1-1 By: Finnell (Senate Sponsor - Cain) H.B. No. 3252 1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House April 21, 1997; 1-3 April 23, 1997, read first time and referred to Committee on State 1-4 Affairs; May 8, 1997, reported favorably by the following vote: 1-5 Yeas 12, Nays 0; May 8, 1997, sent to printer.) 1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1-7 AN ACT 1-8 relating to safety regulations for certain contract carriers. 1-9 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-10 SECTION 1. Article 6675d, Revised Statutes, is amended by 1-11 adding Section 3A to read as follows: 1-12 Sec. 3A. REGULATION OF CONTRACT CARRIERS OF CERTAIN 1-13 PASSENGERS. (a) This section applies only to a contract carrier 1-14 transporting the operating employees of a railroad on a road or 1-15 highway of this state in a vehicle designed to carry 15 or fewer 1-16 passengers. 1-17 (b) The department shall adopt rules regulating the 1-18 operation of a contract carrier to which this section applies. The 1-19 rules must include provisions that: 1-20 (1) prohibit a person from operating a vehicle for 1-21 more than 12 hours in a day; 1-22 (2) require a person that operates a vehicle for a 1-23 number of consecutive hours or days the department determines is 1-24 excessive to rest for a period determined by the department; 1-25 (3) require a contract carrier to keep a record of all 1-26 hours a vehicle subject to regulation under this section is 1-27 operated; and 1-28 (4) are determined by the department to be necessary 1-29 to protect the safety of the passengers being transported or the 1-30 general public. 1-31 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997. 1-32 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the 1-33 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an 1-34 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the 1-35 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several 1-36 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended. 1-37 * * * * *