78R5639 MTB-F
By: Haggerty H.B. No. 1054
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to requiring a valet parking service to maintain financial
responsibility; creating an offense.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle H, Title 7, Transportation Code, is
amended by adding Chapter 686 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 686. VALET PARKING SERVICES
Sec. 686.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Financial responsibility" means the ability to
respond in damages for liability for an accident that:
(A) occurs after the effective date of the
document evidencing the establishment of the financial
responsibility; and
(B) arises out of the operation of a motor
vehicle by an employee of a valet parking service.
(2) "Public accommodation" means any:
(A) inn, hotel, or motel;
(B) restaurant, cafeteria, or other facility
principally engaged in selling food for consumption on the
premises;
(C) bar, nightclub, or other facility engaged in
selling alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises;
(D) motion picture house, theater, concert hall,
stadium, or other place of exhibition or entertainment; or
(E) other facility used by or open to members of
the public.
(3) "Valet parking service" means a parking service
through which the motor vehicles of patrons of a public
accommodation are parked for a fee by a third party who is not an
employee of the public accommodation.
Sec. 686.002. REQUIREMENT OF FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR
VALET PARKING SERVICES. A person may not operate a valet parking
service unless financial responsibility for each employee who
operates a motor vehicle for the service is established through:
(1) a motor vehicle liability or comprehensive general
liability and garage insurance policy in an amount established by
Section 686.004;
(2) a surety bond filed under Section 601.121; or
(3) a deposit in the amount of $450,000 under Section
601.122, notwithstanding any other amount prescribed by that
section.
Sec. 686.003. EVIDENCE OF FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY. (a)
The owner or operator of a valet parking service shall provide
evidence of financial responsibility in the same manner as required
under Section 601.053.
(b) In addition to complying with Subsection (a), an owner
or operator of a valet parking service shall exhibit, for public
inspection, evidence of financial responsibility at a public
accommodation whose patrons use the service.
Sec. 686.004. MINIMUM COVERAGE AMOUNTS. (a) The minimum
amounts of motor vehicle liability insurance coverage required to
establish financial responsibility under this chapter are:
(1) $100,000 for bodily injury to or death of one
person in one accident;
(2) $300,000 for bodily injury to or death of two or
more persons in one accident, subject to the amount provided by
Subdivision (1) for bodily injury to or death of one of the persons;
and
(3) $50,000 for damage to or destruction of property
of others in one accident.
(b) The comprehensive general liability insurance must be
on a broad form and provide limits of liability for bodily injury
and property damage of not less than $300,000 combined single
limit, or the equivalent.
(c) The garage insurance must provide limits of liability
for bodily injury and property damage of not less than $300,000
combined single limit, or the equivalent, and must provide the
following coverages:
(1) comprehensive and collision coverage for physical
damage;
(2) coverage for vehicle storage; and
(3) coverage for a vehicle driven by or at the
direction of the valet parking service.
Sec. 686.005. COMMON LAW DEFENSES. In an action against an
owner or operator of a valet parking service that has not
established financial responsibility as required by this chapter to
recover damages for personal injuries, death, or property damage
sustained in a motor vehicle accident arising out of the operation
of a valet parking service, it is not a defense that the party who
brings the action:
(1) was guilty of contributory negligence; or
(2) assumed the risk of injury, death, or property
damage.
Sec. 686.006. OPERATION OF MOTOR VEHICLE IN VIOLATION OF
FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY REQUIREMENT; OFFENSE. (a) A person
commits an offense if the person, while in the course and scope of
the person's employment with a valet parking service, operates a
motor vehicle of a patron of the service without the financial
responsibility required by this chapter.
(b) Except as provided by Subsections (c) and (d), an
offense under this section is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of
not less than $175 or more than $350.
(c) If a person has been previously convicted of an offense
under this section, an offense under this section is a misdemeanor
punishable by a fine of not less than $350 or more than $1,000.
(d) If the court determines that a person who has not been
previously convicted of an offense under this section is
economically unable to pay the fine, the court may reduce the fine
to not less than $175.
Sec. 686.007. DEFENSE: FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN EFFECT
AT TIME OF ALLEGED OFFENSE. It is a defense to prosecution under
Section 686.002 that the person charged produces one of the
documents listed in Section 601.053 that was valid at the time the
offense is alleged to have occurred.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.