H.B. No. 2083
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the issuance of special license plates and parking
1-3 placards for vehicles owned by or transporting disabled persons and
1-4 the enforcement of the law relating to parking by or for disabled
1-5 persons.
1-6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-7 SECTION 1. Section 2, Chapter 338, Acts of the 64th
1-8 Legislature, 1975 (Article 6675a-5e.1, Vernon's Texas Civil
1-9 Statutes), is amended by amending Subsections (a) and (b) to read
1-10 as follows:
1-11 (a)(1) For purposes of this Act, a <A> person is disabled
1-12 who has mobility problems that substantially impair the person's
1-13 ability to ambulate, or who is legally blind.
1-14 (2) A person is legally blind if the person has <In
1-15 this Act, "legally blind" means having> not more than 20/200 of
1-16 visual acuity in the better eye with correcting lenses, or visual
1-17 acuity greater than 20/200 but with a limitation in the field of
1-18 vision such that the widest diameter of the visual field subtends
1-19 an angle no greater than 20 degrees.
1-20 (3) A person has mobility problems that substantially
1-21 impair the person's ability to ambulate if the person:
1-22 (A) cannot walk 200 feet without stopping to
1-23 rest;
1-24 (B) cannot walk without the use of or assistance
2-1 from an assistance device, including a brace, cane, crutch, another
2-2 person, or a prosthetic device;
2-3 (C) cannot ambulate without a wheelchair or
2-4 similar device;
2-5 (D) is restricted by lung disease to the extent
2-6 that the person's forced respiratory expiratory volume for one
2-7 second, measured by spirometry, is less than one liter, or the
2-8 arterial oxygen tension is less than 60 millimeters of mercury on
2-9 room air at rest;
2-10 (E) uses portable oxygen;
2-11 (F) has a cardiac condition to the extent that
2-12 the person's functional limitations are classified in severity as
2-13 Class III or Class IV according to standards set by the American
2-14 Heart Association;
2-15 (G) is severely limited in the ability to walk
2-16 because of an arthritic, neurological, or orthopedic condition; or
2-17 (H) has another debilitating condition that, in
2-18 the opinion of a physician licensed to practice medicine in this
2-19 state, limits or impairs the person's ability to walk.
2-20 (b) Owners of motor vehicles regularly operated by or for
2-21 the transportation of persons described in Subsection (a) of this
2-22 section may make application to the department through the county
2-23 tax collector of the county in which they reside for the special
2-24 license plates or a removable windshield identification card on a
2-25 form prescribed and furnished by the department. The first
2-26 application must be accompanied by a written statement of a
2-27 physician licensed to practice medicine in this state certifying to
3-1 the department that the person making the application or on whose
3-2 behalf the application is made is legally blind or has a mobility
3-3 problem that substantially impairs the person's ability to
3-4 ambulate. The statement must include a certification of whether a
3-5 mobility problem, if applicable, is temporary or permanent. A
3-6 permanently disabled person may receive a set of special license
3-7 plates and one removable windshield identification card or may
3-8 receive no special license plates and two removable windshield
3-9 identification cards. A temporarily disabled person may receive
3-10 two removable windshield identification cards that may be renewed
3-11 at the end of the period for which they were issued if the
3-12 disability remains. <The first such application must be
3-13 accompanied by acceptable medical proof that the operator or
3-14 regularly transported passenger is currently or permanently
3-15 disabled.>
3-16 SECTION 2. Section 6(b), Chapter 338, Acts of the 64th
3-17 Legislature, Regular Session, 1975 (Article 6675a-5e.1, Vernon's
3-18 Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
3-19 (b) The owner of a vehicle on which the special license
3-20 plates are displayed or in which a removable windshield
3-21 identification card is placed on the rearview mirror of the front
3-22 windshield is exempt from the payment of fees or penalties imposed
3-23 by a governmental authority for parking at a meter, in a parking
3-24 garage or lot, or in a space with a limitation on the length of
3-25 time for parking, unless the vehicle was not parked at the time by
3-26 or for transportation of a disabled person. This exemption does
3-27 not apply to fees or penalties imposed by a branch of the United
4-1 States government. This section does not permit parking a vehicle
4-2 at a place or time that parking is prohibited.
4-3 SECTION 3. Section 6A, Chapter 338, Acts of the 64th
4-4 Legislature, 1975 (Article 6675a-5e.1, Vernon's Texas Civil
4-5 Statutes), is amended by adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
4-6 (e) A political subdivision may appoint a disabled person
4-7 or a nondisabled person to have the authority to file charges
4-8 against a person who commits an offense under this Act. A person
4-9 appointed under this subsection must be a United States citizen of
4-10 good moral character who has not been convicted of a felony. The
4-11 person must take and subscribe to an oath of office that the
4-12 political subdivision prescribes and must complete a training
4-13 program developed by the political subdivision. The person is not
4-14 a peace officer, has no authority other than the authority
4-15 applicable to a citizen to enforce a law other than this Act, and
4-16 may not carry a weapon while performing duties under this
4-17 subsection. The person is not entitled to compensation for
4-18 performing duties under this subsection or to indemnification from
4-19 the political subdivision or the state for injury or property
4-20 damage the person sustains or liability the person incurs in
4-21 performing duties under this subsection. The political subdivision
4-22 and the state are not liable for any damages arising from an act or
4-23 omission of the person in performing duties under this subsection.
4-24 SECTION 4. Section 10, Chapter 338, Acts of the 64th
4-25 Legislature, 1975 (Article 6675a-5e.1, Vernon's Texas Civil
4-26 Statutes), is amended by amending Subsection (e) and adding
4-27 Subsections (f)-(j) to read as follows:
5-1 (e) An offense under this section is a <Class C>
5-2 misdemeanor. Except as provided by Subsections (f)-(i) of this
5-3 section, an offense under this section is punishable by a fine of
5-4 not less than $100 or more than $200.
5-5 (f) If it is shown on the trial of an offense under this
5-6 section that the person has been previously convicted one time of
5-7 an offense under this section, the offense is punishable by a fine
5-8 of not less than $200 or more than $300.
5-9 (g) If it is shown on the trial of an offense under this
5-10 section that the person has been previously convicted two times of
5-11 an offense under this section, the offense is punishable by a fine
5-12 of not less than $300 or more than $400.
5-13 (h) If it is shown on the trial of an offense under this
5-14 section that the person has been previously convicted three times
5-15 of an offense under this section, the offense is punishable by a
5-16 fine of not less than $400 or more than $500.
5-17 (i) If it is shown on the trial of an offense under this
5-18 section that the person has been previously convicted four times of
5-19 an offense under this section, the offense is punishable by a fine
5-20 of $500.
5-21 (j) An offense under this section is punishable by a
5-22 sentence of community service not to exceed 100 hours.
5-23 SECTION 5. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
5-24 (b) The changes in law made by Section 1 of this Act apply
5-25 only to a person who applies for special disabled license plates or
5-26 a removable windshield identification card on or after that date.
5-27 A person who applied for special disabled license plates or a
6-1 removable windshield identification card before the effective date
6-2 of this Act is governed by the law in effect when the application
6-3 was made, and the former law is continued in effect for that
6-4 purpose.
6-5 (c) The changes in law made by Section 4 of this Act apply
6-6 only to the punishment for a first or subsequent offense committed
6-7 on or after the effective date of this Act. An offense committed
6-8 before the effective date of this Act is covered by the law in
6-9 effect when the offense was committed, and the former law is
6-10 continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this
6-11 subsection, an offense was committed before the effective date of
6-12 this Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date.
6-13 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
6-14 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-15 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-16 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-17 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.