By:  Dutton                                           H.B. No. 2480
       73R6729 RWS-D
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to provisions in an automobile rental agreement.
    1-3        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-4        SECTION 1.  Section 4(a), Article 9026, Revised Statutes, is
    1-5  amended to read as follows:
    1-6        (a)  A rental company in a rental agreement may not offer for
    1-7  sale in this state a loss damage waiver under which the rental
    1-8  company agrees to limit the amount of the renter's liability to the
    1-9  rental company unless the renter agrees to the loss damage waiver
   1-10  in writing at the time the rental agreement is executed.  A rental
   1-11  company is not required to exclude any type of damage from its loss
   1-12  damage waiver.  However, should a rental company choose to exclude
   1-13  some types of damage, the agreement may contain only the following
   1-14  exclusions and no others:
   1-15              (1)  damage is caused intentionally by an authorized
   1-16  driver or as a result of wilful and wanton misconduct of an
   1-17  authorized driver;
   1-18              (2)  damage arises out of any authorized driver's
   1-19  operation of a private passenger automobile while legally
   1-20  intoxicated or under the influence of any illegal drug or chemical
   1-21  as defined or determined under the law of the state in which the
   1-22  damage occurred;
   1-23              (3)  damage is caused while the authorized driver is
   1-24  engaged in a speed contest;
    2-1              (4)  the rental transaction is based on information
    2-2  supplied by the renter with the intent to defraud the rental
    2-3  company;
    2-4              (5)  damage arises out of the use of the private
    2-5  passenger automobile while committing or otherwise engaged in a
    2-6  criminal act in which the automobile usage is substantially related
    2-7  to the nature of the criminal activity;
    2-8              (6)  damage arises out of the use of the private
    2-9  passenger automobile to transport persons or property for hire;
   2-10              (7)  damage arises out of the use of the private
   2-11  passenger automobile outside the United States or Canada unless the
   2-12  use is specifically authorized by the rental agreement;
   2-13              (8)  damage arises out of the use of the private
   2-14  passenger automobile while towing or pushing anything; <or>
   2-15              (9)  damage is caused to the vehicle while it is being
   2-16  driven other than on a regularly maintained roadway; or
   2-17              (10)  the private passenger automobile is stolen and
   2-18  the renter has facilitated the theft by leaving the ignition key in
   2-19  the automobile while the automobile is unoccupied.
   2-20        SECTION 2.  This Act applies to the rental of private
   2-21  passenger automobiles by rental companies under rental agreements
   2-22  executed on and after the effective date of this Act.  Rental of
   2-23  private passenger automobiles by rental companies under rental
   2-24  agreements executed before the effective date of this Act are
   2-25  governed by the law as it existed at the time the parties executed
   2-26  the rental agreement and that law is continued in effect for that
   2-27  purpose.
    3-1        SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
    3-2        SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
    3-3  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
    3-4  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
    3-5  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
    3-6  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.