130th Ohio General Assembly
The online versions of legislation provided on this website are not official. Enrolled bills are the final version passed by the Ohio General Assembly and presented to the Governor for signature. The official version of acts signed by the Governor are available from the Secretary of State's Office in the Continental Plaza, 180 East Broad St., Columbus.

S. B. No. 19  As Reported by the Senate Judiciary Committee
As Reported by the Senate Judiciary Committee

129th General Assembly
Regular Session
2011-2012
S. B. No. 19


Senator Hughes 

Cosponsors: Senators Grendell, Kearney, Manning, Patton, Seitz, Wagoner 



A BILL
To amend sections 4510.31 and 4510.311 of the Revised Code to permit a judge to elect to order the Registrar of Motor Vehicles not to suspend the probationary driver's license, restricted license, or temporary instruction permit of certain juvenile repeat traffic violators, and to require the Registrar to establish standards for advanced juvenile driver improvement programs.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 4510.31 and 4510.311 of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:
Sec. 4510.31.  (A)(1) Except as provided in division (C)(1) or (2) of this section, the registrar of motor vehicles shall suspend the probationary driver's license, restricted license, or temporary instruction permit issued to any person when the person has been convicted of, pleaded guilty to, or been adjudicated in juvenile court of having committed, prior to the person's eighteenth birthday, any of the following:
(a) Three separate violations of section 2903.06, 2903.08, 2921.331, 4511.12, 4511.13, 4511.15, 4511.191, 4511.20, 4511.201, 4511.202, 4511.21, 4511.22, 4511.23, 4511.25 to 4511.48, 4511.57 to 4511.65, 4511.75, 4549.02, 4549.021, or 4549.03 of the Revised Code, section 4510.14 of the Revised Code involving a suspension imposed under section 4511.191 or 4511.196 of the Revised Code, section 2903.04 of the Revised Code in a case in which the person would have been subject to the sanctions described in division (D) of that section had the person been convicted of the violation of that section, former section 2903.07 of the Revised Code, or any municipal ordinances similarly relating to the offenses referred to in those sections;
(b) One violation of section 4511.19 of the Revised Code or a substantially similar municipal ordinance;
(c) Two separate violations of any of the Revised Code sections referred to in division (A)(1)(a) of this section, or any municipal ordinance that is substantially similar to any of those sections.
(2) Any person whose license or permit is suspended under division (A)(1)(a), (b), or (c) of this section shall mail or deliver the person's probationary driver's license, restricted license, or temporary instruction permit to the registrar within fourteen days of notification of the suspension. The registrar shall retain the license or permit during the period of the suspension. A suspension pursuant to division (A)(1)(a) of this section shall be a class C suspension, a suspension pursuant to division (A)(1)(b) of this section shall be a class D suspension, and a suspension pursuant to division (A)(1)(c) of this section shall be a class E suspension, all for the periods of time specified in division (B) of section 4510.02 of the Revised Code. If the person's probationary driver's license, restricted license, or temporary instruction permit is under suspension on the date the court imposes sentence upon the person for a violation described in division (A)(1)(b) of this section, the suspension shall take effect on the next day immediately following the end of that period of suspension. If the person is sixteen years of age or older and pleads guilty to or is convicted of a violation described in division (A)(1)(b) of this section and the person does not have a current, valid probationary driver's license, restricted license, or temporary instruction permit, the registrar shall deny the issuance to the person of a probationary driver's license, restricted license, driver's license, commercial driver's license, or temporary instruction permit, as the case may be, for six months beginning on the date the court imposes sentence upon the person for the violation. If the person has not attained the age of sixteen years on the date the court imposes sentence upon the person for the violation, the period of denial shall commence on the date the person attains the age of sixteen years.
(3) The registrar shall suspend the person's license or permit under division (A) of this section regardless of whether the disposition of the case in juvenile court occurred after the person's eighteenth birthday.
(B) The registrar also shall impose a class D suspension for the period of time specified in division (B)(4) of section 4510.02 of the Revised Code of the temporary instruction permit or probationary driver's license of any person under the age of eighteen who has been adjudicated an unruly child, delinquent child, or juvenile traffic offender for having committed any act that if committed by an adult would be a drug abuse offense or a violation of division (B) of section 2917.11 of the Revised Code. The registrar, in the registrar's discretion, may terminate the suspension if the child, at the discretion of the court, attends and satisfactorily completes a drug abuse or alcohol abuse education, intervention, or treatment program specified by the court. Any person whose temporary instruction permit or probationary driver's license is suspended under this division shall mail or deliver the person's permit or license to the registrar within fourteen days of notification of the suspension. The registrar shall retain the permit or license during the period of the suspension.
