An Act To Establish Owner Liability for Failure To Stop for a Police Officer
Maine Legislature, Session 122, LD 1121
Committee: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
Sponsors: FISCHER

Legislative Document 
No. 1121 
H.P.774 
House of Representatives, March 1,2005 
An Act To Establish Owner Liability for Failure To Stop for a 
Police Officer 
Reference to the Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety suggested and ordered 
printed. 
Presented by Representative FISCHER of Presque Isle. 
Printed on reqcled paper 
'7J'/~ /J1. 77!P£~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 29·A MRS A §2414·A is enacted to read: 
§24l4-A. 
Owner liabjlity for failure to stop for law 
enforcement officer 
1. 
Refusing to stop for law enforcement officer. 
A person 
who is a registered owner of a vehicle at the time that vehicle 
is operated by another person in a violation under section 2414, 
subsection 2 commits a traffic infraction. 
2. 
Eluding officer. 
A person who is a registered owner of 
a vehicle at the time that vehicle is operated by another person 
in a violation under section 2414, subsection 3 commits a Class D 
crime. 
3. 
Passing roadblock. 
A person who is a registered owner 
of a vehicle at the time that vehicle is operated by another 
person in a violation under section 2414, subsection 4 commits a 
Class D crime. 
4. 
Aggravating factor. 
A person who is a registered owner 
of a vehicle at the time that vehicle is operated by another 
person 
and is 
involved in 
a 
violation under 
section 
2414, 
subsection 3 or 4, and a person other than the operator suffers 
serious bodily injury, 
as defined in Title l7-A, 
section 2, 
subsection 23, as a result, commits a Class C crime. 
5. 
Owner not operator of vehicle. 
Except as provided in 
subsection 6, it is not a defense to a violation under this 
section that a registered owner was not operating a vehicle at 
the time of a violation under subsection 1, 2, 3 or 4. 
6. 
Defenses. 
The following are defenses to a violation of 
this section. 
A. 
If a person other than the registered owner is convicted 
of operating a vehicle at the time of a violation under 
section 2414, 
subsection 2, 
3, 
4, 
5, 
or 7, 
then the 
registered owner may not be found in violation under this 
section. 
B. 
If the registered owner is a lessor of vehicles and at 
the time of a violation a vehicle was in the possession of a 
lessee, and if the lessor provides the investigating officer 
wi th 
a 
copy 
of 
the 
lease 
agreement 
containing 
the 
information reguired by section 254, then the lessee, not 
the lessor, must be charged under this section. 
• 
c. 
If a vehicle is operated using a dealer or transporter 
registration plate 
and 
at the 
time 
of 
a 
violation the 
vehicle was operated by a person other than the dealer or 
transporter, and if the deal§!r or transporter provides the 
investigating officer with the 
name 
and 
address 
of 
the 
person who had been given control over the vehicle by the 
dealer or transporter at the time of the violation, then 
that person, not the dealer or transporter, must be charged 
under this section. 
D. 
If a report that a vehicle was stolen is given to a law 
enforcement officer or agency before a violation occurs or 
wi thin a 
reasonable time after the violation occurs, then 
the registered owner may not be charged under this section. 
SUMMARY 
This bill establishes owner liability for failure to stop a 
vehicle for a police officer.