1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to requiring a valet parking service to maintain financial
1-3 responsibility; creating an offense.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subtitle H, Title 7, Transportation Code, is
1-6 amended by adding Chapter 686 to read as follows:
1-7 CHAPTER 686. VALET PARKING SERVICES
1-8 Sec. 686.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
1-9 (1) "Financial responsibility" means the ability to
1-10 respond in damages for liability for an accident that:
1-11 (A) occurs after the effective date of the
1-12 document evidencing the establishment of the financial
1-13 responsibility; and
1-14 (B) arises out of the operation of a motor
1-15 vehicle by an employee of a valet parking service.
1-16 (2) "Public accommodation" means any:
1-17 (A) inn, hotel, or motel;
1-18 (B) restaurant, cafeteria, or other facility
1-19 principally engaged in selling food for consumption on the
1-20 premises;
1-21 (C) bar, nightclub, or other facility engaged in
1-22 selling alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises;
1-23 (D) motion picture house, theater, concert hall,
1-24 stadium, or other place of exhibition or entertainment; or
2-1 (E) other facility used by or open to members of
2-2 the public.
2-3 (3) "Valet parking service" means a parking service
2-4 through which the motor vehicles of patrons of a public
2-5 accommodation are parked for a fee by a third party who is not an
2-6 employee of the public accommodation.
2-7 Sec. 686.002. REQUIREMENT OF FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR
2-8 VALET PARKING SERVICES. A person may not operate a valet parking
2-9 service unless financial responsibility for each employee who
2-10 operates a motor vehicle for the service is established through:
2-11 (1) a motor vehicle liability or comprehensive general
2-12 liability and garage insurance policy in an amount established by
2-13 Section 686.004;
2-14 (2) a surety bond filed under Section 601.121; or
2-15 (3) a deposit in the amount of $450,000 under Section
2-16 601.122, notwithstanding any other amount prescribed by that
2-17 section.
2-18 Sec. 686.003. EVIDENCE OF FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY. (a) The
2-19 owner or operator of a valet parking service shall provide evidence
2-20 of financial responsibility in the same manner as required under
2-21 Section 601.053.
2-22 (b) In addition to complying with Subsection (a), an owner
2-23 or operator of a valet parking service shall exhibit, for public
2-24 inspection, evidence of financial responsibility at a public
2-25 accommodation whose patrons use the service.
2-26 Sec. 686.004. MINIMUM COVERAGE AMOUNTS. (a) The minimum
2-27 amounts of motor vehicle liability insurance coverage required to
3-1 establish financial responsibility under this chapter are:
3-2 (1) $100,000 for bodily injury to or death of one
3-3 person in one accident;
3-4 (2) $300,000 for bodily injury to or death of two or
3-5 more persons in one accident, subject to the amount provided by
3-6 Subdivision (1) for bodily injury to or death of one of the
3-7 persons; and
3-8 (3) $50,000 for damage to or destruction of property
3-9 of others in one accident.
3-10 (b) The comprehensive general liability insurance must be on
3-11 a broad form and provide limits of liability for bodily injury and
3-12 property damage of not less than $300,000 combined single limit, or
3-13 the equivalent.
3-14 (c) The garage insurance must provide limits of liability
3-15 for bodily injury and property damage of not less than $300,000
3-16 combined single limit, or the equivalent, and must provide the
3-17 following coverages:
3-18 (1) comprehensive and collision coverage for physical
3-19 damage;
3-20 (2) coverage for vehicle storage; and
3-21 (3) coverage for a vehicle driven by or at the
3-22 direction of the valet parking service.
3-23 Sec. 686.005. COMMON LAW DEFENSES. In an action against an
3-24 owner or operator of a valet parking service that has not
3-25 established financial responsibility as required by this chapter to
3-26 recover damages for personal injuries, death, or property damage
3-27 sustained in a motor vehicle accident arising out of the operation
4-1 of a valet parking service, it is not a defense that the party who
4-2 brings the action:
4-3 (1) was guilty of contributory negligence; or
4-4 (2) assumed the risk of injury, death, or property
4-5 damage.
4-6 Sec. 686.006. OPERATION OF MOTOR VEHICLE IN VIOLATION OF
4-7 FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY REQUIREMENT; OFFENSE. (a) A person
4-8 commits an offense if the person, while in the course and scope of
4-9 the person's employment with a valet parking service, operates a
4-10 motor vehicle of a patron of the service without the financial
4-11 responsibility required by this chapter.
4-12 (b) Except as provided by Subsections (c) and (d), an
4-13 offense under this section is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of
4-14 not less than $175 or more than $350.
4-15 (c) If a person has been previously convicted of an offense
4-16 under this section, an offense under this section is a misdemeanor
4-17 punishable by a fine of not less than $350 or more than $1,000.
4-18 (d) If the court determines that a person who has not been
4-19 previously convicted of an offense under this section is
4-20 economically unable to pay the fine, the court may reduce the fine
4-21 to not less than $175.
4-22 Sec. 686.007. DEFENSE: FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN EFFECT
4-23 AT TIME OF ALLEGED OFFENSE. It is a defense to prosecution under
4-24 Section 686.002 that the person charged produces one of the
4-25 documents listed in Section 601.053 that was valid at the time the
4-26 offense is alleged to have occurred.
4-27 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
_______________________________ _______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2495 was passed by the House on April
18, 2001, by a non-record vote.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2495 was passed by the Senate on May
17, 2001, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 0, 1 present, not
voting.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________________
Date
__________________________
Governor