SB1493

New Transportation Code Section 547.323(g) applies only to a high-mounted stoplamp, not every vehicle light. It says the lamp is considered compliant with current 49 C.F.R. Section 571.108 for purposes of Texas Section 547.3215 if it “varies in intensity four or fewer times but never deactivates when the vehicle brakes for not more than two seconds.” The lamp must remain on; this is not blanket permission for on-and-off flashing brake lights. The act does not require drivers to install a new lamp. Final law.

Before this addition, Section 547.3215 already required vehicle lighting to meet the current federal standard or the standard in effect when the vehicle was manufactured, unless specifically prohibited by the chapter. The new subsection adds a Texas rule for the stated brightness variation; it does not rewrite the federal regulation. Prior Texas federal-standard rule; Final law.

All five published versions contain the same two operative sections. The official amendment index lists no amendments; there was no floor-amendment change to summarize. Introduced; Senate committee; Senate-passed; House committee; Final law; Version index; Amendment index.

Compare the published text versions in the official text index. A change is not attributed to a specific amendment here without a verified record.

Owners of vehicles with a lamp meeting the stated conditions gain an express rule in Texas equipment law. The bill provides no rebate, payment or requirement to buy that equipment. The March 28 Legislative Budget Board fiscal note anticipates no significant fiscal impact on the state or local governments, assuming state costs can be absorbed with existing resources. That is not an estimate of a driver’s equipment costs or proof that these lights prevent crashes. Final law; Fiscal note.

Texas treatment is not federal approval of a particular product or installation. The official 2025 edition of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 108, Table I-a, calls for high-mounted stop lamps to be “steady burning.” Federal law also limits differing state standards for the same aspect of vehicle performance, and separately restricts manufacturers, dealers and specified other businesses from knowingly making federally required safety equipment inoperative. This briefing does not resolve how those federal rules apply to a particular brightness-varying lamp, or certify that SB1493 overrides them. 2025 federal lighting standard, including Table I-a and S7.9; Federal relationship to state standards (49 U.S.C. 30103); Federal restriction on making safety devices inoperative (49 U.S.C. 30122); Final law.