Bill Text: CT HB05463 | 2016 | General Assembly | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: An Act Revising Motor Vehicle Statutes.

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-03-29 - File Number 244 [HB05463 Detail]

Download: Connecticut-2016-HB05463-Comm_Sub.html

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General Assembly		Raised Bill No. 5463
February Session, 2016		LCO No. 1740
		*_____HB05463TRA___031516____*
Referred to Committee on TRANSPORTATION
Introduced by:
(TRA)

AN ACT REVISING MOTOR VEHICLE STATUTES.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Subsection (c) of section 13b-50p of the 2016 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):

(c) Any person who violates any provision of this section or any [regulation] procedure adopted pursuant to this section shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars.

Sec. 2. Subsection (c) of section 14-293b of the 2016 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):

(c) A statement concerning such responsibilities shall be included in the [agency's] instruction manual for motor vehicle operation of the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Sec. 3. Section 14-251 of the 2016 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):

No vehicle shall be permitted to remain stationary within ten feet of any fire hydrant, or upon the traveled portion of any highway except upon the right-hand side of such highway in the direction in which such vehicle is headed; and, if such highway is curbed, such vehicle shall be so placed that its right-hand wheels, when stationary, shall, when safety will permit, be within a distance of twelve inches from the curb, except if a bikeway, as defined in section 13a-153f, or such bikeway's buffer area, as described in the federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, is in place between the parking lane and the curb, such vehicle shall be so placed that its right-hand wheels, when stationary, shall, when safety will permit, be within a distance of twelve inches from the edge of such bikeway or buffer area. No vehicle shall be permitted to remain parked within twenty-five feet of an intersection or a marked crosswalk at such intersection, or within twenty-five feet of a stop sign caused to be erected by the traffic authority in accordance with the provisions of section 14-301. No vehicle shall be permitted to remain stationary upon the traveled portion of any highway at any curve or turn or at the top of any grade where a clear view of such vehicle may not be had from a distance of at least one hundred [and] fifty feet in either direction. The Commissioner of Transportation may post signs upon any highway at any place where the keeping of a vehicle stationary is dangerous to traffic, and the keeping of any vehicle stationary contrary to the directions of such signs shall be a violation of this section. No vehicle shall be permitted to remain stationary upon the traveled portion of any highway within fifty feet of the point where another vehicle, which had previously stopped, continues to remain stationary on the opposite side of the traveled portion of the same highway. No vehicle shall be permitted to remain stationary within the limits of a public highway in such a manner as to constitute a traffic hazard or obstruct the free movement of traffic thereon, provided a vehicle which has become disabled to such an extent that it is impossible or impracticable to remove it may be permitted to so remain for a reasonable time for the purpose of making repairs thereto or of obtaining sufficient assistance to remove it. Nothing in this section shall be construed to apply to emergency vehicles and to maintenance vehicles displaying flashing lights or to prohibit a vehicle from stopping, or being held stationary by any officer, in an emergency to avoid accident or to give a right-of-way to any vehicle or pedestrian as provided in this chapter, or from stopping on any highway within the limits of an incorporated city, town or borough where the parking of vehicles is regulated by local ordinances. Violation of any provision of this section shall be an infraction.

Sec. 4. Section 14-106b of the 2016 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):

(a) Each self-propelled motor vehicle registered in this state designed and manufactured with an odometer shall at all times while operating on the highway be equipped with a properly functioning odometer. Any person who violates any provision of this section shall be issued a warning for defective equipment under the provisions of subsection (c) of section 14-103.

(b) No person or his agent shall remove, turn back or change the reading on the odometer of any motor vehicle required under the provisions of subsection (a) of this section or subsection (a) of section 14-106a to be equipped with an odometer except in connection with the repair of such odometer either while installed in or removed from such motor vehicle and unless such person is licensed as a new car dealer, used car dealer or general or limited repairer pursuant to section 14-52. Each odometer repaired and each new or used odometer installed in any motor vehicle required to be equipped with an odometer shall display mileage at least equal to the mileage displayed by the odometer in such motor vehicle immediately prior to such repair or replacement.

(c) No person shall sell, offer for sale, use, install or cause to be installed any device which causes the odometer in any motor vehicle required under the provisions of subsection (a) of this section or subsection (a) of section 14-106a to be so equipped to register any mileage other than the true mileage driven. For purposes of this section, the true mileage driven is that mileage driven by the vehicle as registered by the odometer within the manufacturer's designed tolerance.

(d) Any person violating the provisions of subsections (b) or (c) of this section shall be guilty of committing a class A misdemeanor. Any person violating the provisions of said subsections shall be liable for damages equal to three times the amount of actual damage or one thousand five hundred dollars, whichever is greater, court costs and reasonable attorney's fees and shall pay a civil penalty of not more than one thousand dollars for each violation. A violation of the provisions of said subsections shall be deemed to be an unfair trade practice within the provisions of chapter 735a. Any person licensed as a new car dealer, used car dealer or general or limited repairer pursuant to section 14-52 shall in addition to the penalties imposed by this section be subject to the suspension or revocation of his license as provided in section 14-64.