(C)(1)(a) Except as provided in division (C)(3)(1)(c) of this section, for any person who is convicted of, pleads guilty to, or is adjudicated in juvenile court of having committed a second or third violation of section 4511.12, 4511.13, 4511.15, 4511.20 to 4511.23, 4511.25, 4511.26 to 4511.48, 4511.57 to 4511.65, or 4511.75 of the Revised Code or any similar municipal ordinances and whose license or permit is suspended under division (A)(1)(a) or (c) of this section, the court in which the second or third conviction, finding, plea, or adjudication resulting in the suspension was made, upon petition of the person, may grant the person limited driving privileges during the period during which the suspension otherwise would be imposed under division (A)(1)(a) or (c) of this section if the court finds reasonable cause to believe that the suspension will seriously affect the person's ability to continue in employment, educational training, vocational training, or treatment. In granting the limited driving privileges, the court shall specify the purposes, times, and places of the privileges and may impose any other conditions upon the person's driving a motor vehicle that the court considers reasonable and necessary.
A court that grants limited driving privileges to a person under this division shall retain the person's probationary driver's license, restricted license, or temporary instruction permit during the period the license or permit is suspended and also during the period for which limited driving privileges are granted, and shall deliver to the person a permit card, in a form to be prescribed by the court, setting forth the date on which the limited driving privileges will become effective, the purposes for which the person may drive, the times and places at which the person may drive, and any other conditions imposed upon the person's use of a motor vehicle.
The court immediately shall notify the registrar, in writing, of a grant of limited driving privileges under this division. The notification shall specify the date on which the limited driving privileges will become effective, the purposes for which the person may drive, the times and places at which the person may drive, and any other conditions imposed upon the person's use of a motor vehicle. The registrar shall not suspend the probationary driver's license, restricted license, or temporary instruction permit of any person pursuant to division (A) of this section during any period for which the person has been granted limited driving privileges as provided in this division, if the registrar has received the notification described in this division from the court.
(2)(b) Except as provided in division (C)(3)(1)(c) of this section, in any case in which the temporary instruction permit or probationary driver's license of a person under eighteen years of age has been suspended under division (A) or (B) of this section or any other provision of law, the court may grant the person limited driving privileges for the purpose of the person's practicing of driving with the person's parent, guardian, or other custodian during the period of the suspension. Any grant of limited driving privileges under this division shall comply with division (D) of section 4510.021 of the Revised Code.
(3)(c) A court shall not grant limited driving privileges to a person identified in division (C)(1)(a) or (2)(b) of this section if the person, within the preceding six years, has been convicted of, pleaded guilty to, or adjudicated in juvenile court of having committed three or more violations of one or more of the divisions or sections set forth in divisions (G)(2)(b) to (g) of section 2919.22 of the Revised Code.
(2)(a) In a case in which a person is convicted of, pleads guilty to, or is adjudicated in juvenile court of having committed, prior to the person's eighteenth birthday, a second or third violation of section 4511.12, 4511.13, 4511.15, 4511.20 to 4511.23, 4511.25, 4511.26 to 4511.48, 4511.57 to 4511.65, or 4511.75 of the Revised Code or any similar municipal ordinances and division (A)(1)(a) or (c) of this section requires the registrar of motor vehicles to suspend the person's license or permit, the court in which the person is convicted of, pleads guilty to, or is adjudicated of having committed the second or third violation may elect to order the registrar of motor vehicles to waive the suspension if all of the following apply:
(i) Prior to the date on which the court imposes sentence upon, or makes an order of disposition for, the person for the second or third violation, the person submits to the court a petition requesting the court to order the registrar to waive the prescribed suspension and describing the reasons why the person believes the suspension, if imposed, would seriously affect the person's ability to continue in employment, educational training, vocational training, or treatment.
(ii) Prior to the date specified in division (C)(2)(a)(i) of this section, the person submits to the court satisfactory proof showing that the person successfully completed an advanced juvenile driver improvement program approved by the registrar under division (B) of section 4510.311 of the Revised Code after the date the person committed that second or third violation.
(iii) Prior to imposing sentence upon, or making an order of disposition for, the person for the second or third violation, the court finds reasonable cause to believe that the suspension, if imposed, would seriously affect the person's ability to continue in employment, educational training, vocational training, or treatment.
(iv) If the court is imposing sentence upon, or making an order of disposition for, the person for a third violation, the person did not submit to the court that imposed sentence upon, or made an order of disposition for, the person for the second violation a petition of the type described in division (C)(2)(a)(i) of this section, and the court that imposed sentence upon, or made an order of disposition for, the person for that second violation did not order the registrar of motor vehicles to waive the suspension of the person's license or permit required under division (A)(1)(c) of this section for the conviction of, plea of guilty to, or adjudication in juvenile court of having committed that second violation.
