1-1     By:  Lewis of Tarrant (Senate Sponsor - Carona)       H.B. No. 2932
 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House May 7, 2001;
 1-3     May 7, 2001, read first time and referred to Committee on Business
 1-4     and Commerce; May 11, 2001, reported favorably by the following
 1-5     vote:  Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 11, 2001, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to a discount on the premium surcharge for a motor vehicle
 1-9     equipped with a breath alcohol detection device.
1-10           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11           SECTION 1. Article 5.03-1, Insurance Code, is amended to read
1-12     as follows:
1-13           Art. 5.03-1.  PREMIUM SURCHARGE
1-14           Sec. 1.  SURCHARGE AUTHORIZED. A premium surcharge in an
1-15     amount to be prescribed by the commissioner [State Board of
1-16     Insurance] shall be assessed by an insurer described by [defined
1-17     in] Article 5.01 of this code[, Texas Insurance Code,] against an
1-18     insured for no more than three years immediately following the date
1-19     of conviction of the insured of an offense committed while
1-20     operating a motor vehicle under Section 49.04 or 49.07, Penal Code,
1-21     or an offense under Section 49.08, Penal Code.  The premium
1-22     surcharge shall be applied only to private passenger automobile
1-23     policies as defined by the commissioner [State Board of Insurance].
1-24           Sec. 2.  SUBSEQUENT CONVICTION. If an insured assessed a
1-25     premium surcharge as a result of a conviction of an offense
1-26     described by [as set out in] Section 1 of this article is
1-27     subsequently convicted of [a violation of] one of those offenses
1-28     [statutes] during the period the insured [he] is assessed the
1-29     premium surcharge, the period for which the premium surcharge shall
1-30     be imposed is increased by three additional consecutive years for
1-31     each conviction.
1-32           Sec. 3.  SURCHARGE REDUCTION AUTHORIZED. (a)  In this
1-33     section, "motor vehicle ignition interlock device" means a device
1-34     that uses a deep-lung breath analysis mechanism to make impractical
1-35     the operation of a motor vehicle if ethyl alcohol is detected in
1-36     the breath of the operator of the vehicle.
1-37           (b)  An insurer may reduce the premium surcharge prescribed
1-38     under this article by up to 50 percent for an insured whose insured
1-39     motor vehicle is equipped with a motor vehicle ignition interlock
1-40     device as required by a court order following the insured's
1-41     conviction of an offense described by Section 1 of this article.
1-42     The insured is entitled to a discount under this section only for
1-43     the period that the vehicle is equipped with the device.
1-44           (c)  An insurer may endorse a policy to restrict coverage
1-45     under the policy to the motor vehicle that is equipped with a motor
1-46     vehicle ignition interlock device.
1-47           SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
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