LCO No. 4605 1 of 5
General Assembly Raised Bill No. 925
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 4605
Referred to Committee on TRANSPORTATION
Introduced by:
(TRA)
AN ACT CONCERNING AN ADVANCED OPERATOR'S RETRAININ G
PROGRAM.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 14-111g of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2019): 2
(a) For the purposes of this subsection, "moving violation" means 3
any violation of subsection (c) of section 14-36 or section 14-36g, 14-4
212d, 14-218a, 14-219, 14-222, 14-223, 14-230 to 14-249, inclusive, 14-5
279, 14-283, 14-289b, 14-296aa, 14-299, 14-300, 14-301, 14-302 or 14-303, 6
and "suspension violation" means a violation of section 14-222a, 14-7
224, 14-227a, 14-227m or 14-227n, or section 53a-56b, 53a-57 or 53a-60d. 8
The Commissioner of Motor Vehicles may require any motor vehicle 9
operator who is twenty-four years of age or less, who has been 10
convicted of a moving violation or a suspension violation, or both, 11
committed on two or more occasions to attend [a motor vehicle] an 12
operator's retraining program. The commissioner may require any 13
motor vehicle operator over twenty-four years of age, who has been 14
convicted of a moving violation or a suspension violation or a 15 Raised Bill No. 925
LCO No. 4605 2 of 5
combination of said violations, committed on three or more occasions 16
to attend [a motor vehicle] an operator's retraining program. The 17
commissioner shall require any motor vehicle operator convicted of 18
traveling more than seventy-five miles per hour or any person 19
operating a commercial motor vehicle convicted of traveling more than 20
sixty-five miles per hour in a highway work zone, as defined in section 21
14-212d, to attend [a motor vehicle] an operator's retraining program. 22
The commissioner shall notify such operator, in writing, of such 23
requirement. A fee of not more than eighty-five dollars shall be 24
charged for the operator's retraining program. The commissioner, after 25
notice and opportunity for hearing, [may] shall suspend the motor 26
vehicle operator's license of any such operator who fails to attend or 27
successfully complete the program until the operator successfully 28
completes the program. The hearing shall be limited to any claim of 29
impossibility of the operator to attend the [retraining] program, or to a 30
determination of mistake or misidentification. 31
(b) The operator's retraining program shall be taught by a designee 32
of the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles or by an instructor approved 33
by the commissioner and shall (1) review principles of motor vehicle 34
operation, (2) develop alternative attitudes for those attitudes 35
contributing to aggressive driving behavior, and (3) emphasize the 36
need to practice safe driving behavior. 37
(c) The operator's retraining program and the advanced operator's 38
retraining program, as described in subsection (e) of this section, shall 39
be offered by the Department of Motor Vehicles or by any other 40
organization certified by the commissioner to conduct such [program] 41
programs. Any drivers' school, as defined in section 14-68, that meets 42
the licensure requirements of part IV of this chapter shall be eligible to 43
seek certification to offer [the motor vehicle operator's retraining 44
program] such programs. The commissioner shall determine the 45
number of program providers necessary to serve the needs of the 46
public. Each organization or drivers' school seeking certification or 47
recertification to conduct such [retraining program] programs shall 48
submit an application to the department in such form as the 49 Raised Bill No. 925
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commissioner shall require and an application fee of three hundred 50
fifty dollars. Each such applicant shall: [(A)] (1) Be registered to do 51
business in this state and continuously maintain good standing with 52
the office of the Secretary of the State; [(B)] (2) file and continuously 53
maintain a surety bond in the amount of fifty thousand dollars. Such 54
bond shall be conditioned upon compliance with the provisions of any 55
state or federal law or regulation concerning the conduct of an 56
[operator] operator's retraining program or an advanced operator's 57
retraining program and provided as indemnity for any loss or expense 58
sustained by either the state or any person by reason of any acts or 59
omissions of the program provider. Such bond shall be executed in the 60
name of the State of Connecticut for the benefit of any aggrieved party, 61
but the penalty of the bond shall not be invoked except upon order of 62
the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles after a hearing held before the 63
commissioner in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54; [(C)] (3) 64
have a permanent place of business in this state where all [operator 65
