HSB 8 (LSB 1615YC (1) 87)

HOUSE FILE _____ 

BY  (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION BILL BY CHAIRPERSON CARLSON)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to matters under the purview of the department of transportation.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 321.180, subsection 2, paragraph c, Code 2017, is amended to read as follows:
   c.  A commercial learner’s permit shall be valid for a period not to exceed one hundred eighty days the period provided in 49 C.F.R. §383.25(c) and 49 C.F.R. §383.73(a)(2)(iii). A commercial learner’s permit may be renewed for an additional one hundred eighty days without retaking the general and endorsement knowledge tests required by section 321.188.
    Sec. 2.  Section 321.257, subsection 2, paragraph a, Code 2017, is amended to read as follows:
   a.  A “steady circular red” light means vehicular traffic shall stop. Vehicular traffic shall remain standing until a signal to proceed is shown or vehicular traffic, unless prohibited by a sign, may cautiously enter the intersection to make a right turn from the right lane of traffic or another lane designated for right turns, or a left turn from a one-way street to a one-way street from the left lane of traffic on a one-way street onto the leftmost lane of traffic on a one-way street or another lane designated for left turns. Turns made under this paragraph shall be made in a manner that does not interfere with other vehicular or pedestrian traffic lawfully using the intersection. Pedestrian traffic facing a steady circular red light shall not enter the roadway unless the pedestrian can safely cross the roadway without interfering with any vehicular traffic.
    Sec. 3.  Section 321A.3, subsection 1, Code 2017, is amended to read as follows:
   1.  The department shall upon request furnish any person a certified abstract of the operating record of a person subject to chapter 321, or 321J, or this chapter. The abstract shall also fully designate the motor vehicles, if any, registered in the name of the person. If there is no record of a conviction of the person having violated any law relating to the operation of a motor vehicle or of any injury or damage caused by the person, the department shall so certify. A fee of five dollars and fifty cents shall be paid for each abstract except for abstracts requested by state, county, or city officials, court officials, public transit officials, or other officials of a political subdivision of the state or a nonprofit charitable organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The department shall transfer the moneys collected under this section to the treasurer of state who shall credit to the general fund all moneys collected. If a fee established in this section is collected by the department of administrative services for a record furnished through an electronic portal maintained by the department of administrative services, the department of administrative services shall transfer the moneys collected under this section to the treasurer of state who shall credit the moneys to the general fund.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   Under current law, commercial learner’s permits are valid for 180 days and may be renewed for an additional 180 days without retaking the required general and endorsement knowledge tests. This bill alters that provision to incorporate the validity and renewal periods provided by the Code of Federal Regulations as well as an exemption for state driver’s licensing agencies. Although the Code of Federal Regulations specifies the same 180-day validity and renewal periods, state driver’s licensing agencies are currently exempted from those periods by the federal motor carrier safety administration, and may instead allow commercial learner’s permits to be valid for one year with no renewal period.
   Vehicular traffic is currently allowed to make a right turn from the right lane of traffic against a red light, or a left turn from the left lane of traffic on a one-way street onto the leftmost lane of traffic on another one-way street against a red light. The bill alters that provision to allow a right turn from another lane designated for right turns, or a left turn from another lane designated for left turns on a one-way street. The bill also strikes the requirement that vehicular traffic turning left against a red light on a one-way street onto another one-way street must turn into the leftmost lane of the street.
   Under current law, fees collected by the department of administrative services (DAS) for the furnishing of drivers’ operating records through an electronic portal maintained by DAS are transferred to the department of transportation which then transfers the moneys to the treasurer of state to be deposited in the general fund. The bill requires that the fees collected by DAS be transferred directly to the treasurer of state to be deposited in the general fund.