By Goolsby H.B. No. 24
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 24:
By Bosse C.S.H.B. No. 24
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the inspection of certain vehicles.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Subsection 140 (a) and (h), Uniform Act
1-5 Regulating Traffic on Highways (Article 6701d, Vernon's Texas Civil
1-6 Statutes), are amended to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 140. (a) Every motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer,
1-8 pole trailer, or mobile home, registered in this state and operated
1-9 on the highways of this state, shall have the tires, brake system
1-10 (including power brake unit), lighting equipment, horns and warning
1-11 devices, mirrors, windshield and windshield wipers if a windshield
1-12 was a part of manufacturer's original equipment on the vehicle,
1-13 front seat belts in vehicles where seat belt anchorages were part
1-14 of the manufacturer's original equipment on the vehicle, steering
1-15 system (including power steering), wheel assembly, safety guards or
1-16 flaps if required by Section 139A of this Act, tax decal if
1-17 required by Section 141(d) of this Act, sunscreening devices unless
1-18 the vehicle is exempt from sunscreen device restrictions under
1-19 Section 134C(k) of (1) of this Act, exhaust system, and exhaust
1-20 emission system inspected at state-appointed inspection stations or
1-21 by State Inspectors as hereinafter provided. Provisions relating
1-22 to the inspection of trailers, semitrailers, pole trailers, or
1-23 mobile homes shall not apply when the registered or gross weight of
1-24 such vehicles and the load carried thereon is four thousand five
2-1 hundred (4,500) pounds or less. Only the mechanism and equipment
2-2 designated in this section may be inspected, and the owner shall
2-3 not be required to have any other equipment or part of his motor
2-4 vehicle inspected as a prerequisite for the issuance of an
2-5 inspection certificate. At the time of inspection the owner or
2-6 operator shall furnish evidence of financial responsibility. The
2-7 evidence of financial responsibility may be shown in the manner
2-8 specified under Section 1B(b), Texas Motor Vehicle
2-9 Safety-Responsibility Act (Article 6701h, Vernon's Texas Civil
2-10 Statutes). An inspection certificate may not be issued for a
2-11 vehicle for which the owner operator fails to furnish the required
2-12 evidence of financial responsibility. An inspection facility or
2-13 station is not liable to any person, including a third party, for
2-14 issuing an inspection certificate in reliance on evidence of
2-15 financial responsibility submitted to the facility or station. If
2-16 the inspection facility or station is the seller of a motor
2-17 vehicle, the inspection facility or station may rely on an oral
2-18 insurance binder.
2-19 (h) (1) The provisions of this section <Act> shall not apply
2-20 to the vehicles referred to in Subsection (a) of this Section when
2-21 moving under or bearing current "Factory-Delivery License Plates"
2-22 or current "In-transit License Plates." Nor shall the provisions
2-23 of this section <Act> apply to farm machinery, road-building
2-24 equipment, farm trailers, paper dealer in-transit tag, machinery
2-25 license, disaster license, parade license, prorate tabs, one-trip
2-26 permits, antique license, temporary 24-hour permits, permit
2-27 license, and all other vehicles to have a slow-moving-vehicle
3-1 emblem under Section 139B <139(b)> of this Act.
3-2 (2) The provisions of this section relating to the
3-3 inspection of windshields do not apply to a classic motor vehicle
3-4 eligible to be registered under Section 5n, Chapter 88, General
3-5 Laws, Acts of the 41st Legislature, 2nd Called Session, 1929
3-6 (Article 6675-a-5n, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), a farm vehicle
3-7 eligible to be registered under Section 6a, Chapter 88, General
3-8 Laws, Acts of the 41st Legislature, 2nd Called Session, 1929
3-9 (Article 6675-6a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes); or a vehicle held
3-10 by a person who engages in the business of reselling, repairing,
3-11 storing, exchanging or servicing a motor vehicle.
3-12 SECTION 2. Section 142, Uniform Act Regulating Traffic on
3-13 Highways (Article 6701d, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes) is amended
3-14 by adding Subsection (i) to be read as follows:
3-15 (i) The rules of commission with respect to motor vehicle
3-16 windshield condition shall concern only that portion of the
3-17 windshield on the driver's side of the vehicle directly above the
3-18 top of the steering wheel, but not including a two inch border at
3-19 the top of the windshield, and shall not exceed the standards
3-20 established for commercial motor vehicle condition under the
3-21 Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, 49 C.F.R. Part 393.
3-22 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
3-23 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-24 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-25 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-26 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-27 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.