SB305

SB305 extends Texas’s move-over-or-slow-down law to certain animal-removal and parking-enforcement vehicles. Signed May 20, 2025, it took effect September 1, 2025. It adds two categories to Transportation Code 545.157 rather than changing the driving instructions or penalty ranges. Final law; Official history.

The first category covers a vehicle operated by an animal control officer to remove an animal or animal carcass from a roadway, or by a person authorized under Health and Safety Code 361.117 to dispose of a carcass while removing it from a roadway. The second covers a vehicle operated by a local-authority employee for issuing a parking citation. Both new categories must be using visual signals that comply with the standards adopted under Transportation Code 547.105. The protection is not a blanket rule for any animal-related vehicle, private parking operator or vehicle without the required signals.

Under the existing rule, unless a police officer directs otherwise, an approaching driver must either leave the lane nearest the covered vehicle on a highway with at least two lanes traveling in that direction, or slow to no more than 20 mph below the posted limit when the limit is at least 25 mph. Where the limit is below 25 mph, the slow-down option is no more than 5 mph. For example, on a 65-mph road the slow-down option is 45 mph or less, not simply “drive 20 mph.” Existing driving rule and penalties.

The existing penalty framework now applies to these added vehicles: ordinarily a $500–$1,250 misdemeanor fine; $1,000–$2,000 for a repeat offense within five years; a Class A misdemeanor if another person suffers bodily injury; and a state jail felony for a repeat injury offense. A prior conviction can also support a court-ordered license suspension of up to six months. SB305 does not create those penalty amounts anew. Pre-existing enforcement provisions.