AN ACT
1-1 relating to speed limits for certain vehicles on public roads and
1-2 highways.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 541.201, Transportation Code, is amended
1-5 to read as follows:
1-6 Sec. 541.201. VEHICLES. In this subtitle:
1-7 (1) "Authorized emergency vehicle" means:
1-8 (A) a fire department or police vehicle;
1-9 (B) a public or private ambulance operated by a
1-10 person who has been issued a license by the Texas Department of
1-11 Health;
1-12 (C) a municipal department or public service
1-13 corporation emergency vehicle that has been designated or
1-14 authorized by the governing body of a municipality;
1-15 (D) a private vehicle of a volunteer firefighter
1-16 or a certified emergency medical services employee or volunteer
1-17 when responding to a fire alarm or medical emergency;
1-18 (E) an industrial emergency response vehicle,
1-19 including an industrial ambulance, when responding to an emergency,
1-20 but only if the vehicle is operated in compliance with criteria in
1-21 effect September 1, 1989, and established by the Texas Industrial
1-22 Fire Training Board of the State Firemen's and Fire Marshals'
1-23 Association of Texas; or
2-1 (F) a vehicle of a blood bank or tissue bank,
2-2 accredited or approved under the laws of this state or the United
2-3 States, when making emergency deliveries of blood, drugs,
2-4 medicines, or organs.
2-5 (2) "Bicycle" means a device that a person may ride
2-6 and that is propelled by human power and has two tandem wheels at
2-7 least one of which is more than 14 inches in diameter.
2-8 (3) "Bus" means:
2-9 (A) a motor vehicle used to transport persons
2-10 and designed to accommodate more than 10 passengers; or
2-11 (B) a motor vehicle, other than a taxicab,
2-12 designed and used to transport persons for compensation.
2-13 (4) "Farm tractor" means a motor vehicle designed and
2-14 used primarily as a farm implement to draw an implement of
2-15 husbandry, including a plow or a mowing machine.
2-16 (5) "House trailer" means a trailer or semitrailer,
2-17 other than a towable recreational vehicle, that:
2-18 (A) is transportable on a highway in one or more
2-19 sections;
2-20 (B) is less than 40 feet in length, excluding
2-21 tow bar, while in the traveling mode;
2-22 (C) is built on a permanent chassis;
2-23 (D) is designed to be used as a dwelling or for
2-24 commercial purposes if connected to required utilities; and
2-25 (E) includes plumbing, heating,
3-1 air-conditioning, and electrical systems [is equipped to travel on
3-2 a highway and that:]
3-3 [(A) is designed, constructed, and equipped as a
3-4 permanent or temporary dwelling or sleeping place; or]
3-5 [(B) has a chassis and exterior shell designed
3-6 and constructed for a purpose described by Paragraph (A) but is
3-7 used permanently or temporarily for a commercial purpose, including
3-8 advertising, selling, displaying, or promoting merchandise or
3-9 services, other than transporting property for hire or for
3-10 distribution by a private carrier].
3-11 (6) "Implement of husbandry" means a vehicle, other
3-12 than a passenger car or truck, that is designed and adapted for use
3-13 as a farm implement, machinery, or tool for tilling the soil.
3-14 (7) "Light truck" means a truck, including a pickup
3-15 truck, panel delivery truck, or carryall truck, that has a
3-16 manufacturer's rated carrying capacity of 2,000 pounds or less.
3-17 (8) "Moped" means a motor-driven cycle that cannot
3-18 attain a speed in one mile of more than 30 miles per hour and the
3-19 engine of which:
3-20 (A) cannot produce more than two-brake
3-21 horsepower; and
3-22 (B) if an internal combustion engine, has a
3-23 piston displacement of 50 cubic centimeters or less and connects to
3-24 a power drive system that does not require the operator to shift
3-25 gears.
4-1 (9) "Motorcycle" means a motor vehicle, other than a
4-2 tractor, that is equipped with a rider's saddle and designed to
4-3 have when propelled not more than three wheels on the ground.
4-4 (10) "Motor-driven cycle" means a motorcycle equipped
4-5 with a motor that has an engine piston displacement of 125 cubic
4-6 centimeters or less.
4-7 (11) "Motor vehicle" means a self-propelled vehicle or
4-8 a vehicle that is propelled by electric power from overhead trolley
4-9 wires.
