SF 88 (LSB 1038XS (7) 88)

SENATE FILE 88

BY  EDLER

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to motor vehicles, including special registration plates and the minimum standard of transparency for window tint, providing fees, providing penalties, and making penalties applicable. 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 321.34, Code 2019, is amended by adding the following new subsection:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  11C.  Blackout plates.
   a.  Upon application and payment of the proper fees, the director may issue blackout plates to the owner of a motor vehicle subject to registration under section 321.109, subsection 1, autocycle, motor truck, motor home, multipurpose vehicle, motorcycle, trailer, or travel trailer.
   b.  Blackout plates shall be designed by the department. A blackout plate’s background shall be black, and the plate’s letters and numbers shall be white. The plate shall include on the plate the name of the county where the vehicle is registered.
   c.  The special blackout fee for letter-number designated blackout plates is thirty-five dollars. An applicant may obtain personalized blackout plates upon payment of the fee for personalized plates as provided in subsection 5, which is in addition to the special blackout fee. The fees collected by the director under this subsection shall be paid monthly to the treasurer of state and deposited in the road use tax fund. The treasurer of state shall credit monthly from the statutory allocations fund created under section 321.145, subsection 2, to each county’s county mental health and disabilities services fund created pursuant to section 331.424A, the amount of the special blackout fees collected in the previous month for the blackout plates issued to vehicles registered in that county.
   d.  Upon receipt of the special registration plates, the applicant shall surrender the current registration plates to the county treasurer. The county treasurer shall validate the special registration plates in the same manner as regular registration plates are validated under this section. The annual special blackout fee for letter-number designated plates is ten dollars which shall be paid in addition to the regular annual registration fee. The annual fee for personalized blackout plates is five dollars which shall be paid in addition to the annual special blackout fee and the regular annual registration fee. The annual special blackout fee shall be credited as provided under paragraph “c”.
   e.  The department shall not condition the issuance of blackout plates on the receipt of any number of orders for blackout plates.
    Sec. 2.  Section 321.438, subsection 2, Code 2019, is amended to read as follows:
   2.  a.  A person shall not operate on the highway a motor vehicle equipped with a front windshield, a side window to the immediate right or left of the driver, or a side-wing sidewing forward of and to the left or right of the driver which is excessively dark or reflective so that it is difficult for a person outside the motor vehicle to see into the motor vehicle through the windshield, window, or sidewing does not meet a minimum standard of transparency of thirty-five percent light transmittance. The department shall adopt rules establishing a minimum measurable standard of transparency which shall apply to violations of this subsection.
   b.  If a peace officer stops a motor vehicle equipped with a side window to the immediate right or left of the driver which has a transparency of seventy percent light transmittance or less, the driver shall lower the side window on the side of the officer’s approach of the vehicle to the side window’s lowest possible position prior to the completion of the officer’s approach of the vehicle, and shall keep the side window in the lowest possible position for the duration of the stop unless otherwise instructed by the officer. A person convicted of a violation of this paragraph is guilty of a simple misdemeanor punishable as a scheduled violation under section 805.8A, subsection 14, paragraph “m”. However, if the violation is a person’s first violation of this paragraph, and the person has not previously been issued a warning memorandum for a violation of this paragraph, the officer shall issue a warning memorandum to the driver in lieu of a citation.
    Sec. 3.  Section 805.8A, subsection 3, paragraph ag, Code 2019, is amended to read as follows:
   ag.  Section 321.438, subsection 1, subsection 2, paragraph 

“a”, and subsection 3$ 50.
    Sec. 4.  Section 805.8A, subsection 14, Code 2019, is amended by adding the following new paragraph:
   NEW PARAGRAPH.  m.  Failure to lower tinted side window.  For violations under section 321.438, subsection 2, paragraph “b”, the scheduled fine is twenty dollars.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   BLACKOUT SPECIAL REGISTRATION PLATES. This bill authorizes the department of transportation (DOT) to issue blackout special registration plates. The bill requires the plate’s background to be black, the plate’s letters and numbers to be white, and the name of the county where the vehicle is registered to be displayed on the plate. 
   The bill provides that the special blackout fee for letter-number designated blackout plates is $35. An applicant may obtain personalized blackout plates upon payment of the $25 fee for personalized plates set forth under current law, which is in addition to the special blackout fee. The bill requires the fees collected by the DOT for the plates to be paid monthly to the treasurer of state and deposited in the road use tax fund. The treasurer of state must then credit monthly from the statutory allocations fund to each county’s county mental health and disabilities services fund the amount of the special blackout fees collected in the previous month for the blackout plates issued to vehicles registered in that county.
   Upon receipt of the special registration plates, the applicant must surrender the current registration plates to the county treasurer. The county treasurer must validate the special registration plates in the same manner as regular registration plates are validated. The annual special blackout fee for letter-number designated plates is $10, which is in addition to the regular annual registration fee. The annual fee for personalized blackout plates is $5, which is in addition to the annual special blackout fee and the regular annual registration fee. The bill requires the annual special blackout fee to be credited in the same way as the special blackout fee.
   The bill prohibits the DOT from conditioning the issuance of blackout plates on the receipt of any number of orders for blackout plates.
   WINDOW TINT. Under current law, a person is prohibited from operating a motor vehicle equipped with a front windshield, a side window to the immediate right or left of the driver, or a sidewing forward of and to the left or right of the driver which is excessively dark or reflective so that it is difficult for a person outside the motor vehicle to see into the motor vehicle through the windshield, window, or sidewing. Under rules adopted by the DOT (761 IAC 450.7), “excessively dark or reflective” means the windshield, side window, or sidewing does not meet a minimum standard of transparency of 70 percent light transmittance.
   The bill prohibits a person from operating a motor vehicle equipped with a front windshield, a side window to the immediate right or left of the driver, or a sidewing forward of and to the left or right of the driver which does not meet a minimum standard of transparency of 35 percent light transmittance. The bill also strikes the provision requiring the DOT to adopt rules establishing a minimum measurable standard of transparency. A violation of this provision of the bill is punishable by a scheduled fine of $50.
   The bill also provides that if a peace officer stops a motor vehicle equipped with a side window to the immediate right or left of the driver which has a transparency of 70 percent light transmittance or less, the driver must lower the side window on the side of the officer’s approach of the vehicle to the side window’s lowest possible position prior to the completion of the officer’s approach of the vehicle, and must keep the side window in the lowest possible position for the duration of the stop unless otherwise instructed by the officer. A violation of this provision of the bill is punishable by a scheduled fine of $20. However, if the violation is a person’s first violation, and the person has not previously been issued a warning memorandum for a similar violation, the officer is required to issue a warning memorandum to the driver in lieu of a citation.