2023 Tennessee Code › Title 55 - MOTOR AND OTHER VEHICLES (§§ 55-1-101 — 55-53-105) › Chapter 21 - DISABLED DRIVERS AND PASSENGERS (§§ 55-21-101 — 55-21-304) › Part 3 - 2021 PRECIOUS CARGO ACT (§§ 55-21-301 — 55-21-304) › Section 55-21-303 - [Effective 1/1/2025] Provision of communication needs at time of vehicle registration - Designation of specific needs to law enforcement and first responders

(a)
(1)
At the time of initial application for the registration of a motor vehicle under this part, or upon renewal, an owner or lessee of a motor vehicle who needs assistance with expressive language or communicating needs to a first responder, including a law enforcement officer, or assistance with exiting a motor vehicle during a traffic stop or welfare check, or who is the parent, legal guardian, or conservator of a person who has such need for assistance and who may be operating the motor vehicle, may request that the department include a designation of such need for assistance in the Tennessee Vehicle Title and Registration System (VTRS) database.
(2)
The applicant's request must be accompanied by a written statement from a licensed physician, psychiatrist, psychologist or senior psychological examiner, or neurologist, stating that an operator of the registrant's motor vehicle has an intellectual disability, a developmental disability, or a medical condition that may impede communications with, or impact the operator's encounter with, a first responder. If the applicant is a parent, legal guardian, or conservator, then the parent, legal guardian, or conservator shall verify under penalty of perjury upon a form prescribed by the department that the parent, legal guardian, or conservator is the parent, legal guardian, or conservator of the person who has such need for assistance. If the applicant is a conservator, then the conservator shall also verify that a court in this state granted, through the issuance of an order, the authority to release health-related information and submit with the application a copy of the conservatorship appointment order or letters of conservatorship, or both, with the right granted to the conservator listed in the order or letters, as applicable.
(3)
Upon receipt of such a request accompanied by a written statement and, if applicable, the verification form required by a parent, legal guardian, or conservator, and a copy of the conservatorship appointment order or letters of conservatorship required by a conservator, the department shall cause the operator's status to be entered into the VTRS database, and ensure such designation is associated with the applicant's motor vehicle and registration.
(b)
Information submitted to the department under this section must be supplied to law enforcement to assist in identifying the operator of the vehicle as possibly needing such assistance. Information collected pursuant to this section must only be available to law enforcement for the purpose of ensuring safe and efficient interactions between law enforcement and persons who have such need for assistance, and must not be used for any other purpose.
(c)
All law enforcement officers charged with the enforcement of this title and emergency call takers and public safety dispatchers, as described in §
7-86-205
, shall receive instruction in the identification of such designation included in the VTRS database as provided for in this section.
Amended by 2024 Tenn. Acts, ch. 521,s 1, eff. 1/1/2025.
Added by 2021 Tenn. Acts, ch. 55, s 1, eff. 1/1/2022.
This section is set out more than once due to postponed, multiple, or conflicting amendments.