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Votes at a glance: Tennessee Transportation Subcommittee advances several bills, including veteran placard and UTV rules
Summary
At its March 4 meeting the House Transportation Subcommittee advanced multiple bills to the full transportation committee on unanimous subcommittee votes, including disabled veteran parking placards, UTV/side-by-side rules, antique emergency vehicle lighting allowances and clarifications on county speed-limit authority.
The Tennessee House Transportation Subcommittee on March 4 advanced a package of bills to the full transportation committee by recorded unanimous or near-unanimous votes. The measures below were approved for further consideration; vote tallies shown are the subcommittee counts recorded at the meeting.
- House Bill 1350 (Chairlady Littleton): Creates a disabled-veteran-specific parking placard. The amendment adopted set the effective date to July 1, 2026, at the Department of Revenue's request. Vote: 9 ayes. The sponsor said qualifying veterans may choose either the free plate or the placard; a plate-holder may elect to purchase a placard for shared vehicle use.
- House Bill 442 (Chairman Hulsey): Allows certain antique emergency vehicles over 25 years old with appropriate tags to display historically accurate blue or red lights for parades and displays, with an authorizing letter from the local police chief required. Vote: 9 ayes.
- House Bill 28 (Chairman Hale): Prohibits requiring visually impaired vehicle owners who do not drive from carrying commercial insurance when they own but do not operate the vehicle; sponsor said affected individuals were being charged higher commercial rates despite posing no additional risk. Vote: 9 ayes.
- House Bill 810 (Chairman Grills): Comprehensive update of rules for side-by-side utility vehicles (UTVs) on roads, developed in coordination with the Department of Safety after multi-year work. Amendment drafting code 004345 was adopted. Vote: 9 ayes.
- House Bill 975 (Representative Burkhart): Permits a county commission to delegate authority to lower speed limits on county-maintained roads to the county highway supervisor when the county employs an engineer and has completed traffic investigations. Sponsor described the measure as permissive for local governments. Vote: 9 ayes.
- House Bill 1118 (Chairman Bridal): Permits marked mobile command or communications vehicles used by 9-1-1 districts to use red and white flashing lights and other safety equipment when responding to disasters; committee noted siren use is required when lights are used on the road. Vote: 9 ayes.
- House Bill 425 (Leader Love): Removes a statutory 10-day deadline that, as interpreted, required people to both submit court restoration paperwork and complete any testing within 10 days; the bill allows the paperwork to be submitted and testing to occur at a later time. Vote: 9 ayes.
Other calendar items: House Bill 816 was taken off notice; House Bills 736, 737 and 537 were rolled for one week. House Bill 770 failed in subcommittee (see separate article).
Each bill will next be considered by the full House transportation committee on its regular calendar.
