Bill Text: MI SB0837 | 2017-2018 | 99th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Traffic control; violations; eligibility for basic driver improvement course; modify. Amends sec. 320d of 1949 PA 300 (MCL 257.320d).

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-04-17 - Referred To Committee Of The Whole With Substitute S-1 [SB0837 Detail]

Download: Michigan-2017-SB0837-Introduced.html

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SENATE BILL No. 837

 

 

February 21, 2018, Introduced by Senator CASPERSON and referred to the Committee on Transportation.

 

 

     A bill to amend 1949 PA 300, entitled

 

"Michigan vehicle code,"

 

by amending section 320d (MCL 257.320d), as amended by 2012 PA 498.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 320d. (1) Notwithstanding section 320a, the secretary of

 

state shall not enter the points corresponding to a moving

 

violation committed in this state by an individual the secretary of

 

state determines to be eligible under this section on the

 

individual's driving record or make information concerning that

 

violation available to any insurance company if the individual

 

attends and successfully completes a basic driver improvement

 

course under this section and an approved sponsor provides a

 

certificate of successful completion of that course to the

 

secretary of state not more than 60 days after the date on which

 

the secretary of state notified the individual that he or she was

 

eligible to take a basic driver improvement course.

 

     (2) The secretary of state shall determine if an individual is

 

eligible under subsection (3) to attend a basic driver improvement

 

course upon receipt of an abstract of a moving violation. If the

 

secretary of state determines that an individual is eligible to

 

attend a basic driver improvement course, the secretary of state

 

shall do all of the following:

 

     (a) Notify the individual of his or her eligibility by first-

 

class mail at the individual's last known address as indicated on

 

the individual's operator's or chauffeur's license and inform the

 

individual of the manner and time within which the individual is

 

required to attend and complete a basic driver improvement course.

 

     (b) Provide all eligible participants with information on how

 

to access a list of approved sponsors and basic driver improvement

 

course locations, including the secretary of state's website

 

address and telephone number to call for more information.

 

     (c) If an approved sponsor does not provide notice of

 

successful completion of the course by the individual within the

 

time prescribed in subsection (1), the secretary of state shall

 

enter the points required under section 320a.

 

     (3) An individual is ineligible to take a basic driver

 

improvement course if any of the following apply:

 

     (a) The violation occurred while the individual was operating

 

a commercial motor vehicle or was licensed as a commercial driver

 

while operating a noncommercial motor vehicle.

 

     (b) The violation is a criminal offense.

     (c) The violation is a violation for which 4 or more points

 

may be assessed under section 320a.

 

     (d) The violation is a violation of section 626b, 627(9),

 

627a, or 682.

 

     (e) The individual was cited for more than 1 moving violation

 

arising from the same incident.

 

     (f) The individual's license was suspended under section

 

321a(2) in connection with the violation.

 

     (g) The individual previously successfully completed a basic

 

driver improvement course within the immediately preceding 12

 

months.

 

     (h) The individual has 3 or more points on his or her driving

 

record.

 

     (i) The individual's operator's or chauffeur's license is

 

restricted, suspended, or revoked, or the individual was not issued

 

an operator's or chauffeur's license.

 

     (4) The individual is not eligible to take a driver

 

improvement course for a second or subsequent violation an

 

individual receives within the time allowed under subsection (1).

 

     (5) The secretary of state shall maintain a computerized

 

database of the following:

 

     (a) Individuals who have attended a basic driver improvement

 

course.

 

     (b) Individuals who have successfully completed a basic driver

 

improvement course.

 

     (6) The database maintained under subsection (5) shall only be

 

used for determining eligibility under subsections (3) and (4). The

secretary of state shall only make the information contained in the

 

database available to approved sponsors under subsection (10).

 

Information in this database concerning an individual shall be

 

maintained for the life of that individual.

 

     (7) An individual shall be charged a fee of not more than

 

$100.00 by an approved sponsor to participate in a basic driver

 

improvement course and, if applicable, to obtain a certificate in a

 

form as approved by the secretary of state demonstrating that he or

 

she successfully completed the course. An approved sponsor shall

 

remit a portion of the fee, as determined annually by the secretary

 

of state, to cover the costs of implementing and administering this

 

course program.

 

     (8) Fees remitted to the department under subsection (7) by an

 

approved sponsor shall be credited to the basic driver improvement

 

course fund created under subsection (9).

 

     (9) The basic driver improvement course fund is created within

 

the state treasury. The state treasurer may receive money or other

 

assets from any source for deposit into the fund. The state

 

treasurer shall direct the investment of the fund. Money in the

 

fund at the close of the fiscal year shall remain in the fund and

 

shall not lapse to the general fund. The secretary of state shall

 

be the administrator of the fund for auditing purposes. The

 

secretary of state shall expend money from the fund, upon

 

appropriation, only to pay the costs of administering this section.

 

     (10) An approved sponsor shall conduct a study of the effect,

 

if any, that the successful completion of its basic driver

 

improvement course has on reducing collisions, moving violations,

or both for students completing its course in this state. An

 

approved sponsor shall conduct this study every 5 years on each of

 

the course delivery modalities employed by the approved sponsor.

 

The secretary of state shall make all of the following information

 

available to the approved sponsor for that purpose, subject to

 

applicable state and federal laws governing the release of

 

information:

 

     (a) The number of individuals who successfully complete a

 

basic driver improvement course under this section.

 

     (b) The number of individuals who are eligible to take a basic

 

driver improvement course under this section but who do not

 

successfully complete that course.

