Bill Text: MI HB4576 | 2019-2020 | 100th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Vehicles; driver training; parallel parking requirement; limit in driving skills test. Amends sec. 309 of 1949 PA 300 (MCL 257.309).
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-05-14 - Bill Electronically Reproduced 05/14/2019 [HB4576 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2019-HB4576-Introduced.html
HOUSE BILL No. 4576
May 9, 2019, Introduced by Rep. Lightner and referred to the Committee on Transportation.
A bill to amend 1949 PA 300, entitled
"Michigan vehicle code,"
by amending section 309 (MCL 257.309), as amended by 2016 PA 23.
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. Before the
secretary of state authorizes a person to administer vehicle group
designation or endorsement knowledge tests, that person must
successfully complete both a state and Federal Bureau of
Investigation fingerprint-based criminal history check or the
equivalent through the department of state police. In all other
cases, the secretary of state may waive the examination, except
that
an examination shall must 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 under 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 under 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. 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
must 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
successfully complete both a state and Federal Bureau of
Investigation fingerprint based criminal history check through the
department of state police as required by law and as provided under
49 CFR 384.228. 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 must 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 must 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 or an equivalent driving skills test meeting the
requirements of 49 CFR part 383 conducted in another jurisdiction.
(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
must include a behind-the-wheel road test. Before conducting a
behind-the-wheel road test for an applicant seeking a vehicle group
designation, including any upgrade to a vehicle group designation,
or for any indorsement required to operate a commercial motor
vehicle, the examiner shall determine that the applicant was issued
his or her commercial learner's permit not less than 14 days before
the date of that test and that he or she has that permit in his or
her possession.
(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.
(10) The secretary of state shall waive the requirement of a
written knowledge test, road sign test, and driving skills test of
an applicant for an original motorcycle endorsement if the person
has successfully passed a motorcycle safety course approved by the
department as described in sections 811a and 811b.
(11) The secretary of state shall not require an applicant for
an operator's license to demonstrate proficiency in the skill of
parallel parking to successfully complete a driving skills test.
