By Haggerty H.B. No. 2495
77R6111 MTB-F
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, night club, or other facility engaged
1-22 in 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 or open to members of
2-2 the public.
2-3 (3) "Valet parking service" means a service by which
2-4 the motor vehicles of patrons of a public accommodation are parked
2-5 for a fee.
2-6 Sec. 686.002. REQUIREMENT OF FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR
2-7 VALET PARKING SERVICES. A person may not operate a valet parking
2-8 service unless financial responsibility for each employee who
2-9 operates a motor vehicle for the service is established through:
2-10 (1) a motor vehicle liability insurance policy in an
2-11 amount established by Section 686.004;
2-12 (2) a surety bond filed under Section 601.121; or
2-13 (3) a deposit in the amount of $450,000 under Section
2-14 601.122, notwithstanding any other amount prescribed by that
2-15 section.
2-16 Sec. 686.003. EVIDENCE OF FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY. (a) The
2-17 owner or operator of a valet parking service shall provide evidence
2-18 of financial responsibility in the same manner as required under
2-19 Section 601.053.
2-20 (b) In addition to the requirement of Subsection (a), an
2-21 owner or operator of a valet parking service shall exhibit, for
2-22 public inspection, evidence of financial responsibility at a public
2-23 accommodation whose patrons use the service.
2-24 Sec. 686.004. MINIMUM COVERAGE AMOUNTS. The minimum amounts
2-25 of motor vehicle liability insurance coverage required to establish
2-26 financial responsibility under this chapter are:
2-27 (1) $100,000 for bodily injury to or death of one
3-1 person in one accident;
3-2 (2) $300,000 for bodily injury to or death of two or
3-3 more persons in one accident, subject to the amount provided by
3-4 Subdivision (1) for bodily injury to or death of one of the
3-5 persons; and
3-6 (3) $50,000 for damage to or destruction of property
3-7 of others in one accident.
3-8 Sec. 686.005. COMMON-LAW DEFENSES. In an action against an
3-9 owner or operator of a valet parking service that has not
3-10 established financial responsibility as required by this chapter to
3-11 recover damages for personal injuries, death, or property damage
3-12 sustained in a motor vehicle accident arising out of the operation
3-13 of a valet parking service, it is not a defense that the party who
3-14 brings the action:
3-15 (1) was guilty of contributory negligence; or
3-16 (2) assumed the risk of injury, death, or property
3-17 damage.
3-18 Sec. 686.006. OPERATION OF MOTOR VEHICLE IN VIOLATION OF
3-19 FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY REQUIREMENT; OFFENSE. (a) A person
3-20 commits an offense if the person, while in the course and scope of
3-21 the person's employment with a valet parking service, operates a
3-22 motor vehicle of a patron of the service without the financial
3-23 responsibility required by this chapter.
3-24 (b) Except as provided by Subsections (c) and (d), an
3-25 offense under this section is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of
3-26 not less than $175 or more than $350.
3-27 (c) If a person has been previously convicted of an offense
4-1 under this section, an offense under this section is a misdemeanor
4-2 punishable by a fine of not less than $350 or more than $1,000.
4-3 (d) If the court determines that a person who has not been
4-4 previously convicted of an offense under this section is
4-5 economically unable to pay the fine, the court may reduce the fine
4-6 to not less than $175.
4-7 Sec. 686.007. DEFENSE: FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN EFFECT
4-8 AT TIME OF ALLEGED OFFENSE. It is a defense to prosecution under
4-9 Section 686.002 that the person charged produces one of the
4-10 documents listed in Section 601.053 that was valid at the time that
4-11 the offense is alleged to have occurred.
4-12 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.