1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to specialized license plates and parking placards for
1-3 vehicles of persons with disabilities.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 502.253, Transportation Code, is amended
1-6 by amending Subsection (e) and adding Subsection (i) to read as
1-7 follows:
1-8 (e) Subject to Subsection (i), the [The] first application
1-9 for registration must be accompanied by a written statement of a
1-10 physician licensed to practice medicine in this state or a state
1-11 adjacent to this state, or authorized by applicable law to practice
1-12 medicine in a hospital or other health facility of the Veterans
1-13 Administration, certifying to the department that the person making
1-14 the application or on whose behalf the application is made is
1-15 legally blind or has a mobility problem that substantially impairs
1-16 the person's ability to ambulate. The statement must include a
1-17 certification of whether a mobility problem, if applicable, is
1-18 temporary or permanent. A written statement from a physician is
1-19 not required as acceptable medical proof if:
1-20 (1) the person with a disability:
1-21 (A) has had a limb, hand, or foot amputated; or
1-22 (B) must use a wheelchair; and
1-23 (2) the applicant and the county assessor-collector
1-24 issuing the special license plates execute an affidavit attesting
1-25 to the person's disability.
2-1 (i) If a first application for registration under this
2-2 section is made by or on behalf of a person with a mobility problem
2-3 caused by a disorder of the foot, the written statement required by
2-4 Subsection (e) may be issued by a person licensed to practice
2-5 podiatry in this state or a state adjacent to this state. In this
2-6 subsection, "podiatry" has the meaning assigned by Section 681.001.
2-7 SECTION 2. Section 681.001, Transportation Code, is amended
2-8 by amending Subdivision (5) and adding Subdivision (6) to read as
2-9 follows:
2-10 (5) "Mobility problem that substantially impairs a
2-11 person's ability to ambulate" means that the person:
2-12 (A) cannot walk 200 feet without stopping to
2-13 rest;
2-14 (B) cannot walk without the use of or assistance
2-15 from an assistance device, including a brace, a cane, a crutch,
2-16 another person, or a prosthetic device;
2-17 (C) cannot ambulate without a wheelchair or
2-18 similar device;
2-19 (D) is restricted by lung disease to the extent
2-20 that the person's forced respiratory expiratory volume for one
2-21 second, measured by spirometry, is less than one liter, or the
2-22 arterial oxygen tension is less than 60 millimeters of mercury on
2-23 room air at rest;
2-24 (E) uses portable oxygen;
2-25 (F) has a cardiac condition to the extent that
2-26 the person's functional limitations are classified in severity as
3-1 Class III or Class IV according to standards set by the American
3-2 Heart Association;
3-3 (G) is severely limited in the ability to walk
3-4 because of an arthritic, neurological, or orthopedic condition;
3-5 [or]
3-6 (H) has a disorder of the foot that, in the
3-7 opinion of a person licensed to practice podiatry in this state or
3-8 in a state adjacent to this state, limits or impairs the person's
3-9 ability to walk; or
3-10 (I) has another debilitating condition that, in
3-11 the opinion of a physician licensed to practice medicine in this
3-12 state or a state adjacent to this state, or authorized by
3-13 applicable law to practice medicine in a hospital or other health
3-14 facility of the Veterans Administration, limits or impairs the
3-15 person's ability to walk.
3-16 (6) "Podiatry" has the meaning assigned by Section
3-17 202.001, Occupations Code.
3-18 SECTION 3. Section 681.003, Transportation Code, is amended
3-19 by amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (e) to read as
3-20 follows:
3-21 (c) Subject to Subsection (e), the [The] first application
3-22 must be accompanied by a notarized written statement or written
3-23 prescription of a physician licensed to practice medicine in this
3-24 state or a state adjacent to this state, or authorized by
3-25 applicable law to practice medicine in a hospital or other health
3-26 facility of the Veterans Administration, certifying and providing
4-1 evidence acceptable to the department that the person making the
4-2 application or on whose behalf the application is made is legally
4-3 blind or has a mobility problem that substantially impairs the
4-4 person's ability to ambulate. The statement or prescription must
4-5 include a certification of whether the disability is temporary or
4-6 permanent and information acceptable to the department to determine
4-7 the type of disabled parking placard for which the applicant is
4-8 eligible. The department shall determine a person's eligibility
4-9 based on evidence provided by the applicant establishing legal
4-10 blindness or mobility impairment.
4-11 (e) If a first application for a disabled parking placard
4-12 under this section is made by or on behalf of a person with a
4-13 mobility problem caused by a disorder of the foot, the notarized
4-14 written statement or written prescription required by Subsection
4-15 (c) may be issued by a person licensed to practice podiatry in this
4-16 state or a state adjacent to this state.
4-17 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
_______________________________ _______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 777 passed the Senate on
March 22, 2001, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 0, one
present, not voting; and that the Senate concurred in House
amendment on April 27, 2001, by a viva-voce vote.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 777 passed the House, with
amendment, on April 20, 2001, by a non-record vote.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
_______________________________
Date
_______________________________
Governor