Tex. Transp. Code § 522.003 · Subchapter A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
DEFINITIONS.
Text — Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
In this chapter:
(1) "Alcohol" means:
(A) malt beverages or any other similar fermented beverages or products containing one-half of one percent or more of alcohol by volume, brewed or produced wholly or in part from malt or a malt substitute;
(B) wine, including sake, containing one-half of one percent or more of alcohol by volume; or
(C) distilled spirits, including ethyl alcohol, ethanol, and spirits of wine in any form, and all dilutions and mixtures of distilled spirits from whatever source or by whatever process produced.
(2) "Alcohol concentration" means the number of grams of alcohol for each:
(A) 100 milliliters of blood;
(B) 210 liters of breath; or
(C) 67 milliliters of urine.
(3) "Commercial driver's license" means a license issued to an individual that authorizes the individual to drive a class of commercial motor vehicle.
(4) "Commercial learner's permit" means a permit that restricts the holder to driving a commercial motor vehicle as provided by Section 522.011(a)(2)(B).
(5) "Commercial motor vehicle" has the meaning assigned by 49 C.F.R. Section 383.5.
(6) "Controlled substance" means a substance classified as a controlled substance under:
(A) Section 102(6), Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. Section 802(6)), including Schedules I-V of 21 C.F.R. Part 1308; or
(B) Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code.
(7) "Conviction" means:
(A) an adjudication of guilt, an unvacated forfeiture of bail or collateral deposited to secure the person's appearance in court, a plea of guilty or nolo contendere accepted by the court, the payment of a fine or court costs, or the violation of a condition of release without bail, in a court, regardless of whether the penalty is suspended, probated, or rebated; or
(B) a determination by a court, an authorized administrative tribunal or officer, or the department as authorized by this chapter that:
(i) the person has refused to give a specimen to determine the person's alcohol concentration or the presence in the person's body of a controlled substance or drug while driving a commercial motor vehicle; or
(ii) the person has driven a commercial motor vehicle while the person's alcohol concentration was 0.04 or more.
(8) "Department" means the Department of Public Safety.
(9) "Disqualify" means to withdraw the privilege to drive a commercial motor vehicle, including to suspend, cancel, or revoke that privilege under a state or federal law.
(10) "Domicile" means the place where a person has the person's true, fixed, and permanent home and principal residence and to which the person intends to return whenever absent.
(11) "Drive" means to operate or be in physical control of a motor vehicle.
(12) "Driver's license" has the meaning assigned by Section 521.001, except the term does not include a commercial learner's permit unless otherwise provided by this chapter.
(13) "Drug" has the meaning assigned by Section 481.002, Health and Safety Code.
(14) "Employer" means a person who owns or leases a commercial motor vehicle or assigns a person to drive a commercial motor vehicle.
(15) "Federal act" means the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986 (49 U.S.C. App. Section 2701 et seq.).
(16) "Foreign jurisdiction" means a jurisdiction other than a state.
(17) "Gross combination weight rating" means the value specified by the manufacturer as the loaded weight of a combination or articulated vehicle or, if the manufacturer has not specified a value, the sum of the gross vehicle weight rating of the power unit and the total weight of the towed unit or units and any load on a towed unit.
(18) "Gross vehicle weight rating" means the value specified by the manufacturer as the loaded weight of a single vehicle.
(19) "Hazardous materials" has the meaning assigned by 49 C.F.R. Section 383.5.
(20) Repealed by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 941, Sec. 43, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.
(21) "Motor vehicle" means a vehicle, machine, tractor, trailer, or semitrailer propelled or drawn by mechanical power and used on a highway. The term does not include a vehicle, machine, tractor, trailer, or semitrailer operated exclusively on a rail.
(22) "Non-domiciled commercial driver's license" means a commercial driver's license issued by a state to an individual who is domiciled in a foreign jurisdiction.
(22-a) "Non-domiciled commercial learner's permit" means a commercial learner's permit issued by a state to an individual who is domiciled in a foreign jurisdiction.