 

     (c) The number and type of moving violations committed by

 

individuals after successfully completing a basic driver

 

improvement course under this section in comparison to the number

 

and type of moving violations committed by individuals who have not

 

taken a basic driver improvement course.

 

     (11) The secretary of state shall report on the findings of

 

all studies conducted under subsection (10) to the standing

 

committees of the house of representatives and senate on

 

transportation issues.

 

     (12) The secretary of state shall approve basic driver

 

improvement course sponsors, and enter into an agreement with

 

approved sponsors, if the basic driver improvement course offered

 

by that sponsor satisfies the requirements listed in section 3a.

 

     (13) A sponsor seeking to be an approved sponsor shall submit

 

to the secretary of state an application on a form prescribed by

the secretary of state along with a properly executed security bond

 

in the principal sum of $20,000.00 with good and sufficient surety.

 

Every sponsor that is an approved sponsor on the effective date of

 

the amendatory act that added this subsection also shall submit to

 

the secretary of state a security bond described in this

 

subsection. The bond shall indemnify or reimburse the secretary of

 

state or an individual taking the sponsor's basic driver

 

improvement course for monetary loss caused through fraud,

 

cheating, or misrepresentation in the conduct of the sponsor's

 

business where the fraud, cheating, or misrepresentation was made

 

by the sponsor or by an employee, agent, instructor, or salesperson

 

of the sponsor. The surety shall make indemnification or

 

reimbursement for a monetary loss only after judgment based on

 

fraud, cheating, or misrepresentation has been entered in a court

 

of record against the sponsor. The aggregate liability of the

 

surety shall not exceed the sum of the bond. The surety on the bond

 

may cancel the bond by giving 30 days' written or electronic notice

 

to the secretary of state and after giving notice is not liable for

 

a breach of condition occurring after the effective date of the

 

cancellation.

 

     (14) An approved sponsor shall not engage in a deceptive or

 

unconscionable method, act, or practice, including, but not limited

 

to, all of the following:

 

     (a) Using, adopting, or conducting business under a name that

 

is the same as, like, or deceptively similar to the name of another

 

approved sponsor.

 

     (b) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, using the

words "state", "government", "municipal", "city", or "county" as

 

part of the name of the approved sponsor.

 

     (c) Advertising, representing, or implying that an approved

 

sponsor is supervised, recommended, or endorsed by, or affiliated

 

or associated with, or employed by, or an agent or representative

 

of this state, the secretary of state, or a bureau of the secretary

 

of state.

 

     (d) Advertising or publicizing under a name other than the

 

approved sponsor's full business name as identified on the

 

sponsor's application to be an approved sponsor.

 

     (e) Advertising that the sponsor is open for business before

 

the sponsor becomes an approved sponsor.

 

     (f) Soliciting business on the premises of any facility

 

rented, leased, owned, or used by the secretary of state.

 

     (g) Misrepresenting the quantity or quality of the instruction

 

provided by, or the requirements for, a basic driver improvement

 

course.

 

     (h) Failing to promptly restore any deposit, down payment, or

 

other payment that a person is entitled to after an agreement is

 

rescinded, canceled, or otherwise terminated as required under the

 

agreement or applicable law.

 

     (i) Taking advantage of a student's or potential student's

 

inability to reasonably protect his or her interest because of a

 

disability, illiteracy, or inability to understand the language of

 

an agreement, if the sponsor knows or reasonably should have known

 

of the student's or potential student's inability.

 

     (j) Failing to honor a term of an agreement.

     (k) Falsifying a document, agreement, record, report, or

 

certificate associated with a basic driver improvement course.

 

     (15) Except as otherwise provided in this act, the secretary

 

of state may impose 1 or more of the sanctions listed under

 

subsection (16) if the secretary of state determines that an

 

approved sponsor did 1 or more of the following:

 

     (a) Failed to meet a requirement under this act or an

 

agreement established under this act.

 

     (b) Violated this act or an agreement established under this

 

act.

 

     (c) Made an untrue or misleading statement of a material fact

 

to the secretary of state or concealed a material fact in

 

connection with an application or record under this act.

 

     (d) Permitted fraud or engaged in a fraudulent method, act, or

 

practice in connection with a basic driver improvement course, or

 

induced or countenanced fraud or a fraudulent method, act, or

 

practice in connection with a basic driver improvement course.

 

     (e) Engaged in an unfair or deceptive method, act, or practice

 

or made an untrue statement of a material fact.

 

     (f) Violated a suspension or an order issued under this act.

 

     (g) Failed to maintain good moral character as defined and

 

determined under 1974 PA 381, MCL 338.41 to 338.47, in connection

 

with its business operations.

 

     (16) After the secretary of state determines that an approved

 

sponsor committed a violation listed in subsection (15), the

 

secretary of state may impose upon the approved sponsor 1 or more

 

of the following sanctions:

     (a) Denial of an application for approval as a basic driver

 

improvement course sponsor.

 

     (b) Suspension or revocation of the approval of an approved

 

sponsor.

 

     (c) A requirement to take the affirmative action determined

 

necessary by the secretary of state, including, but not limited to,

 

payment of restitution to a student or to an injured person.

 

     (17) As used in this section, "approved sponsor" means a

 

sponsor of a basic driver improvement course that is approved by

 

the secretary of state under subsection (12) and whose approved

 

status is not suspended or revoked under subsection (16).

 

     Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect 90 days

 

after the date it is enacted into law.