By Gallego H.B. No. 849
74R2686 JD-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the requirement that safety belts be worn by persons
1-3 operating or riding in certain motor vehicles.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Sections 107C(a), (b), (c), and (d), Uniform Act
1-6 Regulating Traffic on Highways (Article 6701d, Vernon's Texas Civil
1-7 Statutes), are amended to read as follows:
1-8 (a) In this section, "safety belt" means the lap belts and
1-9 any shoulder straps that were original equipment in a motor vehicle
1-10 <"passenger car" includes a truck with a manufacturer's rated
1-11 carrying capacity of not more than 1,500 pounds>.
1-12 (b) A person commits an offense if the person:
1-13 (1) is at least 15 years old;
1-14 (2) is riding in the front seat of a motor vehicle
1-15 <passenger car> while the vehicle <car> is being operated on a
1-16 road, street, or highway of this state;
1-17 (3) is occupying a seat that is equipped with a safety
1-18 belt; and
1-19 (4) is not secured by a safety belt.
1-20 (c) A person commits an offense if the person:
1-21 (1) operates on a road, street, or highway of this
1-22 state a motor vehicle <passenger car> that is equipped with safety
1-23 belts; and
1-24 (2) allows a child who is at least four years old but
2-1 less than 15 years old to ride in the front seat of the vehicle
2-2 <car> without requiring the child to be secured by a safety belt.
2-3 (d) A motor vehicle <passenger car> or a seat in a motor
2-4 vehicle <passenger car> is deemed to be equipped with a safety belt
2-5 if the vehicle <passenger car> is required under Section 139E of
2-6 this Act to be equipped with safety belts.
2-7 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995, and
2-8 applies only to a person convicted of an offense committed on or
2-9 after that date. For purposes of this section, an offense was
2-10 committed or conduct was engaged in before the effective date of
2-11 this Act if any element of the offense or conduct occurred before
2-12 the effective date. An offense committed or conduct engaged in
2-13 before the effective date of this Act is covered by the law in
2-14 effect when the offense was committed or the conduct was engaged
2-15 in, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
2-16 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
2-17 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-18 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-19 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-20 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.