retraining] program records shall be maintained and accessible to the 66
commissioner during normal business hours; [(D)] (4) submit for 67
approval by the commissioner a detailed curriculum and lesson plan, 68
including any changes to such curriculum and lesson plan, which shall 69
be used in each [operator retraining class] program; and [(E)] (5) 70
electronically transmit information concerning enrollment and [class] 71
program completion to the commissioner at such times and in such 72
form as the commissioner shall prescribe. Prior to the certification of 73
an applicant, the commissioner shall investigate the applicant's 74
character, driving history and criminal history. If the applicant is a 75
business entity, such investigation shall include the principals and 76
officers of such entity. The applicant shall submit to the commissioner 77
any information pertaining to current or past criminal or civil actions. 78
The certification of a program provider by the commissioner shall not 79
be transferable and shall be valid for a two-year period. Recertification 80
of a program provider shall be at the discretion of the commissioner 81
and in such form and manner determined by the commissioner. 82
[(c)] (d) Any person who is required to attend an [operator] 83 Raised Bill No. 925
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operator's retraining program shall have such requirement and the 84
completion date of such requirement posted on such person's driving 85
history record maintained by the commissioner. The date of [class] 86
program completion shall remain on such person's driving history 87
record until such person has attained thirty-six consecutive months 88
without any additional moving violations or suspension violations 89
specified in subsection (a) of this section being posted to such person's 90
driving history record. Until the completion of such thirty-six 91
consecutive months, the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles shall (1) 92
suspend such person's operator's license or operating privilege for: [(1) 93
Thirty] (A) thirty days upon a first conviction for any specified moving 94
violation or suspension violation, [; (2)] (B) sixty days upon a second 95
conviction of any specified moving violation or suspension violation, 96
[;] and [(3)] (C) ninety days for a third or subsequent conviction of a 97
specified moving violation or suspension violation, and (2) require 98
such person to attend and successfully complete an advanced 99
operator's retraining program for a first or subsequent conviction for 100
any specified moving violation or suspension violation. The 101
commissioner shall notify such person, in writing, of the requirement 102
to attend an advanced operator's retraining program. The 103
commissioner, after notice and opportunity for hearing, shall suspend 104
the motor vehicle operator's license of any such operator who fails to 105
attend or successfully complete the advanced operator's retraining 106
program until such person successfully completes the program. The 107
hearing shall be limited to any claim of impossibility of such person to 108
attend the advanced operator's retraining program, or to a 109
determination of mistake or misidentification. 110
(e) The advanced operator's retraining program shall consist of not 111
less than eight hours of in-person classroom instruction and include (1) 112
an examination of the operator's behavior in various driving situations 113
to help the operator understand the behavioral driving characteristics 114
that have resulted in the conviction of a moving violation or 115
suspension violation, (2) psychology-based principles as they relate to 116
driving behaviors, (3) an examination of why operators choose to obey 117 Raised Bill No. 925
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or disobey motor vehicle laws, (4) a review of the four components of 118
human behavior and the ability to choose behaviors, and (5) a review 119
of the effects of prescription drugs and over-the-counter drugs on the 120
operator of a motor vehicle and the dangers associated with speeding, 121
right-of-way violations, improper passing, driving with insufficient 122
space between vehicles and driving in an aggressive manner or while 123
distracted or fatigued. A fee of not more than one hundred and thirty-124
five dollars shall be charged for the advanced operator's retraining 125
program. 126
[(d)] (f) The commissioner shall adopt regulations in accordance 127
with chapter 54 to implement the provisions of [subsections (a) and (b) 128
of] this section. 129
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2019 14-111g
Statement of Purpose:
To establish an advanced operator's retraining program.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline,
except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is
not underlined.]