Sec. 5. Subdivision (82) of section 12-412 of the 2016 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):

(A) The sale of and the storage, use or other consumption of any commercial motor vehicle, as defined in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of subdivision [(15)] (16) of section 14-1, that is operating pursuant to the provisions of section 13b-88 or 13b-89, during the period commencing upon its purchase and ending one year after the date of purchase, provided seventy-five per cent of its revenue from its days in service is derived from out-of-state trips or trips crossing state lines.

(B) Each purchaser of a commercial motor vehicle exempt from tax pursuant to the provisions of this subsection shall, in order to qualify for said exemption, present to the retailer a certificate, in such form as the commissioner may prescribe, certifying that seventy-five per cent of such vehicle's revenue from its days in service will be derived from out-of-state trips or trips crossing state lines. The purchaser of the motor vehicle shall be liable for the tax otherwise imposed if, during the period commencing upon its purchase and ending one year after the date of purchase, seventy-five per cent of the vehicle's revenue from its days in service is not derived from out-of-state trips or trips crossing state lines.

Sec. 6. Subdivision (22) of section 42-133cc of the 2016 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):

(22) Exercise a right of first refusal or other right to acquire a franchise from a dealer unless the manufacturer or distributor:

(A) Notifies the dealer and the proposed transferee in writing that it intends to exercise its right to acquire the franchise not later than sixty days after the [manufacturer] manufacturer's or distributor's receipt of a notice of the proposed transfer from the dealer or the proposed transferee and all information and documents reasonably and customarily required by the manufacturer supporting such proposed transfer, as required pursuant to subdivision (11) of this section, and the proposed transfer is not to (i) a child, spouse, grandchild, parent or sibling, (ii) a current owner of the dealership that is the subject of the transfer, (iii) a dealership manager employed continuously by the dealer in the dealership for a period of not less than four years prior to the date of the proposed transfer and who is otherwise qualified as a dealer operator according to the usual standards of the manufacturer or distributor, or (iv) a partnership, trust or corporation controlled by, or for the benefit of, any of the types of individuals described in this subparagraph. For the purpose of this subparagraph, the "proposed transferee" means the person to whom the franchise would have been transferred to, or was proposed to be transferred to, had the right of first refusal or other right to acquire the franchise not been exercised by the manufacturer or distributor;

(B) Will pay to the dealer the same or greater consideration as such dealer has contracted to receive in connection with the proposed transfer or sale of all or substantially all of the dealership assets, stock or other ownership interest, including the purchase or lease of all real property, leasehold or improvements related to the transfer or sale of the dealership. Upon exercise of the right of first refusal or such other right, the manufacturer or distributor shall have the right to assign the lease or to convey the real property;

(C) Assumes all of the duties, obligations and liabilities contained in the agreements that were to be assumed by the proposed transferee and with respect to which the manufacturer or distributor exercised the right of first refusal or other right to acquire the franchise;

(D) Reimburses the proposed transferee for all reasonable expenses incurred in evaluating, investigating, negotiating and pursuing the acquisition of the dealership prior to the [manufacturer] manufacturer's or distributor's exercise of its right of first refusal or other right to acquire the dealership. For purposes of this subparagraph, reasonable expenses include the usual and customary legal and accounting fees charged for similar work, as well as expenses associated with the evaluation and investigation of any real property on which the dealership is operated. The proposed transferee shall submit an itemized list of its expenses to the manufacturer or distributor not later than thirty days after the [manufacturer] manufacturer's or distributor's exercise of the right of first refusal or other right to acquire the motor vehicle franchise. The manufacturer or distributor shall reimburse the proposed transferee for its expenses not later than thirty days after receipt of the itemized list.

Sec. 7. Subsections (c) and (d) of section 14-96q of the 2016 supplement to the general statutes are repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):

(c) A blue light or lights, including flashing blue lights, may be used on a motor vehicle operated by an active member of a volunteer fire department or company or an active member of an organized civil preparedness auxiliary fire company who has been issued a permit by the chief executive officer of such department or company to use such a light while on the way to or at the scene of a fire or other emergency requiring such member's services. Such permit shall be on a form provided by the commissioner and may be revoked by such chief executive officer or successor. The chief executive officer of each volunteer fire department or company or organized civil preparedness auxiliary fire company shall keep on file, [the] on forms provided by the commissioner, the names and addresses of members who have been authorized to use flashing blue lights as provided in this subsection. Such listing shall also designate the registration number of the motor vehicle on which authorized flashing blue lights are to be used.

(d) A green light or lights, including flashing green lights, may be used on a motor vehicle operated by an active member of a volunteer ambulance association or company who has been issued a permit by the chief executive officer of such association or company to use such a light, while on the way to or at the scene of an emergency requiring such member's services. Such permit shall be on a form provided by the commissioner and may be revoked by such chief executive officer or successor. The chief executive officer of each volunteer ambulance association or company shall keep on file, on forms provided by the commissioner, the names and addresses of members who have been authorized to use flashing green lights as provided in this subsection. Such listing shall also designate the registration number of the vehicle on which the authorized flashing green lights are to be used.

This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1	from passage	13b-50p(c)
Sec. 2	from passage	14-293b(c)
Sec. 3	from passage	14-251
Sec. 4	from passage	14-106b
Sec. 5	from passage	12-412(82)
Sec. 6	from passage	42-133cc(22)
Sec. 7	from passage	14-96q(c) and (d)

TRA

Joint Favorable