Commercial driver licenses. (FE)

This bill specifically prohibits a person from driving a CMV while using a cellular telephone or other wireless telephone, except to report an emergency.

2. Under current law, a person's operator's license may be cancelled for a variety of reasons. For example, a license may be cancelled if the Department of Transportation (DOT) finds that the application for the license contained a material false statement or if a license has been altered and returned to DOT for cancellation.

This bill specifies that the license of a person who secures, or attempts to secure, a license or endorsement by hiring or permitting another to appear in the person's place to take an examination or otherwise gaining or attempting to gain a passing score in an examination by fraud or otherwise obtain a commercial driver license (CDL) or CDL endorsement by fraud may be cancelled by DOT.

3. Under current law, if DOT has good cause to believe that a licensed operator is not qualified to be licensed, DOT may require the licensee to submit to an examination. After the examination, DOT may take any necessary action, including cancelling the license or permitting the licensee to retain the license subject to restrictions.

Under this bill, if DOT receives credible information that a person holding a CDL committed fraud related to the issuance of the CDL, DOT must require the person to submit to an examination.

4. Under current law, a person licensed to drive a CMV may be disqualified from operating a CMV for several reasons. Among these, a person may be disqualified upon being convicted of certain traffic-related offenses that are classified as "serious traffic violations." A person who is convicted of committing two serious traffic violations within a three-year period is disqualified from operating a CMV for 60 days and a person who is convicted of committing three serious traffic violations within a three-year period is disqualified from operating a CMV for 120 days.

Under this bill, driving a motor vehicle while composing or sending a text message and driving a CMV while using a cellular or other wireless phone are classified as serious traffic violations.

Also under this bill, a person whose CDL is cancelled because the person secured, or attempted to secure, a license or endorsement by hiring or permitting another to appear in the person's place to take an examination or otherwise gained or attempted to gain a passing score in an examination by fraud or otherwise obtain a CDL or CDL endorsement by fraud, is disqualified from operating a CMV for one year.

5. Under current law, a person may be issued a CDL that is subject to certain standard restrictions. Under current law, these standard restrictions are a prohibition from operating a CMV in interstate commerce and a restriction from operating a CMV that is equipped with air brakes.

This bill adds several standard restrictions that may be included on a CDL.

These restrictions indicate that a person is prohibited from one of the following:

operating a CMV equipped with a manual transmission, operating certain large passenger vehicles, operating tractor-trailer CMVs, operating a CMV equipped with full air brakes, or operating any CMV without a medical variance.

This bill also does all of the following:

1. Incorporates certain federal regulations regarding the documentation necessary to receive, and restrictions on, a CDL and requires the labeling of certain CDLs as nondomiciled licenses.

2. Modifies the standards for determining which vehicles are air brake equipped.

3. Changes the period of an instruction permit to operate CMVs or school buses from 6 months to 180 days.

4. Modifies the definition of "tank vehicle" and limits the operation of tank vehicles by persons holding an instruction permit.

5. Requires on-site inspections of third-party driver skills testers biennially rather than annually and permits scoring drivers along with the third-party tester during skills tests as an acceptable manner of evaluating the performance of these testers.