1-1     By:  Lewis of Orange (Senate Sponsor - Bernsen)        H.B. No. 856
 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House April 9, 1999;
 1-3     April 12, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on State
 1-4     Affairs; May 7, 1999, reported favorably by the following vote:
 1-5     Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 7, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to exempting certain persons from the safety belt law.
 1-9           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-10           SECTION 1.  Section 545.413(e), Transportation Code, is
1-11     amended to read as follows:
1-12           (e)  It is a defense to prosecution under this section that:
1-13                 (1)  the person possesses a written statement from a
1-14     licensed physician stating that for a medical reason the person
1-15     should not wear a safety belt;
1-16                 (2)  the person presents to the court, not later than
1-17     the 10th day after the date of the offense, a statement from a
1-18     licensed physician stating that for a medical reason the person
1-19     should not wear a safety belt;
1-20                 (3)  the person is employed by the United States Postal
1-21     Service and performing a duty for that agency that requires the
1-22     operator to service postal boxes from a vehicle or that requires
1-23     frequent entry into and exit from a vehicle;  [or]
1-24                 (4)  the person is engaged in the actual delivery of
1-25     newspapers from a vehicle or is performing newspaper delivery
1-26     duties that require frequent entry into and exit from a vehicle; or
1-27                 (5)  the person is employed by a public or private
1-28     utility company and is engaged in the reading of meters or
1-29     performing a similar duty for that company requiring the operator
1-30     to frequently enter into and exit from a vehicle.
1-31           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999, and
1-32     applies only to an offense committed on or after that date.
1-33           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
1-34     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-35     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-36     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-37     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
1-38                                  * * * * *