O F F I C E O F L E G I S L A T I V E R E S E A R C H
P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
Page 1
PA 22-44—sSB 333
Transportation Committee
AN ACT CONCERNING RE COMMENDATIONS BY THE DEPARTMENT
OF MOTOR VEHICLES AN D VARIOUS REVISIONS TO THE MOTOR
VEHICLE STATUTES
SUMMARY: This act makes numerous unrelated changes in motor vehicle laws.
Among other things, the act 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 act 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 (§ 16);
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 (§ 17); 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 prior law required) (§ 36).
It also eliminates a redundant safety inspection requirement for retired school
buses (§ 9) and makes numerous technical and conforming changes (§§ 20-35).
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2022, unless otherwise noted below, with certain
technical changes effective October 1, 2022.
§ 1 — LICENSE RESTORATION AFTER MEDICAL WITHDRAWAL
Under existing 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was medically withdrawn to drive on a limited basis (i.e., with a licensed driving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 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 (CGS § 14-46e(b)).
The act requires the commissioner to make her determination after consulting
with the Motor Vehicle Operator’s License Medical Advisory Board, rather than
through a hearing as prior law required. Under existing law, unchanged by the act,
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). O L R P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
Page 2 of 5
§§ 2 & 3 — DEALER & REPAIRER SURETY BOND S & BACKGROUND
CHECKS
Surety Bonds (§ 2)
The act 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)
By law, applicants for a dealer or repairer license must submit to state and
national criminal history records checks. The act requires that each applicant be
fingerprinted and their background checks be based upon this fingerprint data
instead of the applicant’s name and date of birth, as prior law required.
§§ 4-7 — DRIVING INSTRUCTION
The act makes several changes in the statutes governing driving schools. It
specifically prohibits driving schools with expired licenses from conducting
business until the DMV commissioner grants a license renewal. However, it also
prohibits the commissioner from renewing a driving school license that has been
expired for more than 60 days.
Under existing law, the commissioner generally may suspend or revoke the
license of a school or instructor after she has provided the licensee with notice and
an opportunity for a hearing, in accordance with the UAPA. Under the act, the
commissioner may order restitution to aggrieved customers if a licensed driving
school or instructor violates any statute and regulation governing them, in addition
to, or instead of, a civil penalty as allowed under existing law.
Driving Instructor and Master Driving Instructor Licenses
The act 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 prior law required. The act also
prohibits the commissioner from renewing an instructor or master instructor’s
license that has been expired for more than 60 days.
The act requires 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. She must schedule a
hearing within 20 days after taking this action. It also adds references to master
driving instructors to license requirements for driving instructors, which already
apply under existing law and regulations. O L R P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
Page 3 of 5
Minor and Technical Changes
The act specifies that boards of education, public, private, and parochial schools
(which do not need to be licensed as driving schools under existing law) are not
required to provide a surety bond to provide a driver’s education course.
§§ 8 & 10 — 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 act 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., e-mail) rather than by certified mail.
§ 11 — DRIVERS WEARING GLAS SES WITH BIOPTIC LENSES
The act 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
§ 12 — LIGHTS ON WRECKERS
The act eliminates prior law’s requirements that wreckers be equipped with two
flashing yellow lights installed and mounted on the truck that span its full width
and were 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
§ 13 — 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 O L R P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
Page 4 of 5
legs forward. Prior law additionally provided that an autocycle was designed to be
controlled with a steering wheel and foot pedals. The act instead provides that it is
designed to be controlled with a steering mechanism, rather than a steering wheel.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2022
§ 14 — VIN ETCHING
Prior law required 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 was separately charged on the vehicle’s sale order.
Beginning July 1, 2022, the act allows, rather than requires, these dealers and
lessors to offer this option. It also sunsets the requirement that the service charge
be provided for etching done prior to sale or lease, and instead 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.
Prior law authorized the DMV commissioner to adopt regulations to implement
the VIN etching provisions, including standards for (1) secure marking of
component parts, including using 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 act (1) requires, rather than allows, the commissioner to adopt
implementing regulations, which may provide these standards; (2) eliminates the
specific references to addressing marking component parts using a covert
application; and (3) repeals prior law’s definition of “component parts.”
§ 15 — ORGAN DONOR CONSENT
Under existing 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 act also requires
this upon renewal.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2022
§§ 18 & 19 — VEHICLE NOISE
The act requires the DMV commissioner, by January 1, 2023, to 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 O L R P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
Page 5 of 5
industry standards and technology advancements and submit them to the
Regulation Review Committee. The act correspondingly eliminates from prior law
the testing procedure requirements that are repeated under existing regulations
(Conn. Agencies Regs. § 14-80a-8a).
§ 37 — EMISSIONS RE-TESTING EXTENSION FOR SUPPL Y CHAIN
ISSUES
For FYs 23 and 24, the act 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.