An Act To Amend the Motor Vehicle Laws
Maine Legislature, Session 126, LD 1645
Committee: Transportation
Sponsors: MAZUREK, THERIAULT, COLLINS, CRAVEN, JACKSON, VALENTINO, BERRY, HOBBINS, WILLETTE
Amends: 29-A MRSA §101, 29-A MRSA §406, 29-A MRSA §455, 29-A MRSA §456-C, 29-A MRSA §515-B, 29-A MRSA §521, 29-A MRSA §523, 29-A MRSA §1301, 29-A MRSA §1304, 29-A MRSA §1410, 29-A MRSA §1851, 29-A MRSA §2472

Legislative Document 
No. 1645 
S.P. 636 
In Senate, December 23, 2013 
An Act To Amend the Motor Vehicle Laws 
Submitted by the Secretary of State pursuant to Joint Rule 204. 
Received by the Secretary of the Senate on December 23, 2013.  Referred to the Committee 
on Transportation pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed. 
DAREK M. GRANT 
Secretary of the Senate 
Presented by Senator MAZUREK of Knox. 
Cosponsored by Representative THERIAULT of Madawaska and 
Senators: COLLINS of York, CRAVEN of Androscoggin, JACKSON of Aroostook, 
VALENTINO of York, Representatives: BERRY of Bowdoinham, HOBBINS of Saco, 
WILLETTE of Mapleton. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  29-A MRSA §101, sub-§11, as amended by PL 2013, c. 381, Pt. B, §3, is 
further amended to read: 
11.  Bus. "Bus" means a motor vehicle designed for carrying more than 16 15 
persons, including the operator. 
Sec. 2.  29-A MRSA §406, sub-§§1 and 2, as enacted by PL 1993, c. 683, Pt. A, 
§2 and affected by Pt. B, §5, are repealed. 
Sec. 3.  29-A MRSA §455, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2007, c. 703, §2 and PL 
2011, c. 657, Pt. W, §6, is further amended to read: 
2.  Plate design; optional environmental vanity plates.  The Secretary of State, the 
Commissioner of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, the Commissioner of 
Environmental Protection and the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife in 
consultation with the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over 
transportation matters shall determine the plate design. 
The design must accommodate the use of numbers and letters as provided in section 453.  
Upon request and as provided by section 453, the Secretary of State shall issue 
environmental plates that are also vanity plates.  Environmental vanity plates are issued in 
accordance with this section and section 453.  The Secretary of State may modify class 
codes and create unique identifiers for the purpose of expanding the program.  The annual 
service fee of $15 for vanity plates is credited to the Highway Fund.  Rules adopted 
pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules pursuant to Title 5, chapter 375, 
subchapter 2-A. 
Sec. 4.  29-A MRSA §456-C, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2007, c. 240, Pt. LLLL, 
§2, is further amended to read: 
1.  Sportsman registration plates.  The Secretary of State, upon receiving an 
application and evidence of payment of the registration fee required by section 501 and 
the excise tax required by Title 36, section 1482, shall issue a registration certificate and a 
set of sportsman plates to be used in lieu of regular registration plates.  These plates must 
bear identification numbers and letters.  Vanity plates may not duplicate vanity plates 
issued in another class of plate.  The Secretary of State shall begin issuing sportsmen 
sportsman registration plates by April 1, 2008.  Sportsman vanity plates are issued in 
accordance with this section and section 453. 
Sec. 5.  29-A MRSA §515-B, sub-§3, as enacted by PL 1999, c. 734, §1, is 
amended to read: 
3.  Design.  The Secretary of State shall determine the design of the Purple Heart 
motorcycle registration plate.  Upon request and as provided by section 453, the Secretary 
of State shall issue Purple Heart motorcycle registration plates that are also vanity plates.  
Purple Heart vanity plates are issued in accordance with this section and section 453.  The 
annual service fee of $15 for vanity plates is credited to the Highway Fund. 
Sec. 6.  29-A MRSA §521, sub-§5, as amended by PL 2011, c. 23, §1, is repealed 
and the following enacted in its place: 
5.  Application; issuance.  The following provisions apply to an application for and 
the issuance of a disability plate or placard. 
A.  An application for a disability plate or placard must be accompanied by the 
certificate of a physician, physician assistant, nurse practitioner or registered nurse 
attesting to the applicant's physical disability as defined in subsection 1.  The 
physician, physician assistant, nurse practitioner or registered nurse shall designate 
the duration of the applicant's disability not to exceed 6 years or designate the 
applicant's disability as permanent.  The Secretary of State shall issue to an eligible 
applicant disability plates and windshield placards upon request.  A disability plate or 
placard issued to a person for whom the duration of the person's disability has been 
designated as not exceeding 6 years expires upon the expiration of the duration of the 
disability as designated by the physician, physician assistant, nurse practitioner or 
registered nurse. 
B.  When the Secretary of State determines the disability to be permanent from the 
application, the disability plate or placard expires upon the expiration date of that 
person's driver's license or nondriver identification card issued by this State. The 
applicant is not required to continue to provide proof of disability upon renewal of 
the applicant's disability plate or placard. 
C.  When the applicant's need for the disability plate or placard terminates or the 
applicant dies, the disability plate or placard must be returned to the Secretary of 
State. Notwithstanding subsection 2, paragraphs B and C, the provisions of this 
subsection, as regards the issuance of a disability plate or placard for a person with a 
permanent disability, apply only to that person.  
