77R11064 MTB-F
By Haggerty H.B. No. 2495
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2495:
By Brimer C.S.H.B. No. 2495
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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 insurance policy in an
2-12 amount established by Section 686.004;
2-13 (2) a surety bond filed under Section 601.121; or
2-14 (3) a deposit in the amount of $450,000 under Section
2-15 601.122, notwithstanding any other amount prescribed by that
2-16 section.
2-17 Sec. 686.003. EVIDENCE OF FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY. (a) The
2-18 owner or operator of a valet parking service shall provide evidence
2-19 of financial responsibility in the same manner as required under
2-20 Section 601.053.
2-21 (b) In addition to complying with Subsection (a), an owner
2-22 or operator of a valet parking service shall exhibit, for public
2-23 inspection, evidence of financial responsibility at a public
2-24 accommodation whose patrons use the service.
2-25 Sec. 686.004. MINIMUM COVERAGE AMOUNTS. The minimum amounts
2-26 of motor vehicle liability insurance coverage required to establish
2-27 financial responsibility under this chapter are:
3-1 (1) $100,000 for bodily injury to or death of one
3-2 person in one accident;
3-3 (2) $300,000 for bodily injury to or death of two or
3-4 more persons in one accident, subject to the amount provided by
3-5 Subdivision (1) for bodily injury to or death of one of the
3-6 persons; and
3-7 (3) $50,000 for damage to or destruction of property
3-8 of others in one accident.
3-9 Sec. 686.005. COMMON LAW DEFENSES. In an action against an
3-10 owner or operator of a valet parking service that has not
3-11 established financial responsibility as required by this chapter to
3-12 recover damages for personal injuries, death, or property damage
3-13 sustained in a motor vehicle accident arising out of the operation
3-14 of a valet parking service, it is not a defense that the party who
3-15 brings the action:
3-16 (1) was guilty of contributory negligence; or
3-17 (2) assumed the risk of injury, death, or property
3-18 damage.
3-19 Sec. 686.006. OPERATION OF MOTOR VEHICLE IN VIOLATION OF
3-20 FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY REQUIREMENT; OFFENSE. (a) A person
3-21 commits an offense if the person, while in the course and scope of
3-22 the person's employment with a valet parking service, operates a
3-23 motor vehicle of a patron of the service without the financial
3-24 responsibility required by this chapter.
3-25 (b) Except as provided by Subsections (c) and (d), an
3-26 offense under this section is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of
3-27 not less than $175 or more than $350.
4-1 (c) If a person has been previously convicted of an offense
4-2 under this section, an offense under this section is a misdemeanor
4-3 punishable by a fine of not less than $350 or more than $1,000.
4-4 (d) If the court determines that a person who has not been
4-5 previously convicted of an offense under this section is
4-6 economically unable to pay the fine, the court may reduce the fine
4-7 to not less than $175.
4-8 Sec. 686.007. DEFENSE: FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN EFFECT
4-9 AT TIME OF ALLEGED OFFENSE. It is a defense to prosecution under
4-10 Section 686.002 that the person charged produces one of the
4-11 documents listed in Section 601.053 that was valid at the time the
4-12 offense is alleged to have occurred.
4-13 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.