Traffic Safety

Plain English Breakdown

The official source does not provide specific details on the immediate effect of the bill becoming law.

Speed Limit Changes for Tennessee Counties

This bill amends existing laws to allow counties in Tennessee to set lower speed limits on roads they maintain and delegate this authority under specific conditions.

What This Bill Does

• Allows county legislative bodies, including those with a metropolitan form of government, to establish lower speed limits on roads maintained by the county and requires appropriate signs and traffic signals.
• Enables counties to delegate the power to set lower speed limits to the chief administrative officer of the highway department if an engineer capable of conducting necessary investigations is employed.
• Specifies that engineering and traffic investigations for setting speed limits must follow established practices, including guidelines from the MUTCD.

Who It Names or Affects

• Counties in Tennessee
• Drivers on roads maintained by counties

Terms To Know

MUTCD

Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, a set of guidelines for traffic signs and signals.

Chief Administrative Officer

The top official in charge of the county highway department who can be given authority to set speed limits under certain conditions.

Limits and Unknowns

• Does not specify how much lower speed limits counties can make.
• Doesn't explain what happens if a county doesn't have an engineer for traffic investigations.

Official Summary Text

Present law authorizes t
he legislative body of any county, except the legislative bodies of any counties having a commission form of government, to prescri
be such lower speed limits as it may deem appropriate on any road being maintained by the county and shall erect appropriate signs and traffic signals.

In those counties having a commission form of government, the board of commissioners
has such authority
.

This bill rewrites the provisions above to, instead, provide the following:



The legislative body of any county, including a county having a metropolitan form of government, has the power to prescribe such lower speed limits as it may deem appropriate on any road being maintained by the county and
must
erect appropriate signs and traffic signals.
T
he board of commissioners has
such
power in a county that has a commission form of government.



A county legislative body may delegate, by resolution of the body, the authority to lower
such
speed limits on roads to the chief administrative officer of the county highway department if the department employs an engineer capable of completing engineering and traffic investigations and ensures the completion of the same.



Engineering and traffic investigations used to establish speed limits by counties on roads maintained by the county must be made in accordance with established traffic engineering practices and in a manner that conforms to the guidelines in the manual on uniform traffic control devices (MUTCD), and within state supplemental guidelines. The investigations must be documented, and documentation must be maintained by the jurisdiction performing or sponsoring the investigation.

Current Bill Text

HOUSE BILL 975
By Burkhart

SENATE BILL 954
By Powers

SB0954
003075
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 55,
Chapter 8, relative to speed limits.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 55-8-153, is amended by deleting
subsection (d) and substituting instead the following:
(1) The legislative body of any county, including a county having a metropolitan
form of government, has the power to prescribe such lower speed limits as it may deem
appropriate on any road being maintained by the county and shall erect appropriate
signs and traffic signals.
(2) A county legislative body may delegate, by resolution of the body, the
authority to lower speed limits on roads described in this subsection (d) to the chief
administrative officer of the county highway department if the department employs an
engineer capable of completing engineering and traffic investigations and ensures the
completion of the same. For purposes of this subdivision (d)(2), "chief administrative
officer" has the same meaning as defined in § 54-7-103.
(3) Engineering and traffic investigations used to establish speed limits by
counties on roads maintained by the county must be made in accordance with
established traffic engineering practices and in a manner that conforms to the guidelines
in the manual on uniform traffic control devices (MUTCD), and within state supplemental
guidelines. The investigations must be documented, and documentation must be
maintained by the jurisdiction performing or sponsoring the investigation.

- 2 - 003075

(4) Notwithstanding subdivision (d)(1), the board of commissioners has the
power prescribed in this section in a county that has a commission form of government.
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.