75R10500 DLF-F
By Corte H.B. No. 18
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 18:
By Bonnen C.S.H.B. No. 18
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to liability for injury arising from a motor vehicle
1-3 accident.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Title 4, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, is
1-6 amended by adding Chapter 92 to read as follows:
1-7 CHAPTER 92. LIABILITY FOR CERTAIN MOTOR VEHICLE
1-8 ACCIDENTS
1-9 Sec. 92.001. LIABILITY FOR INJURY TO CERTAIN OPERATORS.
1-10 (a) A person may not obtain noneconomic damages or exemplary
1-11 damages in a civil action for bodily injury, death, or damage to or
1-12 destruction of property arising out of a motor vehicle accident if:
1-13 (1) the person was:
1-14 (A) operating a motor vehicle, at the time of
1-15 the accident, while intoxicated in violation of Section 49.04,
1-16 Penal Code, or another law of this state relating to the operation
1-17 of a motor vehicle while intoxicated; and
1-18 (B) convicted of an offense described by
1-19 Paragraph (A); or
1-20 (2) the person was knowingly operating the motor
1-21 vehicle, at the time of the accident, in violation of Section
1-22 601.051, Transportation Code.
1-23 (b) Subsection (a) does not apply to a person described by
1-24 Subsection (a)(2) if the person was injured by another person who
2-1 was:
2-2 (1) operating a motor vehicle, at the time of the
2-3 accident, while intoxicated in violation of Section 49.04, Penal
2-4 Code, or another law of this state relating to the operation of a
2-5 motor vehicle while intoxicated; and
2-6 (2) convicted of an offense described by Subdivision
2-7 (1).
2-8 (c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), Subsection (a)
2-9 applies to a claim for damages made by a person whose right to
2-10 recovery derives from an injury to another person whose right to
2-11 recovery of noneconomic and exemplary damages would be barred under
2-12 Subsection (a), including a claim for wrongful death or for loss of
2-13 consortium or companionship.
2-14 (d) This section does not prohibit the recovery of exemplary
2-15 damages for a wilful act or omission or gross neglect in a wrongful
2-16 death action brought by or on behalf of a surviving spouse or heirs
2-17 of the decedent's body under a statute enacted pursuant to Section
2-18 26, Article XVI, Texas Constitution. A claim for exemplary damages
2-19 described by this subsection is governed by Chapter 41.
2-20 (e) Each insurer that issues a policy of motor vehicle
2-21 insurance in this state to comply with the requirements of Chapter
2-22 601, Transportation Code, including a Lloyd's plan insurer, county
2-23 mutual insurer, or reciprocal or interinsurance exchange, shall
2-24 notify the person to whom the policy is issued of the provisions of
2-25 Subsections (a)-(d). The notice required by this subsection shall
2-26 be made at the time the policy is initially issued and at any time
2-27 coverage under the policy is terminated. The commissioner of
3-1 insurance by rule shall adopt the form and content of the notice
3-2 required by this subsection.
3-3 (f) The Department of Public Safety shall post notice of the
3-4 provisions of Subsections (a)-(d) at each facility of the
3-5 department at which an in-person application for issuance or
3-6 renewal of a license may be made.
3-7 (g) A person who offers a driving safety course approved by
3-8 the Texas Education Agency under the Texas Driver and Traffic
3-9 Safety Education Act (Article 4413(29c), Vernon's Texas Civil
3-10 Statutes) shall notify each student in writing of the provisions of
3-11 Subsections (a)-(d). The Texas Education Agency shall adopt the
3-12 form and content of the notice required by this subsection. At the
3-13 option of the person who offers the course, the notice may be
3-14 included in approved course materials or provided separately from
3-15 those materials.
3-16 (h) This section does not prohibit the person described by
3-17 Subsection (a) from acting in a representative capacity to bring
3-18 suit on behalf of another person injured in the accident, as next
3-19 friend or otherwise.
3-20 (i) In this section:
3-21 (1) "Exemplary damages" has the meaning assigned by
3-22 Section 41.001.
3-23 (2) "Noneconomic damages" means damages other than
3-24 compensatory damages for pecuniary loss. The term includes damages
3-25 for physical pain and mental anguish, loss of consortium,
3-26 disfigurement, physical impairment, or loss of companionship and
3-27 society. The term does not include exemplary damages.
4-1 SECTION 2. This Act applies only to a cause of action that
4-2 accrues on or after the effective date of this Act. An action that
4-3 accrued before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
4-4 law applicable to the action immediately before the effective date
4-5 of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
4-6 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
4-7 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-8 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-9 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-10 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-11 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-12 passage, and it is so enacted.