1-1 By: Walker, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Duncan) H.B. No. 385
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House April 26, 1999;
1-3 April 27, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on
1-4 Education; May 14, 1999, reported adversely, with favorable
1-5 Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 1;
1-6 May 14, 1999, sent to printer.)
1-7 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 385 By: Ogden
1-8 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-9 AN ACT
1-10 relating to certain buses used to transport students to
1-11 school-related activities.
1-12 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-13 SECTION 1. Section 541.201, Transportation Code, is amended
1-14 by adding a new Subdivision (15), renumbering existing Subdivision
1-15 (15) as Subdivision (16) and amending that subdivision, and
1-16 renumbering existing Subdivisions (16) through (22) as Subdivisions
1-17 (17) through (23) to read as follows:
1-18 (15) "School activity bus" means a bus designed to
1-19 accommodate more than 15 passengers, including the operator, that
1-20 is owned, operated, rented, or leased by a school district, county
1-21 school, open-enrollment charter school, regional education service
1-22 center, or shared services arrangement and that is used to
1-23 transport public school students on a school-related activity trip,
1-24 other than on routes to and from school. The term does not include
1-25 a chartered bus, a bus operated by a mass transit authority, or a
1-26 school bus.
1-27 (16) "School bus" means a motor vehicle that was
1-28 manufactured in compliance with the federal motor vehicle safety
1-29 standards for school buses in effect on the date of manufacture and
1-30 that is used [bus designed] to transport pre-primary, primary, or
1-31 secondary [more than 15 passengers, including the operator, and
1-32 used for purposes that include regularly transporting] students on
1-33 a route to or from school or on a school-related activity trip
1-34 other than on routes to and from school [or school-related events].
1-35 The term does not include a school-chartered bus or a bus operated
1-36 by a mass transit authority.
1-37 (17) [(16)] "Semitrailer" means a vehicle with or
1-38 without motive power, other than a pole trailer:
1-39 (A) designed to be drawn by a motor vehicle and
1-40 to transport persons or property; and
1-41 (B) constructed so that part of the vehicle's
1-42 weight and load rests on or is carried by another vehicle.
1-43 (18) [(17)] "Special mobile equipment" means a vehicle
1-44 that is not designed or used primarily to transport persons or
1-45 property and that is only incidentally operated on a highway. The
1-46 term:
1-47 (A) includes ditchdigging apparatus, well boring
1-48 apparatus, and road construction and maintenance machinery,
1-49 including an asphalt spreader, bituminous mixer, bucket loader,
1-50 tractor other than a truck tractor, ditcher, levelling grader,
1-51 finishing machine, motor grader, road roller, scarifier,
1-52 earth-moving carryall and scraper, power shovel or dragline, or
1-53 self-propelled crane and earth-moving equipment; and
1-54 (B) excludes a vehicle that is designed to
1-55 transport persons or property and that has machinery attached,
1-56 including a house trailer, dump truck, truck-mounted transit mixer,
1-57 crane, and shovel.
1-58 (19) [(18)] "Towable recreational vehicle" means a
1-59 nonmotorized vehicle that:
1-60 (A) is designed:
1-61 (i) to be towable by a motor vehicle; and
1-62 (ii) for temporary human habitation for
1-63 uses including recreational camping or seasonal use;
1-64 (B) is permanently built on a single chassis;
2-1 (C) may contain one or more life-support
2-2 systems; and
2-3 (D) may be used permanently or temporarily for
2-4 advertising, selling, displaying, or promoting merchandise or
2-5 services, but is not used for transporting property for hire or for
2-6 distribution by a private carrier.
2-7 (20) [(19)] "Trailer" means a vehicle, other than a
2-8 pole trailer, with or without motive power:
2-9 (A) designed to be drawn by a motor vehicle and
2-10 to transport persons or property; and
2-11 (B) constructed so that no part of the vehicle's
2-12 weight and load rests on the motor vehicle.
2-13 (21) [(20)] "Truck" means a motor vehicle designed,
2-14 used, or maintained primarily to transport property.
2-15 (22) [(21)] "Truck tractor" means a motor vehicle
2-16 designed and used primarily to draw another vehicle but not
2-17 constructed to carry a load other than a part of the weight of the
2-18 other vehicle and its load.
2-19 (23) [(22)] "Vehicle" means a device that can be used
2-20 to transport or draw persons or property on a highway. The term
2-21 does not include:
2-22 (A) a device exclusively used on stationary
2-23 rails or tracks; or
2-24 (B) manufactured housing as that term is defined
2-25 by the Texas Manufactured Housing Standards Act (Article 5221f,
2-26 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes).
