Sec. 647.009. LIMITATION ON OPERATION OF MOTOR VEHICLE. (a) Except in an emergency, a person assigned to operate a motor vehicle transporting migrant workers may not allow another person to operate the motor vehicle without the carrier's authorization.

(b) A person may not operate a motor vehicle if the person's alertness or ability to operate the vehicle is impaired for any reason, including fatigue or illness, to the extent that it is not safe for the person to begin or to continue. This subsection does not apply if there is a grave emergency in which failure to operate a motor vehicle would result in a greater hazard to passengers. However, the person may operate the motor vehicle only to the nearest location at which the passengers' safety is ensured.

(c) A carrier may not permit or require a person to operate a motor vehicle from one location to another in a period that would necessitate the operation of the vehicle at a speed in excess of the applicable speed limit.

(d) An operator shall make a meal stop of not less than 30 minutes at least every six hours. The carrier shall provide for reasonable rest stops at least once between each meal stop.

(e) The operator of a truck transporting migrant agricultural workers for more than 500 miles shall stop for at least eight hours to provide rest for the operator and passengers either before or at the completion of each 500 miles.

(f) A person may not operate and a carrier may not permit or require the person to operate a motor vehicle for more than 10 hours in the aggregate, excluding meal and rest stops, during any 24-hour period unless the person rests for at least eight consecutive hours at the end of the 10-hour period. For purposes of this subsection, the 24-hour period begins at the time the operator reports for duty.

Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 62, Sec. 17.34(a), eff. Sept. 1, 1999.