(b) If a court elects pursuant to division (C)(2)(a) of this section to order the registrar of motor vehicles to waive a suspension that otherwise is required under division (A)(1)(a) or (c) of this section, the court immediately shall send a written copy of the order to the registrar. Upon receipt of the written copy of the order, the registrar shall not suspend pursuant to division (A)(1)(a) or (c) of this section the probationary driver's license, restricted license, or temporary instruction permit of the person who is the subject of the order for the second or third violation for which the suspension otherwise would be imposed under that division.
(D) If a person who has been granted limited driving privileges under division (C)(1) of this section is convicted of, pleads guilty to, or is adjudicated in juvenile court of having committed, a violation of Chapter 4510. of the Revised Code, or a subsequent violation of any of the sections of the Revised Code listed in division (A)(1)(a) of this section or any similar municipal ordinance during the period for which the person was granted limited driving privileges, the court that granted the limited driving privileges shall suspend the person's permit card. The court or the clerk of the court immediately shall forward the person's probationary driver's license, restricted license, or temporary instruction permit together with written notification of the court's action to the registrar. Upon receipt of the license or permit and notification, the registrar shall impose a class C suspension of the person's probationary driver's license, restricted license, or temporary instruction permit for the period of time specified in division (B)(3) of section 4510.02 of the Revised Code. The registrar shall retain the license or permit during the period of suspension, and no further limited driving privileges shall be granted during that period.
(E) No application for a driver's or commercial driver's license shall be received from any person whose probationary driver's license, restricted license, or temporary instruction permit has been suspended under this section until each of the following has occurred:
(1) The suspension period has expired;
(2) A temporary instruction permit or commercial driver's license temporary instruction permit has been issued;
(3) The person successfully completes a juvenile driver improvement program approved by the registrar under division (A) of section 4510.311 of the Revised Code;
(4) The applicant has submitted to the examination for a driver's license as provided for in section 4507.11 or a commercial driver's license as provided in Chapter 4506. of the Revised Code.
Sec. 4510.311.  (A) The registrar of motor vehicles shall establish standards for juvenile driver improvement programs and shall approve any programs that meet the established standards. The standards established by the registrar shall require a minimum of five hours of classroom instruction, with at least three hours devoted to driver skill requirements and two hours devoted to juvenile driver information related to the driving records of drivers under eighteen years of age, driver perceptions, and the value of the traffic laws. The standards also shall require a person whose probationary driver's license was suspended under section 4510.31 of the Revised Code to undertake and pass, as successful completion of an approved juvenile driver improvement program, the driver's license examination that a person who holds a temporary instruction permit is required to undertake and pass in order to be issued a probationary driver's license. The person shall pay the applicable fee that is required to accompany an application for a driver's license as prescribed in division (E) of section 4507.23 of the Revised Code. The registrar shall prescribe the requirements for the curriculum to be provided as well as other program directives. Only those programs approved by the registrar shall be acceptable for reinstatement of the driving privileges of a person whose probationary driver's license was suspended under section 4510.31 of the Revised Code.
(B) The registrar shall establish standards for advanced juvenile driver improvement programs and shall approve any programs that meet the established standards. The standards established by the registrar shall require a minimum of two hours of classroom instruction with a focus on driving physics, vehicle dynamics, proper vision techniques, and teen driver statistics. The standards also shall require a minimum of four hours of emergency driving skills development through "behind-the-wheel" driving exercises with a focus on vehicle control in emergency and adverse weather driving situations. The driving exercises shall include vehicle control in inclement weather conditions, emergency transition maneuvers, and spin and skid control. The driving exercises shall take place in a suitable closed-course facility that is safe and controlled and has adequate run-off areas. The registrar shall prescribe the requirements for the curriculum to be provided as well as other program directives and the requirements and score necessary to pass the course. A person who attends an advanced juvenile driver improvement program for the purpose specified in division (C)(2) of section 4510.31 of the Revised Code that meets the standards and requirements prescribed in this division for such courses and successfully completes the course shall receive a certificate of completion from the program.
Section 2. That existing sections 4510.31 and 4510.311 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.
Please send questions and comments to the Webmaster.
© 2024 Legislative Information Systems | Disclaimer