81R3865 KJM-D
 
  By: Howard of Fort Bend H.B. No. 2412
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the registration and compulsory inspection of certain
  street rods and custom vehicles.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Sections 504.502(a), (b), and (i),
  Transportation Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (a)  The department shall issue specialty license plates for
  a passenger car, truck, motorcycle, or former military vehicle
  that:
               (1)  is at least 25 years old, if the vehicle is a
  passenger car, truck, or motorcycle or is a street rod or custom
  vehicle;
               (2)  is a collector's item;
               (3)  is used exclusively for exhibitions, club
  activities, parades, and other functions of public interest and is
  not used for regular transportation; and
               (4)  does not carry advertising.
         (b)  The license plates must include the words "Antique
  Auto," "Antique Truck," "Antique Motorcycle," "Street Rod,"
  "Custom Vehicle," or "Military Vehicle," as appropriate.
         (i)  In this section:
               (1)  "Custom vehicle" means a vehicle that:
                     (A)  is:
                           (i)  at least 25 years old and of a model
  year after 1948; or
                           (ii)  manufactured to resemble a vehicle
  that is at least 25 years old and of a model year after 1948; and
                     (B)  has:
                           (i)  been altered from the manufacturer's
  original design; or
                           (ii)  a body constructed from materials not
  original to the vehicle.
               (2)  "Former[, "former] military vehicle" means a
  vehicle, including a trailer, regardless of the vehicle's size,
  weight, or year of manufacture, that:
                     (A) [(1)]  was manufactured for use in any
  country's military forces; and
                     (B) [(2)]  is maintained to represent its military
  design and markings accurately.
               (3)  "Street rod" means a vehicle that:
                     (A)  was manufactured:
                           (i)  before 1949; or
                           (ii)  after 1948 to resemble a vehicle
  manufactured before 1949; and
                     (B)  has:
                           (i)  been altered from the manufacturer's
  original design; or
                           (ii)  a body constructed from materials not
  original to the vehicle.
         SECTION 2.  Section 548.052, Transportation Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         Sec. 548.052.  VEHICLES NOT SUBJECT TO INSPECTION. This
  chapter does not apply to:
               (1)  a trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, or mobile
  home moving under or bearing a current factory-delivery license
  plate or current in-transit license plate;
               (2)  a vehicle moving under or bearing a paper dealer
  in-transit tag, machinery license, disaster license, parade
  license, prorate tab, one-trip permit, antique license, custom
  vehicle license, street rod license, temporary 24-hour permit, or
  permit license;
               (3)  a trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, or mobile
  home having an actual gross weight or registered gross weight of
  4,500 pounds or less;
               (4)  farm machinery, road-building equipment, a farm
  trailer, or a vehicle required to display a slow-moving-vehicle
  emblem under Section 547.703;
               (5)  a former military vehicle, as defined by Section
  504.502(i) [502.275];
               (6)  a vehicle qualified for a tax exemption under
  Section 152.092, Tax Code; or
               (7)  a vehicle for which a certificate of title has been
  issued but that is not required to be registered.
         SECTION 3.  Section 504.502, Transportation Code, as amended
  by this Act, applies only to a registration period beginning on or
  after the effective date of this Act.
         SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.