By:  Ogden                                            S.B. No. 1705

         Line and page numbers may not match official copy.

         Bill not drafted by TLC or Senate E&E.

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

                                       AN ACT

 1-1     relating to the safe operation of vehicles on highways.

 1-2           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

 1-3           SECTION 1.  Section 545.352(b), Transportation Code, is

 1-4     amended to read as follows:

 1-5           (b)  Unless a special hazard exists that requires a slower

 1-6     speed for compliance with Section 545.351(b), the following speeds

 1-7     are lawful:

 1-8                 (1)  30 miles per hour in an urban district on a street

 1-9     other than an alley and 15 miles per hour in an alley;

1-10                 (2)  70 miles per hour in daytime and 65 miles per hour

1-11     in nighttime if the vehicle is a passenger car or motorcycle on a

1-12     highway numbered by this state or the United States outside an

1-13     urban district, including a farm-to-market or ranch-to-market road

1-14     if the highway has a paved shoulder;

1-15                 (3)  60 miles per hour in daytime and 55 miles per hour

1-16     in nighttime if the vehicle is a passenger car or motorcycle on a

1-17     highway that is outside an urban district and not a highway

1-18     numbered by this state or the United States or on a highway

1-19     numbered by this state or the United States if the highway does not

1-20     have a paved shoulder;

1-21                 (4)  60 miles per hour outside an urban district if a

 2-1     speed limit for the vehicle is not otherwise specified by this

 2-2     section; or

 2-3                 (5)  outside an urban district:

 2-4                       (A)  45 miles per hour, if the vehicle is towing

 2-5     a house trailer of an actual or registered gross weight heavier

 2-6     than 4,500 pounds or larger than 32 feet, excluding the tow bar;

 2-7                       (B)  50 miles per hour if the vehicle is a school

 2-8     bus; or

 2-9                       (C)  60 miles per hour in daytime and 55 miles

2-10     per hour in nighttime if the vehicle is a truck, other than a light

2-11     truck, or if the vehicle is a truck tractor, trailer, or

2-12     semitrailer, or a vehicle towing a trailer, semitrailer, another

2-13     motor vehicle or house trailer of an actual or registered gross

2-14     weight lighter than 4,500 pounds and a length of 32 feet or

2-15     shorter, excluding the tow bar.

2-16           SECTION 2.  Sec. 545.353, Transportation Code, is amended by

2-17     adding subsection (h) to read as follows:

2-18           (h)  A prima facie speed limit under Sec. 545.352(b)(3) may

2-19     be increased if the Texas Transportation Commission determines from

2-20     the results of an engineering and traffic investigation that a

2-21     higher prima facie speed limit is reasonable and safe.

2-22           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the

2-23     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

2-24     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

2-25     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

 3-1     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.