80R7359 DWS-D
 
  By: Bonnen H.B. No. 1840
 
 
 
   
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the punishment for failing to stop following a motor
vehicle accident.
       BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
       SECTION 1.  Section 550.021(c), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
       (c)  A person commits an offense if the person does not stop
or does not comply with the requirements of this section. An
offense under this section:
             (1)  involving an accident resulting in death of or
serious bodily injury, as defined by Section 1.07, Penal Code, to a
person is a felony of the third degree; and
             (2)  involving an accident resulting in injury to which
Subdivision (1) does not apply is punishable by:
                   (A) [(1)]  imprisonment in the [institutional
division of the] Texas Department of Criminal Justice for not more
than five years or confinement in the county jail for not more than
one year;
                   (B) [(2)]  a fine not to exceed $5,000; or
                   (C) [(3)]  both the fine and the imprisonment or
confinement.
       SECTION 2.  (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 the purposes of this section, an offense is committed
before the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense
occurs before that date.
       (b)  An offense committed before the effective date of this
Act is governed by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
       SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2007.