2-27 SECTION 2. Subsections (b) and (c), Section 545.352,
2-28 Transportation Code, are amended to read as follows:
2-29 (b) Unless a special hazard exists that requires a slower
2-30 speed for compliance with Section 545.351(b), the following speeds
2-31 are lawful:
2-32 (1) 30 miles per hour in an urban district on a street
2-33 other than an alley and 15 miles per hour in an alley;
2-34 (2) 70 miles per hour in daytime and 65 miles per hour
2-35 in nighttime if the vehicle is a passenger car, motorcycle,
2-36 passenger car or light truck towing a trailer bearing a vessel, as
2-37 defined by Section 31.003, Parks and Wildlife Code, that is less
2-38 than 26 feet in length, or passenger car or light truck towing a
2-39 trailer or semitrailer designed and used primarily to transport
2-40 livestock, on a highway numbered by this state or the United States
2-41 outside an urban district, including a farm-to-market or
2-42 ranch-to-market road;
2-43 (3) 60 miles per hour in daytime and 55 miles per hour
2-44 in nighttime if the vehicle is a passenger car or motorcycle on a
2-45 highway that is outside an urban district and not a highway
2-46 numbered by this state or the United States;
2-47 (4) 60 miles per hour outside an urban district if a
2-48 speed limit for the vehicle is not otherwise specified by this
2-49 section; or
2-50 (5) outside an urban district:
2-51 (A) 60 [50] miles per hour if the vehicle is a
2-52 school bus that has passed a commercial motor vehicle inspection
2-53 under Section 548.201 and is on a highway numbered by the United
2-54 States or this state, including a farm-to-market road [on a highway
2-55 other than an interstate highway];
2-56 (B) 50 [55] miles per hour if the vehicle is a
2-57 school bus that:
2-58 (i) has not passed a commercial motor
2-59 vehicle inspection under Section 548.201; or
2-60 (ii) is traveling on a highway not
2-61 numbered by the United States or this state [on an interstate
2-62 highway]; or
2-63 (C) 60 miles per hour in daytime and 55 miles
2-64 per hour in nighttime if the vehicle is a truck, other than a light
2-65 truck, or if the vehicle is a truck tractor, trailer, or
2-66 semitrailer, or a vehicle towing a trailer, semitrailer, another
2-67 motor vehicle or towable recreational vehicle.
2-68 (c) The speed limits for a bus or other vehicle engaged in
2-69 the business of transporting passengers for compensation or hire,
3-1 for a commercial vehicle used as a highway post office vehicle for
3-2 highway post office service in the transportation of United States
3-3 mail, [and] for a light truck, and for a school activity bus are
3-4 the same as required for a passenger car at the same time and
3-5 location.
3-6 SECTION 3. Section 521.022, Transportation Code, is amended
3-7 by adding Subsection (i) to read as follows:
3-8 (i) For purposes of this section, "school bus" includes a
3-9 school activity bus as defined by Section 541.201.
3-10 SECTION 4. Section 548.001, Transportation Code, as amended
3-11 by Chapters 1061 and 1069, Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular
3-12 Session, 1997, is amended to read as follows:
3-13 Sec. 548.001. Definitions. In this chapter:
3-14 (1) "Commercial motor vehicle" means a self-propelled
3-15 or towed vehicle, other than a farm vehicle with a gross weight,
3-16 registered weight, or gross weight rating of less than 48,000
3-17 pounds, that is used on a public highway to transport passengers or
3-18 cargo if:
3-19 (A) the vehicle, including a school activity bus
3-20 as defined in Section 541.201, or combination of vehicles has a
3-21 gross weight, registered weight, or gross weight rating of more
3-22 than 26,000 pounds;
3-23 (B) the vehicle, including a school activity bus
3-24 as defined in Section 541.201, is designed to transport more than
3-25 15 passengers, including the driver; or
3-26 (C) the vehicle is used to transport hazardous
3-27 materials in a quantity requiring placarding by a regulation issued
3-28 under the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act (49 U.S.C. Section
3-29 1801 et seq.).
3-30 (2) "Commission" means the Public Safety Commission.
3-31 (3) "Conservation commission" means the Texas Natural
3-32 Resource Conservation Commission.
3-33 (4) "Department" means the Department of Public
3-34 Safety.
3-35 (5) "Farm vehicle" has the meaning assigned by the
3-36 federal motor carrier safety regulations.
3-37 (6) "Federal motor carrier safety regulation" has the
3-38 meaning assigned by Section 644.001.
3-39 (7) "Inspection station" means a facility certified to
3-40 conduct inspections of vehicles under this chapter.
3-41 (8) "Inspector" means an individual certified to
3-42 conduct inspections of vehicles under this chapter.
3-43 (9) "Nonattainment area" means an area so designated
3-44 within the meaning of Section 107(d) of the Clean Air Act (42
3-45 U.S.C. Section 7407).
3-46 SECTION 5. Subsection (b), Section 548.201, Transportation
3-47 Code, is amended to read as follows:
3-48 (b) A program under this section also applies to any:
3-49 (1) vehicle or combination of vehicles with a gross
3-50 weight rating of more than 10,000 pounds that is[:]
3-51 [(1)] operated in interstate commerce[;] and
3-52 [(2)] registered in this state;
3-53 (2) school activity bus, as defined in Section
3-54 541.201, that has a gross weight, registered weight, or gross
3-55 weight rating of more than 26,000 pounds, or is designed to
3-56 transport more than 15 passengers, including the driver; and
3-57 (3) school bus that will operate at a speed authorized
3-58 by Section 545.352(b)(5)(A).
3-59 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
3-60 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-61 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-62 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-63 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-64 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-65 passage, and it is so enacted.
3-66 * * * * *