Sec. 7.  29-A MRSA §523, sub-§4, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 69, §1, is amended 
to read: 
4.  Veterans vanity plates.  Upon request and as provided by section 453, the 
Secretary of State shall issue veterans registration plates that are also vanity plates.  
Veterans registration vanity plates are issued in accordance with this section and section 
453.  The annual service fee of $15 for vanity plates is credited to the Highway Fund. 
Sec. 8.  29-A MRSA §1301, sub-§2-A, as amended by PL 2013, c. 163, §1, is 
further amended to read: 
2-A.  Legal presence requirement.  The Secretary of State may not issue a license to 
an applicant unless the applicant presents to the Secretary of State valid documentary 
evidence of legal presence in the United States, except that the Secretary of State may 
exempt a person citizen or legal permanent resident from the requirements of this 
subsection if that person is renewing a noncommercial driver's license and that person has 
continuously held a valid driver's license under this chapter since December 31, 1989 or 
was born before December 1, 1964. 
Sec. 9.  29-A MRSA §1304, sub-§1, ¶H, as amended by PL 2013, c. 381, Pt. B, 
§16, is further amended to read: 
H.  A person under 21 years of age may not apply for a license unless: 
(1)  A period of 6 months has passed from the date the person was issued a 
learner's permit; and 
(2)  The person has completed a minimum of 70 hours of driving, including 10 
hours of night driving, while accompanied by a parent, guardian or licensed 
driver at least 20 years of age.  The parent, stepparent or guardian, or a spouse or 
employer pursuant to section 1302, subsection 1, paragraphs B and C, must 
certify the person's driving time on a form prescribed by the Secretary of State.  
A parent, stepparent, guardian, spouse or employer who certifies a driving log 
pursuant to this subsection and was not the licensed driver accompanying the 
applicant must provide the name and address of the licensed driver who 
accompanied the applicant for the majority of the 35 70 hours of driving.  The 
Secretary of State may complete the certification for an applicant at least 18 years 
of age and who has no parent, stepparent, guardian, spouse or employer if the 
applicant provides the name and address of the licensed driver who accompanied 
the applicant for the majority of the 35 70 hours of driving. 
A person 21 years of age or older is not required to submit certification of driving 
time to the Secretary of State. 
Sec. 10.  29-A MRSA §1410, sub-§8, as amended by PL 2013, c. 163, §2, is 
further amended to read: 
8.  Legal presence requirement.  The Secretary of State may not issue a nondriver 
identification card to an applicant unless the applicant presents to the Secretary of State 
valid documentary evidence of legal presence in the United States, except that the 
Secretary of State may exempt a person citizen or legal permanent resident from the 
requirements of this subsection if that person has continuously held a nondriver 
identification card or valid driver's license under this chapter since December 31, 1989 or 
was born before December 1, 1964. 
Sec. 11.  29-A MRSA §1851, sub-§§5 and 6, as enacted by PL 1993, c. 683, Pt. 
A, §2 and affected by Pt. B, §5, are amended to read: 
5.  Left after repair completed.  Left at a place of business after being repaired 
pursuant to a written work order signed by the person requesting the repair work; or 
6.  Left on residential property.  Left on an individual's residential property for 
more than 6 months.; or 
Sec. 12.  29-A MRSA §1851, sub-§7 is enacted to read: 
7.  Left at storage facility.  Left at a storage facility, if the owner has failed to pay 
storage or rental fees. 
Sec. 13.  29-A MRSA §2472, sub-§2-B, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 654, §12, is 
amended to read: 
2-B.  Reexamination.  The holder of a juvenile provisional license convicted of an 
offense listed in section 2551-A, subsection 1, paragraph A, as limited by section 2551-A, 
subsection 3, must successfully complete an examination pursuant to section 1301, 
subsection 4 as prescribed by the Secretary of State before the suspension may be 
terminated within 90 days after that license is restored.  Failure to successfully complete 
the examination results in a subsequent suspension. 
SUMMARY 
This bill makes the following changes to the motor vehicle laws. 
1.  It changes the definition of "bus" to be consistent with federal law. 
2.  It repeals the requirement that a vehicle registrant return that registrant's 
registration certificate to the Secretary of State upon the transfer of ownership of the 
vehicle. 
3.  It standardizes the language for vanity plates for environmental registration plates, 
sportsman registration plates, Purple Heart motorcycle registration plates and veterans 
registration plates to be the same as other vanity plates. 
4.  It restructures the law relative to the issuance of disability plates and placards and 
provides that disability plates and placards may be issued for up to 6 years. 
5.  It clarifies that the exemption from the requirement to establish legal presence 
when issuing a driver's license applies to certain citizens and legal permanent residents 
applying for the renewal of a driver's license.  
6.  It corrects an inconsistency in the laws governing the number of practice hours a 
person under 21 years of age must complete before applying for a driver's license. 
7.  It clarifies that the exemption from the requirement to establish legal presence 
when issuing a nondriver identification card applies to certain citizens and legal 
permanent residents applying for the renewal of a nondriver identification card. 
8.  It provides that the laws governing abandoned vehicles apply to vehicles left at a 
storage facility. 
9.  It allows for a person to be scheduled for the required road test after that person's 
juvenile provisional license is restored after a suspension instead of making it a 
requirement of restoration.  All other restoration requirements must be met and, if the 
examination is not successfully completed within 90 days after restoration, an additional 
suspension for noncompliance will be imposed.