4-10 (12) "Passenger car" means a motor vehicle, other than
4-11 a motorcycle, used to transport persons and designed to accommodate
4-12 10 or fewer passengers.
4-13 (13) "Pole trailer" means a vehicle without motive
4-14 power:
4-15 (A) designed to be drawn by another vehicle and
4-16 secured to the other vehicle by pole, reach, boom, or other
4-17 security device; and
4-18 (B) ordinarily used to transport a long or
4-19 irregularly shaped load, including poles, pipes, or structural
4-20 members, generally capable of sustaining themselves as beams
4-21 between the supporting connections.
4-22 (14) "Road tractor" means a motor vehicle designed and
4-23 used to draw another vehicle but not constructed to carry a load
4-24 independently or a part of the weight of the other vehicle or its
4-25 load.
5-1 (15) "School bus" means a motor vehicle, other than a
5-2 bus used in an urban area by a common carrier to transport
5-3 schoolchildren, that:
5-4 (A) is being used to transport children to or
5-5 from a school or school-related activity; and
5-6 (B) complies with the color and identification
5-7 requirements provided in the most recent edition of standards
5-8 produced and sponsored by the National Education Association's
5-9 National Commission on Safety Education.
5-10 (16) "Semitrailer" means a vehicle with or without
5-11 motive power, other than a pole trailer:
5-12 (A) designed to be drawn by a motor vehicle and
5-13 to transport persons or property; and
5-14 (B) constructed so that part of the vehicle's
5-15 weight and load rests on or is carried by another vehicle.
5-16 (17) "Special mobile equipment" means a vehicle that
5-17 is not designed or used primarily to transport persons or property
5-18 and that is only incidentally operated on a highway. The term:
5-19 (A) includes ditchdigging apparatus, well boring
5-20 apparatus, and road construction and maintenance machinery,
5-21 including an asphalt spreader, bituminous mixer, bucket loader,
5-22 tractor other than a truck tractor, ditcher, levelling grader,
5-23 finishing machine, motor grader, road roller, scarifier,
5-24 earth-moving carryall and scraper, power shovel or dragline, or
5-25 self-propelled crane and earth-moving equipment; and
6-1 (B) excludes a vehicle that is designed to
6-2 transport persons or property and that has machinery attached,
6-3 including a house trailer, dump truck, truck-mounted transit mixer,
6-4 crane, and shovel.
6-5 (18) "Towable recreational vehicle" means a
6-6 nonmotorized vehicle that:
6-7 (A) is designed:
6-8 (i) to be towable by a motor vehicle; and
6-9 (ii) for temporary human habitation for
6-10 uses including recreational camping or seasonal use;
6-11 (B) is permanently built on a single chassis;
6-12 (C) may contain one or more life-support
6-13 systems; and
6-14 (D) may be used permanently or temporarily for
6-15 advertising, selling, displaying, or promoting merchandise or
6-16 services, but is not used for transporting property for hire or for
6-17 distribution by a private carrier.
6-18 (19) "Trailer" means a vehicle, other than a pole
6-19 trailer, with or without motive power:
6-20 (A) designed to be drawn by a motor vehicle and
6-21 to transport persons or property; and
6-22 (B) constructed so that no part of the vehicle's
6-23 weight and load rests on the motor vehicle.
6-24 (20) [(19)] "Truck" means a motor vehicle designed,
6-25 used, or maintained primarily to transport property.
7-1 (21) [(20)] "Truck tractor" means a motor vehicle
7-2 designed and used primarily to draw another vehicle but not
7-3 constructed to carry a load other than a part of the weight of the
7-4 other vehicle and its load.
7-5 (22) [(21)] "Vehicle" means a device that can be used
7-6 to transport or draw persons or property on a highway. The term
7-7 does not include:
7-8 (A) a device exclusively used on stationary
7-9 rails or tracks; or
7-10 (B) manufactured housing as that term is defined
7-11 by the Texas Manufactured Housing Standards Act (Article 5221f,
7-12 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes).
