78R5988 DWS-D

By:  Ogden                                                        S.B. No. 662



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to speed limits on certain highways.                                 
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 545.352(b), Transportation Code, as 
amended by Chapters 663, 739, and 1346, Acts of the 76th 
Legislature, Regular Session, 1999, is reenacted and amended to 
read as follows:
	(b)  Unless a special hazard exists that requires a slower 
speed for compliance with Section 545.351(b), the following speeds 
are lawful:
		(1)  30 miles per hour in an urban district on a street 
other than an alley and 15 miles per hour in an alley;
		(2)  70 miles per hour in daytime and 65 miles per hour 
in nighttime if the vehicle is on a highway numbered by this state 
or the United States outside an urban district, including a 
farm-to-market or ranch-to-market road, except as provided by 
Subdivision (4);
		(3)  60 miles per hour in daytime and 55 miles per hour 
in nighttime if the vehicle is on a highway that is outside an urban 
district and:
			(A)  the highway is not a highway numbered by this 
state or the United States; or
			(B)  the highway does not have a paved surface 
more than 22 feet wide and does not have an improved shoulder on 
both sides of the highway, except that this paragraph does not apply 
to a part of a highway that narrows to a paved surface 22 feet wide 
or less or does not have an improved shoulder on both sides of the 
highway solely due to the highway crossing a bridge, overpass, or 
similar structure;
		(4)  outside an urban district:                                               
			(A)  60 miles per hour if the vehicle is a school 
bus that has passed a commercial motor vehicle inspection under 
Section 548.201 and is on a highway numbered by the United States or 
this state, including a farm-to-market road;
			(B)  50 miles per hour if the vehicle is a school 
bus that:                
				(i)  has not passed a commercial motor 
vehicle inspection under Section 548.201; or
				(ii)  is traveling on a highway not numbered 
by the United States or this state; or
			(C)  60 miles per hour in daytime and 55 miles per 
hour in nighttime if:   
				(i)  the vehicle is a truck, other than a 
light truck, or [if] the vehicle is a truck tractor, trailer, or 
semitrailer; and
				(ii)  the vehicle is on a farm-to-market or 
ranch-to-market road;         
		(5)  on a beach, 15 miles per hour; or                                        
		(6)  on a county road adjacent to a public beach, 15 
miles per hour, if declared by the commissioners court of the 
county.
	SECTION 2.  Section 545.353(d), Transportation Code, is 
amended to read as follows:
	(d)  Except as provided by Subsection (h), the commission may 
not:           
		(1)  modify the rules established by Section 
545.351(b);                    
		(2)  establish a speed limit of more than 70 miles per 
hour; or             
		(3)  increase the speed limit for a vehicle described 
by Section 545.352(b)(4) [545.352(b)(5)].
	SECTION 3.  Section 548.201(b), Transportation Code, is 
amended to read as follows:
	(b)  A program under this section also applies to any:                         
		(1)  vehicle or combination of vehicles with a gross 
weight rating of more than 10,000 pounds that is operated in 
interstate commerce and registered in this state;
		(2)  school activity bus, as defined in Section 
541.201, that has a gross weight, registered weight, or gross 
weight rating of more than 26,000 pounds, or is designed to 
transport more than 15 passengers, including the driver; and
		(3)  school bus that will operate at a speed authorized 
by Section 545.352(b)(4)(A) [545.352(b)(5)(A)].
	SECTION 4.  (a)  The change in law made by this Act applies 
only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this 
Act.  For purposes of this section, an offense was committed before 
the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense 
occurred before that date.
	(b)  An offense committed before the effective date of this 
Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed, 
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
	SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.