2002 LEGISLATION

Drunk Driving and other penalty bills
Driver Licensing Bills
Vehicle Services Bills
Miscellaneous Bills

Drunk Driving and other penalty bills

Alcoholic Beverage Consumption or Possession of Open or Unsealed Container - HB 3 (Chapter 109) / SB 21(Chapter 108, Laws of 2002) – expands the prohibition against the consumption of an alcoholic beverage while driving a motor vehicle. It prohibits a passenger from possessing an open container containing an alcoholic beverage. Violations are civil offenses. A fine of $25 can be charged a passenger violating this law.

Vehicle Laws – Drunk Driving – Repeat Offenders - HB 4 (Chapter 110, Laws of 2002) / SB 352 – increases the mandatory jail time or community service for repeat offenders. Requires the Motor Vehicle Administration to suspend the driver’s license for 1 year of a person who is convicted within a 5-year period of a second or subsequent offense of driving while under the influence of alcohol . The law requires a person whose license is suspended to maintain ignition interlock for a period between 3-12 months on the vehicles owned by that person. Certain alcohol assessment is required, as is treatment if determined appropriate.

Criminal Law – Homicide, Life-Threatening Injury, and Reckless Endangerment - HB 199 (Chapter 44, Laws of 2002) – provides statutory charging documents for specified crimes committed using a motor vehicle or vessel while under the influence of alcohol and for reckless endangerment. It also clarifies the meaning of “crime of violence” for purposes of describing conduct that is not reckless endangerment.

Vehicle Laws – Leaving the Scene of an Accident Involving Serious Bodily Injury or Death – Penalties - HB 256 (Chapter 462, Laws of 2002) /SB 345 (Chapter 461, Laws of 2002) – establishes enhanced penalties, including felony convictions, that will provide penalties for drivers who are involved in accidents and fail to stop and remain at the scene of the accident.

Alcoholic Beverages – Sale of Underage Drinker or Intoxicated Person – Citation - HB 800 (Chapter 544, Laws of 2002) – authorizes a police officer to issue a citation for the unlawful sale of an alcoholic beverage to an underage drinker or intoxicated person. This modifies current law to better assure that legal action will be taken.

Alcohol – or Drug-Related Offenses – Probation Before Judgment – Prohibitions - HB 1366 (Chapter 420, Laws of 2002) – expands the scope of an existing prohibition against a court placing a defendant on probation before judgment when the defendant is convicted of drunken or drugged driving within five years of a prior drunken or drugged driving conviction. The new convictions include the causing of another’s death or the causing of life-threatening injuries as a result of negligently driving, operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or any controlled dangerous substance.

Driver Licensing Bills:

Vehicle Laws – Commercial Drivers’ Licenses – Special School Bus Endorsement - HB 322 (Chapter 217, Laws of 2002) / SB 111 - requires all school bus drivers to obtain a special endorsement issued by the Motor Vehicle Administration for their commercial driver’s license. A school bus endorsement authorized under this bill also qualifies as an endorsement for vehicles designed to transport 16 or more passengers. It applies only to individuals applying for a commercial driver’s license to drive a school bus.

Driver Licensing – New Residents – Extension of Exemption Period - SB 110 (Chapter 128, Laws of 2002) – allows new Maryland residents 60 days – they currently have 30 days – after they move into the state to secure their Maryland driver’s license.

Motor Vehicle Administration – Drivers’ Licenses and Identification Cards – Selective Service Administration Registration - SB 297 (Chapter 309, Laws of 2002) / HB 26 – requires the Motor Vehicle Administration to provide information in an electronic format to the Selective Service Administration regarding adult male applicants under the age of 26 years who apply for a driver’s license or identification card. The information will be used for purposes of registering the individual with the Selective Service. Those wishing to opt out of this procedure can check pertinent boxes on new MVA forms.

Vehicle Laws – Drivers’ Licenses – Vision Standards - SB 353 (Chapter 463, Laws of 2002) – makes permanent the provisions authorizing individuals with eyesight of 20/40 to 20/70 to secure a driver’s license. It also would extend for two years provisions for individuals with eyesight of worse than 20/70-1 but no worse than 20/100 allowing them to continue to receive a limited vision license.

Vehicle Services Bills:

Vehicle Laws – Signs Designating Parking Spaces for Individuals with Disabilities – Notice of Fine with Violation - HB 16 (Chapter 460, Laws of 2002) – requires a new sign erected after October 1, 2002 that designates a parking space or zone for the use of individuals with disabilities to clearly state the maximum fine for unlawful parking.

Motor Vehicle Administration – Chesapeake Bay Commemorative License Plate - HB 117 / SB 51 (Chapter 34, Laws of 2002) - extends the Chesapeake Bay Commemorative License Plate Program until July 2007.

