74R10848 DLF-D
          By Corte, et al.                                       H.B. No. 164
          Substitute the following for H.B. No. 164:
          By Counts                                          C.S.H.B. No. 164
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to liability for injury arising from a motor vehicle
    1-3  accident to a driver who fails to maintain financial
    1-4  responsibility.
    1-5        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-6        SECTION 1.  Article I, Texas Motor Vehicle
    1-7  Safety-Responsibility Act (Article 6701h, Vernon's Texas Civil
    1-8  Statutes), is amended by adding Section 1I to read as follows:
    1-9        Sec. 1I.  LIABILITY FOR INJURY TO OPERATOR WHO FAILS TO
   1-10  MAINTAIN FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY.  (a)  A person may not obtain
   1-11  noneconomic damages or exemplary damages in a civil action for
   1-12  bodily injury, death, or damage to or destruction of property
   1-13  arising out of a motor vehicle accident if, at the time of the
   1-14  accident, the person:
   1-15              (1)  is the operator of a motor vehicle involved in the
   1-16  accident; and
   1-17              (2)  is operating the motor vehicle in violation of
   1-18  Section 1A of this Act.
   1-19        (b)  Except as provided by Subsection (c) of this section,
   1-20  Subsection (a) of this section applies to a claim for damages made
   1-21  by a person whose right to recovery derives from an injury to a
   1-22  person whose right to recovery of noneconomic and exemplary damages
   1-23  would be barred under Subsection (a), including a claim for
   1-24  wrongful death or for loss of consortium or companionship.
    2-1        (c)  In an action governed by Section 26, Article 16, Texas
    2-2  Constitution, exemplary damages may be awarded if the claimant
    2-3  proves that the death with respect to which the claimant seeks
    2-4  recovery of exemplary damages resulted from a wilful act or
    2-5  omission or gross neglect.
    2-6        (d)  Each insurer that issues a policy of motor vehicle
    2-7  insurance in this state to comply with the requirements of this
    2-8  Act, including a Lloyd's plan insurer, county mutual insurer, or
    2-9  reciprocal or interinsurance exchange, shall notify the person to
   2-10  whom the policy is issued of the provisions of Subsections (a)-(c)
   2-11  of this section.  The notice required by this subsection shall be
   2-12  made at the time the policy is initially issued and at any time
   2-13  coverage under the policy is terminated.  The commissioner of
   2-14  insurance by rule shall adopt the form and content of the notice
   2-15  required by this subsection.
   2-16        (e)  The Department shall post notice of the provisions of
   2-17  Subsections (a)-(c) of this section at each facility of the
   2-18  Department at which an in-person application for issuance or
   2-19  renewal of a license may be made.
   2-20        (f)  A person who offers a driving safety course approved by
   2-21  the Central Education Agency under the Texas Driver and Traffic
   2-22  Safety Education Act (Article 4413(29c), Vernon's Texas Civil
   2-23  Statutes) shall notify each student in writing of the provisions of
   2-24  Subsections (a)-(c) of this section.  The Central Education Agency
   2-25  shall adopt the form and content of the notice required by this
   2-26  subsection.  At the option of the person who offers the course, the
   2-27  notice may be included in approved course materials or provided
    3-1  separately from those materials.
    3-2        (g)  In this section:
    3-3              (1)  "Noneconomic damages" means damages to compensate
    3-4  the operator for a loss other than a pecuniary loss, including
    3-5  damages for pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss associated
    3-6  with disfigurement, and loss of companionship or consortium.
    3-7              (2)  "Exemplary damages"  has the meaning assigned by
    3-8  Section 41.001, Civil Practice and Remedies Code.
    3-9        SECTION 2.  This Act applies only to a cause of action that
   3-10  accrues on or after the effective date of this Act.  An action that
   3-11  accrued before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
   3-12  law applicable to the action immediately before the effective date
   3-13  of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
   3-14        SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
   3-15  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   3-16  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   3-17  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   3-18  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
   3-19  and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
   3-20  passage, and it is so enacted.