SENATE BILL No. 753

 

 

September 6, 2007, Introduced by Senators GARCIA, ALLEN, PAPPAGEORGE, RICHARDVILLE, BIRKHOLZ, HARDIMAN, KAHN, JELINEK, VAN WOERKOM, PATTERSON, CROPSEY, CASSIS, GILBERT, McMANUS, KUIPERS, OLSHOVE, JANSEN, SWITALSKI, STAMAS, BROWN, JACOBS, CHERRY, BARCIA, GLEASON, SANBORN, WHITMER, BISHOP, BASHAM, ANDERSON, SCHAUER, HUNTER, SCOTT, CLARK-COLEMAN and CLARKE and referred to the Committee on Senior Citizens and Veterans Affairs.

 

 

 

     A bill to amend 1949 PA 300, entitled

 

"Michigan vehicle code,"

 

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 which 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 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 pursuant to

 

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 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 either of the

 

following:

 

     (a) The holder of a valid, unrevoked operator's or chauffeur's

 

license issued by another state or country.

 

     (b) The holder of a driver license issued by an active or

 

reserve component of any branch of the United States armed forces

 

that is valid and unrevoked or that has been expired for less than

 

1 year.

 

     (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 punishable as provided in section 902.