7-13 SECTION 2. Subsection (b), Section 545.352, Transportation
7-14 Code, is amended to read as follows:
7-15 (b) Unless a special hazard exists that requires a slower
7-16 speed for compliance with Section 545.351(b), the following speeds
7-17 are lawful:
7-18 (1) 30 miles per hour in an urban district on a street
7-19 other than an alley and 15 miles per hour in an alley;
7-20 (2) 70 miles per hour in daytime and 65 miles per hour
7-21 in nighttime if the vehicle is a passenger car, [or] motorcycle,
7-22 passenger car or light truck towing a trailer bearing a vessel, as
7-23 defined by Section 31.003, Parks and Wildlife Code, that is less
7-24 than 26 feet in length, or passenger car or light truck towing a
7-25 trailer or semitrailer designed and used primarily to transport
8-1 livestock, on a highway numbered by this state or the United States
8-2 outside an urban district, including a farm-to-market or
8-3 ranch-to-market road;
8-4 (3) 60 miles per hour in daytime and 55 miles per hour
8-5 in nighttime if the vehicle is a passenger car or motorcycle on a
8-6 highway that is outside an urban district and not a highway
8-7 numbered by this state or the United States;
8-8 (4) 60 miles per hour outside an urban district if a
8-9 speed limit for the vehicle is not otherwise specified by this
8-10 section; or
8-11 (5) outside an urban district:
8-12 (A) [45 miles per hour, if the vehicle is towing
8-13 a house trailer of an actual or registered gross weight heavier
8-14 than 4,500 pounds or larger than 32 feet, excluding the tow bar;]
8-15 [(B)] 50 miles per hour if the vehicle is a
8-16 school bus on a highway other than an interstate highway;
8-17 (B) 55 miles per hour if the vehicle is a school
8-18 bus on an interstate highway; or
8-19 (C) 60 miles per hour in daytime and 55 miles
8-20 per hour in nighttime if the vehicle is a truck, other than a light
8-21 truck, or if the vehicle is a truck tractor, trailer, or
8-22 semitrailer, or a vehicle towing a trailer, semitrailer, another
8-23 motor vehicle or towable recreational vehicle [house trailer of an
8-24 actual or registered gross weight lighter than 4,500 pounds and a
8-25 length of 32 feet or shorter, excluding the tow bar].
9-1 SECTION 3. Subsections (c) and (d), Section 621.203,
9-2 Transportation Code, are amended to read as follows:
9-3 (c) The limitation prescribed by Subsection (a) does not
9-4 apply to a house trailer or towable recreational vehicle or a
9-5 combination of a house trailer or towable recreational vehicle and
9-6 a motor vehicle [if the owner of the house trailer has paid all
9-7 taxes, including ad valorem taxes, and fees due and payable on the
9-8 house trailer under the laws of this state]. A house trailer or
9-9 towable recreational vehicle and motor vehicle combination may not
9-10 be longer than 65 feet.
9-11 (d) In this section, "house trailer" and "towable
9-12 recreational vehicle" have the meanings assigned by Section 541.201
9-13 [means a living quarters that is equipped and used for sleeping
9-14 and eating and that may be moved over a public highway by being
9-15 pulled behind a motor vehicle].
9-16 SECTION 4. Section 623.101, Transportation Code, is amended
9-17 to read as follows:
9-18 Sec. 623.101. SPEED LIMIT. (a) A manufactured house or
9-19 house trailer may not be towed in excess of the posted speed limit
9-20 or 55 miles per hour, whichever is less.
9-21 (b) In this section, "house trailer" has the meaning
9-22 assigned by Section 541.201.
9-23 SECTION 5. (a) In addition to the substantive changes in
9-24 law made by this Act, this Act conforms the Transportation Code to
9-25 changes in law made by Section 1, Chapter 295, Acts of the 74th
10-1 Legislature, 1995.
10-2 (b) Section 1, Chapter 295, Acts of the 74th Legislature,
10-3 1995, is repealed.
10-4 (c) To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails over
10-5 another Act of the 75th Legislature, Regular Session, 1997,
10-6 relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
10-7 codes.
10-8 SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
10-9 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
10-10 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
10-11 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
10-12 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
10-13 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
S.B. No. 343
________________________________ ________________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 343 passed the Senate on
March 11, 1997, by a viva-voce vote; May 27, 1997, Senate refused
to concur in House amendments and requested appointment of
Conference Committee; May 29, 1997, House granted request of the
Senate; June 1, 1997, Senate adopted Conference Committee Report by
a viva-voce vote.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 343 passed the House, with
amendments, on May 22, 1997, by a non-record vote; May 29, 1997,
House granted request of the Senate for appointment of Conference
Committee; June 1, 1997, House adopted Conference Committee Report
by a non-record vote.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
________________________________
Date
________________________________
Governor