Section 547.615 - Recording Devices(a) In this section: (1) "Owner" means a person who: (A) has all the incidents of ownership of a motor vehicle, including legal title, regardless of whether the person lends, rents, or creates a security interest in the vehicle;(B) is entitled to possession of a motor vehicle as a purchaser under a security agreement; or(C) is entitled to possession of a motor vehicle as a lessee under a written lease agreement if the agreement is for a period of not less than three months.(2) "Recording device" means a feature that is installed by the manufacturer in a motor vehicle and that does any of the following for the purpose of retrieving information from the vehicle after a collision in which the vehicle has been involved: (A) records the speed and direction the vehicle is traveling; (B) records vehicle location data; (C) records steering performance; (D) records brake performance, including information on whether brakes were applied before a collision ; (E) records the driver's safety belt status; or (F) transmits information concerning the collision to a central communications system when the collision occurs. (b) A manufacturer of a new motor vehicle that is sold or leased in this state and that is equipped with a recording device shall disclose that fact in the owner's manual of the vehicle.(c) Information recorded or transmitted by a recording device may not be retrieved by a person other than the owner of the motor vehicle in which the recording device is installed except: (2) with the consent of the owner for any purpose, including for the purpose of diagnosing, servicing, or repairing the motor vehicle; (3) for the purpose of improving motor vehicle safety, including for medical research on the human body's reaction to motor vehicle collisions , if the identity of the owner or driver of the vehicle is not disclosed in connection with the retrieved information; or (4) for the purpose of determining the need for or facilitating emergency medical response in the event of a motor vehicle collision . (d) For information recorded or transmitted by a recording device described by Subsection (a)(2)(B), a court order may be obtained only after a showing that:(1) retrieval of the information is necessary to protect the public safety; or(2) the information is evidence of an offense or constitutes evidence that a particular person committed an offense.(e) For the purposes of Subsection (c)(3):(1) disclosure of a motor vehicle's vehicle identification number with the last six digits deleted or redacted is not disclosure of the identity of the owner or driver; and(2) retrieved information may be disclosed only:(A) for the purposes of motor vehicle safety and medical research communities to advance the purposes described in Subsection (c)(3); or(B) to a data processor solely for the purposes described in Subsection (c)(3).(f) If a recording device is used as part of a subscription service, the subscription service agreement must disclose that the device may record or transmit information as described by Subsection (a)(2). Subsection (c) does not apply to a subscription service under this subsection.Tex. Transp. Code § 547.615
Amended by Acts 2023, Texas Acts of the 88th Leg.- Regular Session, ch. 709,Sec. 41, eff. 9/1/2023.Amended by Acts 2023, Texas Acts of the 88th Leg.- Regular Session, ch. 709,Sec. 40, eff. 9/1/2023.Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 910 (H.B. 160), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2006.