BILL ANALYSIS

S.B. 511

By: Rodríguez

Transportation

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Concerns have been raised regarding the high incidence of motor vehicle accidents that are due to tire blowouts, tire tread separations, and bald tires. S.B. 511 seeks to address these concerns and help prevent tire-related accidents by providing for a civil penalty for the installation of an unsafe tire on a motor vehicle to be used on a public street or highway.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

S.B. 511 amends the Transportation Code to prohibit a person who owns or operates a business that installs tires on motor vehicles or an employee of the person from knowingly installing an unsafe tire, as defined by the bill, on a motor vehicle to be used on a public street or highway. The bill makes a person who violates the prohibition liable to the state for a civil penalty capped at $500 and establishes that the prohibition does not apply to the reinstallation of a tire on a motor vehicle that had been removed from the motor vehicle. The bill makes the misdemeanor offense for a person who performs an act prohibited or fails to perform an act required by provisions governing the rules of the road inapplicable to a violation of the bill's prohibition.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2019.