(23) "Out-of-service order" means:
(A) a temporary prohibition against driving a commercial motor vehicle issued under Section 522.101, the law of another state, 49 C.F.R. Section 383.5, 386.72, 392.5, 392.9a, 395.13, or 396.9, a law compatible with those federal regulations, or the North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria; or
(B) a declaration by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration or an authorized enforcement officer of a state or local jurisdiction that a driver, commercial motor vehicle, or motor carrier operation is out of service under 49 C.F.R. Section 383.5, 386.72, 392.5, 392.9a, 395.13, or 396.9, a law compatible with those federal regulations, or the North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria.
(23-a) "Person" includes the United States, a state, or a political subdivision of a state.
(24) "Secretary" means the United States secretary of transportation.
(24-a) "Seed cotton module" means compacted seed cotton in any form.
(25) "Serious traffic violation" means:
(A) a conviction arising from the driving of a motor vehicle, other than a parking, vehicle weight, or vehicle defect violation, for:
(i) excessive speeding, involving a single charge of driving 15 miles per hour or more above the posted speed limit;
(ii) reckless driving, as defined by state or local law;
(iii) a violation of a state or local law related to motor vehicle traffic control, including a law regulating the operation of vehicles on highways, arising in connection with a fatal collision;
(iv) improper or erratic traffic lane change;
(v) following the vehicle ahead too closely; or
(vi) a violation of Sections 522.011 or 522.042; or
(B) a violation of Section 522.015.
(26) "State" means a state of the United States or the District of Columbia.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 165, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995. Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 941, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 2001; Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 991, Sec. 6, eff. June 1, 2005; Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1325, Sec. 8.01, eff. June 1, 2005.
Amended by:
Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 247 (H.B. 749), Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2005.
Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 424 (S.B. 1372), Sec. 3, eff. January 1, 2008.
Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 782 (S.B. 1093), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2009.
Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 752 (H.B. 1888), Sec. 3, eff. January 1, 2016.
Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1359 (H.B. 1545), Sec. 404, eff. September 1, 2021.
Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 609 (H.B. 3646), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2023.
Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 709 (H.B. 2190), Sec. 26, eff. September 1, 2023.
Source of truth
- Edition
- Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
- Official file
- https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/TN/htm/TN.522.htm
- Text hash
- sha256 f94411d3fce2fd071001cb2b0349cdea90391277bf33daad4dee16ec9cf34360
- Composed by
- compose_tx.py 2026-10-05: the Legislative Council's chapter files read in document order; verify_tx.py's independent reading (lxml DOM walk) agrees character for character
This section cites
Provisions in this library that the text above cites, as it prints each citation. A range cited as “ss. 61.13-61.16” links its first and last provisions.
Health and Safety Code
Transportation Code
- Tex. Transp. Code § 521.001DEFINITIONS.Printed as Section 521.001
- Tex. Transp. Code § 522.011LICENSE OR PERMIT REQUIRED; OFFENSE.Printed as Section 522.011(a)(2)(B) | Sections 522.011 or 522.042
- Tex. Transp. Code § 522.015LICENSE OR PERMIT ISSUED BY OTHER JURISDICTION.Printed as Section 522.015
- Tex. Transp. Code § 522.042ENDORSEMENTS; OFFENSE.Printed as Sections 522.011 or 522.042
- Tex. Transp. Code § 522.101DRIVING WHILE HAVING ALCOHOL IN SYSTEM PROHIBITED.Printed as Section 522.101
Cited by 7 provisions
Provisions in this library whose text cites Tex. Transp. Code § 522.003. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.
Code of Criminal Procedure
Transportation Code
- Tex. Transp. Code § 224.151DEFINITIONS.Printed as Section 522.003
- Tex. Transp. Code § 521.001DEFINITIONS.Printed as Section 522.003
- Tex. Transp. Code § 521.027PERSONS EXEMPT FROM LICENSE REQUIREMENT.Printed as Section 522.003
- Tex. Transp. Code § 521.203RESTRICTIONS ON CLASS A AND B LICENSES.Printed as Section 522.003
- Tex. Transp. Code § 523.003DEFINITIONS.Printed as Section 522.003
- Tex. Transp. Code § 545.307OVERNIGHT PARKING OF COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLE IN OR NEAR RESIDENTIAL SUBDIVISION.Printed as Section 522.003
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.