capacity not to exceed two thousand
2-27 (2,000) pounds and is intended to include those trucks commonly
2-28 known as pick-up trucks, panel delivery trucks and carry-all
2-29 trucks.
2-30 The maximum speed limits set forth in this Section may be
2-31 altered as authorized in Sections 167, 168 and 169.
2-32 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
2-33 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
2-34 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-35 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-36 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-37 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
2-38 * * * * *
2-39 Austin,
2-40 Texas
2-41 May 3, 1993
2-42 Hon. Bob Bullock
2-43 President of the Senate
2-44 Sir:
2-45 We, your Committee on State Affairs to which was referred H.B.
2-46 No. 478, have had the same under consideration, and I am instructed
2-47 to report it back to the Senate with the recommendation that it do
2-48 pass and be printed.
2-49 Harris of
2-50 Dallas, Chairman
2-51 * * * * *
2-52 WITNESSES
2-53 No witnesses appeared on H.B. No. 478.