1-1 By: Nixon S.B. No. 349
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed February 2, 1999; February 4, 1999,
1-3 read first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
1-4 May 3, 1999, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
1-5 Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 3, 1999,
1-6 sent to printer.)
1-7 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 349 By: Nixon
1-8 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-9 AN ACT
1-10 relating to allowing certain trailers to travel at the posted speed
1-11 limit.
1-12 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-13 SECTION 1. Subsection (b), Section 545.352, Transportation
1-14 Code, is amended to read as follows:
1-15 (b) Unless a special hazard exists that requires a slower
1-16 speed for compliance with Section 545.351(b), the following speeds
1-17 are lawful:
1-18 (1) 30 miles per hour in an urban district on a street
1-19 other than an alley and 15 miles per hour in an alley;
1-20 (2) 70 miles per hour in daytime and 65 miles per hour
1-21 in nighttime on a highway numbered by this state or the United
1-22 States outside an urban district, including a farm-to-market or
1-23 ranch-to-market road, if the vehicle is a:
1-24 (A) passenger car;
1-25 (B) [,] motorcycle; or
1-26 (C) [,] passenger car or light truck towing a:
1-27 (i) trailer bearing a vessel, as defined
1-28 by Section 31.003, Parks and Wildlife Code, that is less than 26
1-29 feet in length;
1-30 (ii) [, or passenger car or light truck
1-31 towing a] trailer or semitrailer designed and used primarily to
1-32 transport livestock; or
1-33 (iii) trailer, semitrailer, or towable
1-34 recreational vehicle that is less than 20 feet in length[, on a
1-35 highway numbered by this state or the United States outside an
1-36 urban district, including a farm-to-market or ranch-to-market
1-37 road];
1-38 (3) 60 miles per hour in daytime and 55 miles per hour
1-39 in nighttime if the vehicle is a passenger car or motorcycle on a
1-40 highway that is outside an urban district and not a highway
1-41 numbered by this state or the United States;
1-42 (4) 60 miles per hour outside an urban district if a
1-43 speed limit for the vehicle is not otherwise specified by this
1-44 section; or
1-45 (5) outside an urban district:
1-46 (A) 50 miles per hour if the vehicle is a school
1-47 bus on a highway other than an interstate highway;
1-48 (B) 55 miles per hour if the vehicle is a school
1-49 bus on an interstate highway; or
1-50 (C) 60 miles per hour in daytime and 55 miles
1-51 per hour in nighttime if the vehicle is a truck, other than a light
1-52 truck, or if the vehicle is a truck tractor, trailer, or
1-53 semitrailer, or a vehicle towing a trailer, semitrailer, another
1-54 motor vehicle or towable recreational vehicle not described in
1-55 Subdivision (2).
1-56 SECTION 2. The Texas Department of Transportation may not
1-57 replace a sign to reflect the change made to Subsection (b),
1-58 Section 545.352, Transportation Code, by this Act until replacement
1-59 would have occurred in the course of regular maintenance by the
1-60 department.
1-61 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
1-62 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
1-63 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-64 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-1 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-2 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
2-3 * * * * *