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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to the prima facie speed limit on certain streets and |
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highways. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Section 545.352(b), Transportation Code, is |
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amended to read as follows: |
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(b) Unless a special hazard exists that requires a slower |
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speed for compliance with Section 545.351(b), the following speeds |
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are lawful: |
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(1) 25 [30] miles per hour in an urban district on a |
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street other than an alley and 15 miles per hour in an alley; |
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(2) except as provided by Subdivision (4), 70 miles |
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per hour on a highway numbered by this state or the United States |
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outside an urban district, including a farm-to-market or |
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ranch-to-market road; |
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(3) except as provided by Subdivision (4), 60 miles |
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per hour on a highway that is outside an urban district and not a |
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highway numbered by this state or the United States; |
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(4) outside an urban district: |
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(A) 60 miles per hour if the vehicle is a school |
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bus that has passed a commercial motor vehicle inspection under |
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Section 548.201 and is on a highway numbered by the United States or |
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this state, including a farm-to-market road; or |
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(B) 50 miles per hour if the vehicle is a school |
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bus that: |
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(i) has not passed a commercial motor |
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vehicle inspection under Section 548.201; or |
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(ii) is traveling on a highway not numbered |
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by the United States or this state; |
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(5) on a beach, 15 miles per hour; or |
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(6) on a county road adjacent to a public beach, 15 |
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miles per hour, if declared by the commissioners court of the |
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county. |
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SECTION 2. Sections 545.356(b-1) and (d), Transportation |
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Code, are amended to read as follows: |
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(b-1) Except as provided by Subsection (b-3), the governing |
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body of a municipality, for a highway or a part of a highway in the |
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municipality that is not an officially designated or marked highway |
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or road of the state highway system, may declare a lower speed limit |
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of not less than 20 [25] miles per hour, if the governing body |
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determines that the prima facie speed limit on the highway is |
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unreasonable or unsafe. |
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(d) The governing body of a municipality that declares a |
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lower speed limit on a highway or part of a highway under Subsection |
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(b-1) or (b-3), not later than February 1 of each year, shall |
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publish on its Internet website and submit to the department a |
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report that compares for each of the two previous calendar years: |
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(1) the number of traffic citations issued by peace |
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officers of the municipality and the alleged speed of the vehicles, |
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for speed limit violations on the highway or part of the highway; |
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[(2) the number of warning citations issued by peace
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officers of the municipality on the highway or part of the highway;] |
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and |
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(2) [(3)] the number of vehicular accidents that |
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resulted in injury or death and were attributable to speed limit |
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violations on the highway or part of the highway. |
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SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act to Section |
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545.352(b), Transportation Code, applies only to an offense for a |
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violation of that section committed on or after the effective date |
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of this Act. An offense for a violation of that section committed |
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before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in |
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effect on the date the offense was committed, and the former law is |
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continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this section, |
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an offense was committed before the effective date of this Act if |
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any element of the offense occurred before that date. |
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SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019. |