By: Hunter, Todd H.B. No. 2417 73R5868 DLF-F A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1-1 AN ACT 1-2 relating to liability of a peace officer and a governmental unit 1-3 employing the peace officer for certain damages resulting from 1-4 pursuit by the officer. 1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-6 SECTION 1. Section 24(e), Uniform Act Regulating Traffic on 1-7 Highways (Article 6701d, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended 1-8 to read as follows: 1-9 (e) The foregoing provisions shall not relieve the driver of 1-10 an authorized emergency vehicle from the duty to drive with due 1-11 regard for the safety of all persons, nor shall such provisions 1-12 protect the driver from the consequences of his reckless disregard 1-13 for the safety of others. Notwithstanding any other law, a peace 1-14 officer or a governmental unit that employs the officer is not 1-15 liable for personal injury, property damage, or death resulting 1-16 from the operation of a motor vehicle by a suspect who the officer 1-17 is pursuing or has been pursuing or who believes an officer is in 1-18 pursuit if the officer acts within the course and scope of 1-19 employment and conducts any pursuit in good faith. A peace officer 1-20 conducts a pursuit in good faith if: 1-21 (1) the officer believes that the need to immediately 1-22 apprehend the suspect outweighs the risk of harm to the public in 1-23 continuing the pursuit; or 1-24 (2) a reasonably prudent officer, under the same or 2-1 similar circumstances, would have believed that the need to 2-2 immediately apprehend the suspect outweighs the risk of harm to the 2-3 public in continuing the pursuit. 2-4 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1993, and 2-5 applies only to a cause of action that accrues on or after that 2-6 date. An action that accrued before the effective date of this Act 2-7 is governed by the law in effect at the time the action accrued, 2-8 and that law is continued in effect for that purpose. 2-9 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the 2-10 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an 2-11 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the 2-12 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several 2-13 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.