1-1     By:  Haggerty (Senate Sponsor - Armbrister)           H.B. No. 2495
 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House April 19, 2001;
 1-3     April 20, 2001, read first time and referred to Committee on
 1-4     Business and Commerce; May 10, 2001, reported favorably by the
 1-5     following vote:  Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 10, 2001, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to requiring a valet parking service to maintain financial
 1-9     responsibility; creating an offense.
1-10           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11           SECTION 1.  Subtitle H, Title 7, Transportation Code, is
1-12     amended by adding Chapter 686 to read as follows:
1-13                    CHAPTER 686.  VALET PARKING SERVICES
1-14           Sec. 686.001.  DEFINITIONS.  In this chapter:
1-15                 (1)  "Financial responsibility" means the ability to
1-16     respond in damages for liability for an accident that:
1-17                       (A)  occurs after the effective date of the
1-18     document evidencing the establishment of the financial
1-19     responsibility; and
1-20                       (B)  arises out of the operation of a motor
1-21     vehicle by an employee of a valet parking service.
1-22                 (2)  "Public accommodation" means any:
1-23                       (A)  inn, hotel, or motel;
1-24                       (B)  restaurant, cafeteria, or other facility
1-25     principally engaged in selling food for consumption on the
1-26     premises;
1-27                       (C)  bar, nightclub, or other facility engaged in
1-28     selling alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises;
1-29                       (D)  motion picture house, theater, concert hall,
1-30     stadium, or other place of exhibition or entertainment; or
1-31                       (E)  other facility used by or open to members of
1-32     the public.
1-33                 (3)  "Valet parking service" means a parking service
1-34     through which the motor vehicles of patrons of a public
1-35     accommodation are parked for a fee by a third party who is not an
1-36     employee of the public accommodation.
1-37           Sec. 686.002.  REQUIREMENT OF FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR
1-38     VALET PARKING SERVICES.  A person may not operate a valet parking
1-39     service unless financial responsibility for each employee who
1-40     operates a motor vehicle for the service is established through:
1-41                 (1)  a motor vehicle liability or comprehensive general
1-42     liability and garage insurance policy in an amount established by
1-43     Section 686.004;
1-44                 (2)  a surety bond filed under Section 601.121; or
1-45                 (3)  a deposit in the amount of $450,000 under Section
1-46     601.122, notwithstanding any other amount prescribed by that
1-47     section.
1-48           Sec. 686.003.  EVIDENCE OF FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY. (a)  The
1-49     owner or operator of a valet parking service shall provide evidence
1-50     of financial responsibility in the same manner as required under
1-51     Section 601.053.
1-52           (b)  In addition to complying with Subsection (a), an owner
1-53     or operator of a valet parking service shall exhibit, for public
1-54     inspection, evidence of financial responsibility at a public
1-55     accommodation whose patrons use the service.
1-56           Sec. 686.004.  MINIMUM COVERAGE AMOUNTS.  (a)  The minimum
1-57     amounts of motor vehicle liability insurance coverage required to
1-58     establish financial responsibility under this chapter are:
1-59                 (1)  $100,000 for bodily injury to or death of one
1-60     person in one accident;
1-61                 (2)  $300,000 for bodily injury to or death of two or
1-62     more persons in one accident, subject to the amount provided by
1-63     Subdivision (1) for bodily injury to or death of one of the
1-64     persons; and
 2-1                 (3)  $50,000 for damage to or destruction of property
 2-2     of others in one accident.
 2-3           (b)  The comprehensive general liability insurance must be on
 2-4     a broad form and provide limits of liability for bodily injury and
 2-5     property damage of not less than $300,000 combined single limit, or
 2-6     the equivalent.
 2-7           (c)  The garage insurance must provide limits of liability
 2-8     for bodily injury and property damage of not less than $300,000
 2-9     combined single limit, or the equivalent, and must provide the
2-10     following coverages:
2-11                 (1)  comprehensive and collision coverage for physical
2-12     damage;
2-13                 (2)  coverage for vehicle storage; and
2-14                 (3)  coverage for a vehicle driven by or at the
2-15     direction of the valet parking service.
2-16           Sec. 686.005.  COMMON LAW DEFENSES.  In an action against an
2-17     owner or operator of a valet parking service that has not
2-18     established financial responsibility as required by this chapter to
2-19     recover damages for personal injuries, death, or property damage
2-20     sustained in a motor vehicle accident arising out of the operation
2-21     of a valet parking service, it is not a defense that the party who
2-22     brings the action:
2-23                 (1)  was guilty of contributory negligence; or
2-24                 (2)  assumed the risk of injury, death, or property
2-25     damage.
2-26           Sec. 686.006.  OPERATION OF MOTOR VEHICLE IN VIOLATION OF
2-27     FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY REQUIREMENT; OFFENSE.  (a)  A person
2-28     commits an offense if the person, while in the course and scope of
2-29     the person's employment with a valet parking service, operates a
2-30     motor vehicle of a patron of the service without the financial
2-31     responsibility required by this chapter.
2-32           (b)  Except as provided by Subsections (c) and (d), an
2-33     offense under this section is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of
2-34     not less than $175 or more than $350.
2-35           (c)  If a person has been previously convicted of an offense
2-36     under this section, an offense under this section is a misdemeanor
2-37     punishable by a fine of not less than $350 or more than $1,000.
2-38           (d)  If the court determines that a person who has not been
2-39     previously convicted of an offense under this section is
2-40     economically unable to pay the fine, the court may reduce the fine
2-41     to not less than $175.
2-42           Sec. 686.007.  DEFENSE:  FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN EFFECT
2-43     AT TIME OF ALLEGED OFFENSE.  It is a defense to prosecution under
2-44     Section 686.002 that the person charged produces one of the
2-45     documents listed in Section 601.053 that was valid at the time the
2-46     offense is alleged to have occurred.
2-47           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
2-48                                  * * * * *