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OLR Bill Analysis
sSB 333 (File 401, as amended by Senate “A”)*
AN ACT CONCERNING RECOMMENDATIONS BY THE
DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES.
SUMMARY
This bill makes numerous unrelated changes in motor vehicle laws.
Among other things, the bill increases surety bond requirements for
dealer and repairer licenses and strengthens licensing and enforcement
requirements related to driving schools and their instructors. By
February 1, 2023, the bill requires the Department of Motor Vehicles
(DMV) commissioner to report to the Transportation Committee on the
following topics:
1. the preceding fiscal year’s number of department-administered
road skills tests for a driver’s license at DMV offices and off-site
locations and the passage rates for those tests (§ 506);
2. the results of her review of other states’ laws and regulations, and
any legislative or regulatory recommendations, on applying for,
issuing, and using removeable windshield placards for people
with disabilities or blindness (§ 507); and
3. for the previous year, and annually afterwards, the average
amount of time a person spends at the DMV for an appointment
scheduled on its website (rather than the average number of days
between scheduling an appointment online and the appointment
date, as required under current law) (§ 526).
It also eliminates a redundant safety inspection requirement for
retired school buses (§ 10) and makes numerous technical and
conforming changes (§§ 510 - 525).
2022SB-00333-R01-BA.DOCX
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*Senate Amendment “A” among other things, (1) adds provisions (a)
prohibiting vehicle identification number (VIN) etching unless the
vehicle purchaser or lessee consents in writing; requiring the DMV
commissioner to submit an implementation plan for state-wide vehicle
noise level testing; providing a 180-day extension for vehicles failing an
emissions test if the repair is delayed due to part supply issues; and
requiring the above-described DMV reports to the Transportation
Committee on road skill testing, removable windshield placards, and
online services; and (b) that are the same or substantially similar to those
in related bills (see BACKGROUND); (2) modifies the underlying bill by
reducing the auto repairer surety bond requirement from $50,000 to
$25,000; and (3) removes provisions from the underlying bill giving the
DMV discretion in staffing weigh stations (§ 9); requiring that off-site
road skills testing at licensed driving schools be available to all the
school’s students who are otherwise eligible regardless of age (§ 12); and
requiring DMV to develop a plan to increase road skills test availability
(§ 13).
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2022, unless otherwise noted below.
§ 1 — LICENSE RESTORATION AFTER MEDICAL WITHDRAWAL
Under current law, the DMV commissioner may allow a person
whose license was medically withdrawn to drive on a limited basis (i.e.,
with a licensed driving instructor or testing agent) if she (1) determines,
after a hearing, that the driver does not have a health problem affecting
his or her ability to drive safely and (2) requires the driver to pass a road
skills test for license reinstatement.
The bill requires the commissioner to make her determination after
consulting with the Motor Vehicle Operator’s License Medical Advisory
Board, rather than through a hearing. Under existing law, unchanged
by the bill, a person whose driver’s license has been suspended,
restricted, or revoked, or whose license application has been denied due
to health problems, has the right to appeal under the Uniform
Administrative Procedure Act (UAPA) (CGS § 14-46g). 2022SB-00333-R01-BA.DOCX
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§§ 2 & 3 — DEALER & REPAIRER SURETY BONDS &
BACKGROUND CHECKS
Surety Bonds (§ 2)
The bill increases the surety bond amounts for applicants of certain
business licenses as follows: (1) repairer’s licenses from $5,000 to
$25,000; (2) limited repairer’s licenses from $5,000 to $10,000; (3) new or
used car dealer’s licenses from $50,000 to $60,000; and (4) leasing or
rental licenses from $10,000 to $15,000.
Background Checks (§ 3)
Under current law, applicants for a dealer or repairer license must
submit to state and national criminal history records checks based on
the applicant’s name and date of birth. The bill instead requires that
these background checks be based upon fingerprint data that the
applicant must provide.
§§ 4-7 — DRIVING INSTRUCTION
The bill makes several changes in the statutes governing driving
schools. The bill specifically prohibits driving schools with expired
licenses from conducting business until a license renewal is granted by
the DMV commissioner. However, it also prohibits the commissioner
from renewing a driving school license that has been expired for more
than 60 days.
Under current law, the commissioner generally may suspend or
revoke a school’s license only after she has provided the licensee with
notice and an opportunity for a hearing, in accordance with the UAPA.
Under the bill, if she determines there is an imminent threat to public
safety or welfare, the commissioner may suspend, revoke, or withdraw
the license and then schedule a hearing, which must be within 20 days
after the date he takes this action.
The bill also allows the DMV commissioner to order restitution to
aggrieved customers if a driving school violates any statute and
regulation governing them, in addition to, or instead of, a civil penalty.
2022SB-00333-R01-BA.DOCX
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Driving Instructor and Master Driving Instructor Licenses
The bill increases, from four to five years, the driving history review
period for instructor and master instructor licenses. It also specifies that
applicants must provide a physical examination that has been
performed within 90 days from the application date, rather than a recent
exam as current law requires. The bill also prohibits the commissioner
from renewing an instructor or master instructor’s license that has been
expired for more than 60 days.
The bill authorizes the DMV commissioner to summarily suspend an
instructor’s or master instructor’s license if she determines that
continued possession of the license poses an imminent threat to public
safety or welfare.
Minor and Technical Changes
The bill specifies that boards of education, public, private, and
parochial schools (which do not need to be licensed as driving schools)
are not required to provide a surety bond to provide a driver’s
education course.
It also adds references to master driving instructors to license
requirements for driving instructors, which already apply under current
law and regulations.