Vehicle Laws – Obscuring or Modifying Registration Plate with Intent to Avoid Identification - HB 317 (Chapter 503, Laws of 2002) – prohibits a person from obscuring or modifying any vehicle registration plate to avoid identification with a moving violation for which one point can be assessed against an individual upon conviction.

Vehicle Laws – Fire and Rescue Vehicles – Use of Lights or Signal Devices - HB 387 (Chapter 515, Laws of 2002) – requires the driver of an emergency vehicle of a fire department or rescue squad to flash, oscillate or use red and white lights while stopped, standing or parked on the roadway at the scene of an emergency.

Vehicle Laws – Special Registration Plates for Farm Trucks – Maryland Agriculture - HB 514 (Chapter 372, Laws of 2000) - allows the Motor Vehicle Administration to issue special registration plates that honor Maryland agriculture to owners or lessees of Class E (farm truck) vehicles.

Vehicle Laws – Electronic Personal Mobility Devices - HB 869 (Chapter 546, Laws of 2002) – allows sidewalks, footpaths and bicycle trails to be used by electrical personal mobility devices (Segways). The devises are pedestrian devices powered by an electric propulsion system that is self-balancing, has two nontandem wheels and a maximum speed of 15 mph and is designed to transport one person. A person would not be allowed to operate the equipment in excess of 15 miles per hour and may not wear earplugs or a headset covering both ears. Bicycle and motor scooter restrictions also are imposed on operators.

High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) Lanes – Use by Inherently Low Emission Vehicles - HB 884 (Chapter 549, Laws of 2002) – allows ILEV vehicles to operate on the State’s HOV lanes. The Motor Vehicle Administration is directed to design a permit to designate a vehicle as an ILEV and authorizes the MVA to charge a fee not to exceed $16 for the permit.

Vehicle Laws – Dealer – Definition and Penalties - SB 50 (Chapter 448, Laws of 2002) – decreases the number of vehicles from 5 to 3 that a person may offer to sell within a 12-month period before being considered a dealer. The bill establishes a presumption that a person who offers to sell 3 or more vehicles during a 12-month period acquired the vehicles for resale purposes and places the burden of rebutting the presumption on the vehicle owner. It also increases the penalty for selling vehicles without a dealer’s license from a maximum fine of $1,000 and 6 months in prison to a fine of up to $5,000 and one year in prison.

Vehicle Laws – Registration Plates and Parking Placards – Individuals with Disabilities - SB 112 (Chapter 129, Laws of 2002) – requires a person applying for disability registration plates or a parking placard due to losing the use of a foot, leg, hand or arm provide medical certification to the Motor Vehicle Administration. It repeals the person’s authority to self-certify the loss of use of a limb or appendage.

Vehicle Laws – Special Registration Plates for Motorcycles – Veterans and Recipients of Combat-Related Medals - SB 120 (Chapter 299, Laws of 2002) – allows the Motor Vehicle Administration to issue special registration plates for veterans and recipients of combat-related medals to owners or lessees for their motorcycles.

Miscellaneous Bills:

Motor Fuel and Lubricants – Dyed Diesel Fuel - SB 287 (Chapter Law 145, Laws of 2002) - prohibits the use of dyed diesel fuel in a vehicle on a highway and prohibits the sale or delivery of dyed diesel fuel from a retail pump unless notification requirements regarding the dyed fuel are met. The bill allows the Comptroller to detain a motor vehicle to inspect and test diesel fuel for compliance with the statute. Misdemeanor punishment is a fine up to $1,000 and imprisonment not to exceed one year, or both.

Vehicle Laws – Child Booster Seats - SB 802 (Chapter 338, Laws of 2002) / HB 699 (Chapter 339, Laws of 2002) – requires that a person transporting a child in a vehicle registered in Maryland must secure the child in a child safety seat if the child is 6 years old or younger or weighs 40 pounds or less, regardless of the child’s age.

Prince George’s County - Roadside Solicitation – Children - HB 948 (Chapter 253, Laws of 2002) - prohibits a child under 15 years of age from standing in a roadway, median divider, or intersection in Prince George’s County to solicit money or donations of any kind from an occupant of a vehicle. An adult may not encourage a child under 15 to do so.

Maryland Security Protection Act of 2002 - HB 1036 (Chapter 100, Laws of 2002) / SB 639 - includes provisions to enhance the state’s security. Specific to the Motor Vehicle Administration, the bill:

State Government – Access to State Agencies – Individuals with Limited English Proficiency - HB 1174 / SB 265 (Chapter 141, Laws of 2002) – requires agencies to provide equal access to public services to individuals who cannot understand or speak English. Translation of information on forms and services is required as is oral translation to customers for any language spoken by over 3% of the overall state population within the geographic area served.