Bill Text: MI SB0403 | 2011-2012 | 96th Legislature | Chaptered
Bill Title: Traffic control; driver license; examination regarding existence of certain medical condition affecting applicant's ability to operate safely; revise and clarify. Amends sec. 309 of 1949 PA 300 (MCL 257.309). TIE BAR WITH: SB 0402'11
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2012-12-27 - Assigned Pa 0355'12 With Immediate Effect [SB0403 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2011-SB0403-Chaptered.html
Act No. 355
Public Acts of 2012
Approved by the Governor
December 12, 2012
Filed with the Secretary of State
December 13, 2012
EFFECTIVE DATE: December 13, 2012
STATE OF MICHIGAN
96TH LEGISLATURE
REGULAR SESSION OF 2012
Introduced by Senator Schuitmaker
ENROLLED SENATE BILL No. 403
AN ACT to amend 1949 PA 300, entitled “An act to provide for the registration, titling, sale, transfer, and regulation of certain vehicles operated upon the public highways of this state or any other place open to the general public or generally accessible to motor vehicles and distressed vehicles; to provide for the licensing of dealers; to provide for the examination, licensing, and control of operators and chauffeurs; to provide for the giving of proof of financial responsibility and security by owners and operators of vehicles; to provide for the imposition, levy, and collection of specific taxes on vehicles, and the levy and collection of sales and use taxes, license fees, and permit fees; to provide for the regulation and use of streets and highways; to create certain funds; to provide penalties and sanctions for a violation of this act; to provide for civil liability of owners and operators of vehicles and service of process on residents and nonresidents; to regulate the introduction and use of certain evidence; to provide for the levy of certain assessments; to provide for the enforcement of this act; to provide for the creation of and to prescribe the powers and duties of certain state and local agencies; to impose liability upon the state or local agencies; to provide appropriations for certain purposes; to repeal all other acts or parts of acts inconsistent with this act or contrary to this act; and to repeal certain parts of this act on a specific date,” by amending section 309 (MCL 257.309), as amended by 2004 PA 362.
The People of the State of Michigan enact:
Sec. 309. (1) Before issuing a license, the secretary of state shall examine each applicant for an operator’s or chauffeur’s license who at the time of the application is not the holder of a valid, unrevoked operator’s or chauffeur’s license under a law of this state providing for the licensing of drivers. In all other cases, the secretary of state may waive the examination, except that an examination shall not be waived if it appears from the application, from the apparent physical or mental condition of the applicant, or from any other information that has come to the secretary of state from another source, that the applicant does not possess the physical, mental, or other qualifications necessary to operate a motor vehicle in a manner as not to jeopardize the safety of persons or property, or that the applicant is not entitled to a license under section 303. A licensee who applies for the renewal of his or her license by mail pursuant to section 307 shall certify to his or her physical capability to operate a motor vehicle. The secretary of state may check the applicant’s driving record through the national driver register and the commercial driver license information system before issuing a license under this section.
(2) The secretary of state may appoint sheriffs, their deputies, the chiefs of police of cities and villages having organized police departments within this state, their duly authorized representatives, or employees of the secretary of state as examining officers for the purpose of examining applicants for operator’s and chauffeur’s licenses. An examining officer shall conduct examinations of applicants for operator’s and chauffeur’s licenses in accordance with this chapter and the rules promulgated by the secretary of state under subsection (3). After conducting an examination an examining officer shall make a written report of his or her findings and recommendations to the secretary of state.
(3) The secretary of state shall promulgate rules pursuant to the administrative procedures act of 1969, 1969 PA 306, MCL 24.201 to 24.328, for the examination of the applicant’s physical and mental qualifications to operate a motor vehicle in a manner as not to jeopardize the safety of persons or property, and shall ascertain whether facts exist that would bar the issuance of a license under section 303. The secretary of state may consider a written medical report and recommendation submitted under section 5139 of the public health code, 1978 PA 368, MCL 333.5139, from the personal physician or optometrist of an applicant, in making the examination regarding the applicant’s physical and mental qualifications to operate a motor vehicle under this section and R 257.851 to R 257.855 of the Michigan administrative code. A report received by the secretary of state from a physician or an optometrist under this section is confidential. The secretary of state shall also ascertain whether the applicant has sufficient knowledge of the English language to understand highway warnings or direction signs written in that language. The examination shall not include investigation of facts other than those facts directly pertaining to the ability of the applicant to operate a motor vehicle with safety or facts declared to be prerequisite to the issuance of a license under this act.
(4) The secretary of state shall not issue an original operator’s or chauffeur’s license without a vehicle group designation or indorsement without an examination that includes a driving skills test conducted by the secretary of state or by a designated examining officer under subsection (2) or section 310e. The secretary of state may enter into an agreement with another public or private corporation or agency to conduct a driving skills test conducted under this section. Before the secretary of state authorizes a person to administer a corporation’s or agency’s driver skills testing operations or authorizes an examiner to conduct a driving skills test, that person or examiner must complete both a state and federal bureau of investigation fingerprint based criminal history check through the department of state police. In an agreement with another public or private corporation or agency to conduct a driving skills test, the secretary of state shall prescribe the method and examination criteria to be followed by the corporation, agency, or examiner when conducting the driving skills test and the form of the certification to be issued to a person who satisfactorily completes a driving skills test. An original vehicle group designation or indorsement shall not be issued by the secretary of state without a knowledge test conducted by the secretary of state. Except as provided in section 312f(1), an original vehicle group designation or passenger or school bus indorsement shall not be issued by the secretary of state without a driving skills test conducted by an examiner appointed or authorized by the secretary of state.
(5) Except as otherwise provided in this act, the secretary of state may waive the requirement of a driving skills test, knowledge test, or road sign test of an applicant for an original operator’s or chauffeur’s license without a vehicle group designation or indorsement who at the time of the application is the holder of a valid, unrevoked operator’s or chauffeur’s license issued by another state or country.
(6) A driving skills test conducted under this section shall include a behind-the-wheel road test. A behind-the-wheel road test for an original vehicle group designation or passenger indorsement shall not be conducted unless the applicant has been issued a temporary instruction permit.
(7) A person who corrupts or attempts to corrupt a designated examining officer appointed or designated by the secretary of state under this section or section 310e by giving, offering, or promising any gift or gratuity with the intent to influence the opinion or decision of the examining officer conducting the test is guilty of a felony.
(8) A designated examining officer appointed or designated by the secretary of state who conducts a driving skills test under an agreement entered into under this section or section 310e and who varies from, shortens, or in any other way changes the method or examination criteria prescribed in that agreement in conducting a driving skills test is guilty of a felony.
(9) A person who forges, counterfeits, or alters a satisfactorily completed driving skills test certification issued by a designated examining officer appointed or designated by the secretary of state under this section or section 310e is guilty of a felony.
Enacting section 1. This amendatory act does not take effect unless Senate Bill No. 402 of the 96th Legislature is enacted into law.
This act is ordered to take immediate effect.
Secretary of the Senate
Clerk of the House of Representatives
Approved
Governor