§§ 8 & 11 — ADMINISTRATIVE PER SE STATUTES
By law, motorists implicitly consent to be tested for drugs or alcohol
and submit to the nontestimonial portion of a drug influence evaluation
when they drive a vehicle. The law establishes administrative license
suspension procedures, including a hearing, for drivers who refuse to
submit to a test or evaluation or whose test results indicate an elevated
blood alcohol content.
The bill expands the types of “motor vehicles” covered by the
administrative per se statute to include a snowmobile or all-terrain
vehicle, consistent with the criminal laws governing driving under the
influence. It also allows DMV to send, with the driver’s written consent,
notice of an administrative hearing decision by personal delivery (e.g., 2022SB-00333-R01-BA.DOCX
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e-mail) rather than by certified mail.
§ 501 ― DRIVERS WEARING GLASSES WITH BIOPTIC LENSES
The bill requires the DMV commissioner to issue driver’s licenses to
people wearing glasses with bioptic lenses if the applicant otherwise
meets regulatory vision standards and license requirements. (By law,
the commissioner must adopt regulations specifying vision standards
that are necessary to safely operate a motor vehicle.) Generally, bioptic
lenses consist of miniature telescopic lenses mounted on top of
eyeglasses.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2022
§ 502 ― LIGHTS ON WRECKERS
The bill eliminates requirements in current law that wreckers be
equipped with two flashing yellow lights installed and mounted on the
truck that span its full width and are at least eight feet above the road
surface. It instead requires that wreckers be equipped with an
unspecified number of flashing yellow lights. As under existing law, the
lights must (1) continuously show in all directions, (2) be as close to the
back of the cab as practicable, and (3) be used when the wrecker is
towing a vehicle and at the scene of an accident or a disabled vehicle.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2022
§ 503 ― AUTOCYCLES
Existing law allows drivers to operate autocycles with a standard
“class D” license (i.e., without needing a motorcycle license
endorsement) (CGS § 14-36a). The law defines “autocycle,” in part, as a
motorcycle with up to three wheels that has seat belts and partially or
fully enclosed seats in which occupants sit with their legs forward.
Current law additionally provides that an autocycle is designed to be
controlled with a steering wheel and foot pedals. The bill instead
provides that it is designed to be controlled with a steering mechanism,
rather than a steering wheel.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2022 2022SB-00333-R01-BA.DOCX
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§ 504 ― VIN ETCHING
Current law requires new and used car dealers and lessors to offer
the purchaser or lessee of a new or used motor vehicle the optional
service of etching the complete VIN on the lower corner of the vehicle’s
windshield and on each of its side and rear windows so long as the
service is separately charged on the vehicle’s sale order. Beginning July
1, 2022, the bill allows, rather than requires, these dealers and lessors to
offer this option. The bill sunsets the requirement that the service charge
be provided, and instead it prohibits them from etching the VIN on any
vehicle in their inventory prior to its sale or lease without the written
consent of the vehicle’s purchaser or lessee.
Current law authorizes the DMV commissioner to adopt regulations
to implement the provisions on VIN etching. It also provides, beginning
July 1, 2022, that these regulations may specifically provide standards
for (1) the secure marking of component parts, including the use of a
covert application (only visible under ultraviolet light); (2) telephone or
online access to a secure database of vehicles, including motorcycles and
parts that have been marked and registered in the database; and (3) the
marking of parts used to replace parts that have been marked by
licensed repairers.
The bill requires, rather than allows, the commissioner to adopt
implementing regulations, which may provide these standards. It also
eliminates the specific reference to addressing marking component
parts using a covert application, as well as the definition for that phrase.
The bill also deletes current law’s definition of component parts.
§ 505 ― ORGAN DONOR CONSENT
Under current law, the DMV commissioner must require any person
applying for a driver’s license or identity card to indicate whether they
consent to or decline organ donation through inclusion on the state
donor registry. The bill adds that this requirement also applies to
anyone who renews a license or identity card.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2022 2022SB-00333-R01-BA.DOCX
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§§ 508 & 509 ― VEHICLE NOISE
The bill requires the DMV commissioner to, by January 1, 2023,
submit to the Transportation, Appropriations, and Finance, Revenue,
and Bonding committees (1) an implementation plan for a statewide
decibel level testing program at official emissions inspection stations for
motor vehicles and motorcycles and (2) any recommendations for
legislation and funding necessary for implementation.
By January 1, 2024, it requires the commissioner to amend current
regulations setting maximum vehicle decibel levels and related testing
procedures, with the advice of the energy and environmental protection
commissioner, to reflect industry standards and technology
advancements and submit them to the Regulation Review Committee.
The bill eliminates from current law the testing procedure
requirements that are repeated under existing regulations (Conn.
Agencies Regs. § 14-80a-8a).
§ 527 ― EMISSIONS RE -TESTING EXTENSION FOR SUPPLY
CHAIN ISSUES
For FYs 23 and 24, the bill requires the DMV commissioner to grant
an extension of time for vehicles to obtain needed repairs after failing an
emissions inspection, so long as a licensed new or used car dealer or
licensed repairer or limited repairer certifies, in writing, that the part
needed to repair the associated problem is delayed due to market
conditions. If granted, it must be valid for 180 days after the certification
date.
BACKGROUND
Related Bills
sHB 5366 (File 392), favorably reported by the Transportation
Committee, contains similar or identical provisions about licenses for
drivers wearing bioptic lenses; organ donor consents; wrecker lights;
and the definition of “autocycles.”
SB 391 (File 387), favorably reported by the Transportation
Committee, contains the same minor and technical changes. 2022SB-00333-R01-BA.DOCX
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COMMITTEE ACTION
Transportation Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 35 Nay 0 (03/24/2022)