By Grusendorf H.B. No. 1962 76R6909 WP-F A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1-1 AN ACT 1-2 relating to the eligibility of certain persons to obtain a driver's 1-3 license. 1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-5 SECTION 1. Section 521.201, Transportation Code, is amended 1-6 to read as follows: 1-7 Sec. 521.201. LICENSE INELIGIBILITY IN GENERAL. (a) The 1-8 department may not issue any license to a person who: 1-9 (1) is under 15 years of age; 1-10 (2) is under 18 years of age unless the person 1-11 complies with the requirements imposed by Section 521.204; 1-12 (3) is shown to be addicted to the use of alcohol, a 1-13 controlled substance, or another drug that renders a person 1-14 incapable of driving; 1-15 (4) holds a driver's license issued by this state or 1-16 another state or country that is revoked, canceled, or under 1-17 suspension; 1-18 (5) has been determined by a judgment of a court to be 1-19 mentally incompetent unless the person has, by the date of the 1-20 license application, been: 1-21 (A) restored to competency by judicial decree; 1-22 or 1-23 (B) released from a hospital for the mentally 1-24 incompetent on a certificate by the superintendent of the hospital 2-1 that the person is competent; 2-2 (6) the department determines to be afflicted with a 2-3 mental or physical disability or disease that prevents the person 2-4 from exercising reasonable and ordinary control over a motor 2-5 vehicle while operating the vehicle on a highway, except that: 2-6 (A) a person may not be refused a license 2-7 because of a physical defect if common experience shows that the 2-8 defect does not incapacitate a person from safely operating a motor 2-9 vehicle; and 2-10 (B) an insulin dependent diabetic may not 2-11 automatically be denied any class of license, including a 2-12 commercial driver's license; 2-13 (7) has been reported by a court under Section 729.003 2-14 for failure to appear or for default in payment of a fine unless 2-15 the court has filed an additional report on final disposition of 2-16 the case; or 2-17 (8) has been reported by a court for failure to appear 2-18 or default in payment of a fine for a misdemeanor that is not 2-19 covered under Subdivision (7) and that is punishable by a fine 2-20 only, including a misdemeanor under a municipal ordinance, 2-21 committed by a person who was under 17 years of age at the time of 2-22 the alleged offense, unless the court has filed an additional 2-23 report on final disposition of the case. 2-24 (b) The department may decide individually the case of each 2-25 person described by Subsection (a)(6)(B), taking into consideration 2-26 factors such as certification by a physician that the person is 2-27 medically able to safely operate a motor vehicle. 3-1 (c) A physician who certifies a person as medically able to 3-2 safely operate a motor vehicle under Subsection (b) is not liable 3-3 for damages resulting from the operation of a motor vehicle by the 3-4 person unless the physician was grossly negligent in making the 3-5 certification. 3-6 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999. 3-7 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the 3-8 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an 3-9 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the 3-10 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several 3-11 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.