Bill Text: IL HB1751 | 2025-2026 | 104th General Assembly | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code. Removes language providing that the examination of an applicant for a driver's license or permit who is 75 years of age or older or, if the Secretary of State adopts rules to raise the age requirement for actual demonstrations, the examination of an applicant who has attained that increased age or is older shall include an actual demonstration of the applicant's ability to exercise ordinary and reasonable control of the operation of a motor vehicle. Effective January 1, 2026.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2025-01-28 - Referred to Rules Committee [HB1751 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2025-HB1751-Introduced.html

---

104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 HB1751 Introduced , by Rep. Joe C. Sosnowski SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
625 ILCS 5/6-109
Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code. Removes language providing that the examination of an applicant for a driver's license or permit who is 75 years of age or older or, if the Secretary of State adopts rules to raise the age requirement for actual demonstrations, the examination of an applicant who has attained that increased age or is older shall include an actual demonstration of the applicant's ability to exercise ordinary and reasonable control of the operation of a motor vehicle. Effective January 1, 2026.
LRB104 08326 LNS 18377 b
A BILL FOR
HB1751 LRB104 08326 LNS 18377 b
AN ACT concerning transportation.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Illinois Vehicle Code is amended by
changing Section 6-109 as follows:
(625 ILCS 5/6-109)
Sec. 6-109. Examination of applicants.
(a) The Secretary of State shall examine every applicant
for a driver's license or permit who has not been previously
licensed as a driver under the laws of this State or any other
state or country, or any applicant for renewal of such
driver's license or permit when such license or permit has
been expired for more than one year. The Secretary of State
shall, subject to the provisions of paragraph (c), examine
every licensed driver at least every 8 years, and may examine
or re-examine any other applicant or licensed driver, provided
that during the years 1984 through 1991 those drivers issued a
license for 3 years may be re-examined not less than every 7
years or more than every 10 years.
The Secretary of State shall require the testing of the
eyesight of any driver's license or permit applicant who has
not been previously licensed as a driver under the laws of this
State and shall promulgate rules and regulations to provide

HB1751 - 2 - LRB104 08326 LNS 18377 b
for the orderly administration of all the provisions of this
Section.
The Secretary of State shall include at least one test
question that concerns the provisions of the Pedestrians with
Disabilities Safety Act in the question pool used for the
written portion of the driver's license examination within one
year after July 22, 2010 (the effective date of Public Act
96-1167).
The Secretary of State shall include, in the question pool
used for the written portion of the driver's license
examination, test questions concerning safe driving in the
presence of bicycles, of which one may be concerning the Dutch
Reach method as described in Section 2-112.
The Secretary of State shall include, in the question pool
used for the written portion of the driver's license
examination, at least one test question concerning driver
responsibilities when approaching a stationary emergency
vehicle as described in Section 11-907. If an applicant gives
an incorrect response to a test question concerning subsection
(c) of Section 11-907, Section 11-907.5, or subsection (a-1)
of Section 11-908, then the Secretary of State shall provide
the applicant with information concerning those Sections.
(b) The Except as provided for those applicants in
paragraph (c), such examination shall include a test of the
applicant's eyesight, his or her ability to read and
understand official traffic control devices, his or her

HB1751 - 3 - LRB104 08326 LNS 18377 b
knowledge of safe driving practices and the traffic laws of
this State, and may include an actual demonstration of the
applicant's ability to exercise ordinary and reasonable
control of the operation of a motor vehicle, and such further
physical and mental examination as the Secretary of State
finds necessary to determine the applicant's fitness to
operate a motor vehicle safely on the highways, except the
examination of an applicant 75 years of age or older or, if the
Secretary adopts rules under Section 37 of the Secretary of
State Act to raise the age requirement for actual
demonstrations, the examination of an applicant who has
attained that increased age or is older shall include an
actual demonstration of the applicant's ability to exercise
ordinary and reasonable control of the operation of a motor
vehicle. All portions of written and verbal examinations under
this Section, excepting where the English language appears on
facsimiles of road signs, may be given in the Spanish language
and, at the discretion of the Secretary of State, in any other
language as well as in English upon request of the examinee.
Deaf persons who are otherwise qualified are not prohibited
from being issued a license, other than a commercial driver's
license, under this Code.
(c) Re-examination for those applicants who at the time of
renewing their driver's license possess a driving record
devoid of any convictions of traffic violations or evidence of
committing an offense for which mandatory revocation would be

HB1751 - 4 - LRB104 08326 LNS 18377 b
required upon conviction pursuant to Section 6-205 at the time
of renewal shall be in a manner prescribed by the Secretary in
order to determine an applicant's ability to safely operate a
motor vehicle, except that every applicant for the renewal of
a driver's license who is 75 years of age or older or, if the
Secretary adopts rules under Section 37 of the Secretary of
State Act to raise the age requirement for actual
demonstrations, every applicant for the renewal of a driver's
license who has attained that increased age or is older must
prove, by an actual demonstration, the applicant's ability to
exercise reasonable care in the safe operation of a motor
vehicle.
(d) In the event the applicant is not ineligible under the
provisions of Section 6-103 to receive a driver's license, the
Secretary of State shall make provision for giving an
examination, either in the county where the applicant resides
or at a place adjacent thereto reasonably convenient to the
applicant, within not more than 30 days from the date said
application is received.
(e) The Secretary of State may adopt rules regarding the
use of foreign language interpreters during the application
and examination process.
(Source: P.A. 103-140, eff. 6-30-23; 103-680, eff. 1-1-25.)