1-1 By: Gallego, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Madla) H.B. No. 3328
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House April 23, 1999;
1-3 April 26, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on State
1-4 Affairs; May 14, 1999, reported favorably by the following vote:
1-5 Yeas 8, Nays 0; May 14, 1999, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to speed limits on highways of this state.
1-9 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-10 SECTION 1. Section 545.352, Transportation Code, is amended
1-11 by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (e) to read as
1-12 follows:
1-13 (b) Unless a special hazard exists that requires a slower
1-14 speed for compliance with Section 545.351(b), the following speeds
1-15 are lawful:
1-16 (1) 30 miles per hour in an urban district on a street
1-17 other than an alley and 15 miles per hour in an alley;
1-18 (2) 75 [70] miles per hour in daytime and 65 miles per
1-19 hour in nighttime if the vehicle is a passenger car, motorcycle,
1-20 passenger car or light truck towing a trailer bearing a vessel, as
1-21 defined by Section 31.003, Parks and Wildlife Code, that is less
1-22 than 26 feet in length, or passenger car or light truck towing a
1-23 trailer or semitrailer designed and used primarily to transport
1-24 dogs or livestock, on a highway numbered by this state or the
1-25 United States outside an urban district, including a farm-to-market
1-26 or ranch-to-market road;
1-27 (3) 60 miles per hour in daytime and 55 miles per hour
1-28 in nighttime if the vehicle is a passenger car or motorcycle on a
1-29 highway that is outside an urban district and not a highway
1-30 numbered by this state or the United States;
1-31 (4) 60 miles per hour outside an urban district if a
1-32 speed limit for the vehicle is not otherwise specified by this
1-33 section; or
1-34 (5) outside an urban district:
1-35 (A) 50 miles per hour if the vehicle is a school
1-36 bus on a highway other than an interstate highway;
1-37 (B) 55 miles per hour if the vehicle is a school
1-38 bus on an interstate highway; or
1-39 (C) 60 miles per hour in daytime and 55 miles
1-40 per hour in nighttime if the vehicle is a truck, other than a light
1-41 truck, or if the vehicle is a truck tractor, trailer, or
1-42 semitrailer, or a vehicle towing a trailer, semitrailer, another
1-43 motor vehicle or towable recreational vehicle.
1-44 (e) Notwithstanding Subsection (b), in a county having a
1-45 population of less than 25,000, a speed of 80 miles per hour is
1-46 lawful for a vehicle described by Subsection (b)(2) on an
1-47 interstate highway that runs east and west.
1-48 SECTION 2. Section 545.353(d), Transportation Code, is
1-49 amended to read as follows:
1-50 (d) The commission may not:
1-51 (1) modify the rules established by Section
1-52 545.351(b);
1-53 (2) establish a speed limit of more than 75 [70] miles
1-54 per hour except as provided by Section 545.352(e); or
1-55 (3) increase the speed limit for a vehicle described
1-56 by Section 545.352(b)(5).
1-57 SECTION 3. Notwithstanding the change in law made by this
1-58 Act, on a highway or portion of a highway that on the effective
1-59 date of this Act has a speed limit of 70 miles per hour in daytime
1-60 and 65 miles per hour in nighttime, the speed limit may be
1-61 increased as provided by this Act only if the Texas Department of
1-62 Transportation determines that the increase is appropriate on that
1-63 highway or portion of highway.
1-64 SECTION 4. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
2-1 The change in law made by this Act applies only to an offense
2-2 committed on or after the effective date of this Act. For purposes
2-3 of this section, an offense is committed before the effective date
2-4 of this Act if any element of the offense occurs before that date.
2-5 (b) An offense committed before the effective date of this
2-6 Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
2-7 and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
2-8 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
2-9 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-10 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-11 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-12 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
2-13 * * * * *