78R11452 JD-D
By: Driver H.B. No. 2078
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2078:
By: Hegar C.S.H.B. No. 2078
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to court-ordered driving safety courses; providing a
penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 12, Penal Code, is amended
by adding Section 12.50 to read as follows:
Sec. 12.50. COURT-ORDERED DRIVING SAFETY COURSE. (a) This
section applies only to:
(1) an offense under:
(A) Subtitle C, Title 7, Transportation Code,
committed in a construction or maintenance work zone, as defined by
Section 542.404 of that code, when workers are present;
(B) Section 545.066, Transportation Code;
(C) Section 545.156, Transportation Code;
(D) Section 545.351, Transportation Code, if the
defendant is charged with speeding 25 miles per hour or more over
the posted speed limit;
(E) Section 545.401, Transportation Code;
(F) Section 545.420, Transportation Code;
(G) Section 545.424, Transportation Code; or
(H) Section 550.022, Transportation Code; or
(2) a traffic offense that is a Class C misdemeanor and
classified as a moving violation, if at the time of the offense the
defendant is 25 years of age or younger.
(b) This subsection applies only to a person who is
convicted of an offense described by Subsection (a) and is not
sentenced to confinement in jail or to a person who is placed on
deferred disposition or granted a deferred adjudication for an
offense described by Subsection (a). In addition to any fine,
charge, administrative fee, or special expense imposed on the
defendant, the judge or justice of the court shall order the
defendant to successfully complete a driving safety course and
present a uniform certificate of course completion to the court
within a reasonable period set by the court.
(c) If a person required to take a driving safety course
under Subsection (b) fails to furnish evidence of the successful
completion of the course within the time required by the court, the
court may order the Texas Department of Public Safety to suspend the
person's driver's license for a period not to exceed 90 days from
the date of the order.
(d) If at the conclusion of a deferral period, a person who
was required to complete a driving safety course as a condition of
deferred adjudication or deferred disposition does not present a
uniform certificate of course completion, the judge or justice may
impose the fine or other sentence on the person.
(e) If a person complies with a court's order under
Subsection (b), the court shall report the fact that the person
successfully completed a driving safety course and the date of
completion to the Texas Department of Public Safety for inclusion
in the person's driving record.
(f) An insurer delivering or issuing for delivery a motor
vehicle insurance policy in this state:
(1) is not prohibited from canceling or increasing the
premium charged an insured under the policy because the insured
completed a driving safety course under this section; and
(2) is not required to grant a premium discount to a
person who successfully completes a driving safety course under
this section.
(g) A driver's license suspended under Subsection (c) may
not be reinstated or another license issued to the person until the
person pays the department the reinstatement fee specified by
Section 521.313, Transportation Code.
SECTION 2. Section 521.457(a), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) A person commits an offense if the person operates a
motor vehicle on a highway:
(1) after the person's driver's license has been
canceled under this chapter if the person does not have a license
that was subsequently issued under this chapter;
(2) during a period that the person's driver's license
or privilege is suspended or revoked under:
(A) this chapter;
(B) Chapter 524;
(C) Chapter 724;
(D) Section 106.071, Alcoholic Beverage Code;
[or]
(E) Article 42.12, Code of Criminal Procedure; or
(F) Section 12.50, Penal Code;
(3) while the person's driver's license is expired if
the license expired during a period of suspension imposed under:
(A) this chapter;
(B) Chapter 524;
(C) Chapter 724;
(D) Section 106.071, Alcoholic Beverage Code;
[or]
(E) Article 42.12, Code of Criminal Procedure; or
(F) Section 12.50, Penal Code; or
(4) after renewal of the person's driver's license has
been denied under Chapter 706, if the person does not have a
driver's license subsequently issued under this chapter.
SECTION 3. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.
(b) The change in law made by this Act applies only to an
offense committed on or after September 1, 2003.
(c) An offense committed before September 1, 2003, is
covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of
this section, an offense was committed before September 1, 2003, if
any element of the offense was committed before that date.