HF 901

2nd Engrossment - 79th Legislature (1995 - 1996) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to drivers' licenses; requiring additional 
  1.3             information in drivers' education programs, the 
  1.4             driver's license examination, and the driver's manual 
  1.5             regarding the legal and financial consequences of 
  1.6             violating DWI-related laws; amending Minnesota 
  1.7             Statutes 1994, sections 169.121, by adding a 
  1.8             subdivision; and 171.13, subdivisions 1 and 1b. 
  1.9   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.10     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 169.121, is 
  1.11  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  1.12     Subd. 12.  [DRIVER EDUCATION PROGRAMS.] Driver training 
  1.13  courses offered through the public schools and driver training 
  1.14  courses offered by private or commercial schools or institutes 
  1.15  shall include instruction which must encompass at least: 
  1.16     (1) information on the effects of consumption of beverage 
  1.17  alcohol products and the use of illegal drugs, prescription 
  1.18  drugs, and nonprescription drugs on the ability of a person to 
  1.19  operate a motor vehicle; 
  1.20     (2) the hazards of driving while under the influence of 
  1.21  alcohol or drugs; and 
  1.22     (3) the legal penalties and financial consequences 
  1.23  resulting from violations of laws prohibiting the operation of a 
  1.24  motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. 
  1.25     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 171.13, 
  1.26  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.27     Subdivision 1.  [APPLICANTS.] Except as otherwise provided 
  2.1   in this section, the commissioner shall examine each applicant 
  2.2   for a driver's license by such agency as the commissioner 
  2.3   directs.  This examination must include a test of applicant's 
  2.4   eyesight; ability to read and understand highway signs 
  2.5   regulating, warning, and directing traffic; knowledge of traffic 
  2.6   laws; knowledge of the effects of alcohol and drugs on a 
  2.7   driver's ability to operate a motor vehicle safely and legally, 
  2.8   and of the legal penalties and financial consequences resulting 
  2.9   from violations of laws prohibiting the operation of a motor 
  2.10  vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs; knowledge 
  2.11  of railroad grade crossing safety; knowledge of slow-moving 
  2.12  vehicle safety; an actual demonstration of ability to exercise 
  2.13  ordinary and reasonable control in the operation of a motor 
  2.14  vehicle; and other physical and mental examinations as the 
  2.15  commissioner finds necessary to determine the applicant's 
  2.16  fitness to operate a motor vehicle safely upon the highways, 
  2.17  provided, further however, no driver's license shall be denied 
  2.18  an applicant on the exclusive grounds that the applicant's 
  2.19  eyesight is deficient in color perception.  Provided, however, 
  2.20  that war veterans operating motor vehicles especially equipped 
  2.21  for handicapped persons, shall, if otherwise entitled to a 
  2.22  license, be granted such license.  The commissioner shall make 
  2.23  provision for giving these examinations either in the county 
  2.24  where the applicant resides or at a place adjacent thereto 
  2.25  reasonably convenient to the applicant. 
  2.26     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 171.13, 
  2.27  subdivision 1b, is amended to read: 
  2.28     Subd. 1b.  [DRIVER'S MANUAL; ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION.] (a) The 
  2.29  commissioner shall include in each subsequent edition of the 
  2.30  driver's manual published by the department a chapter relating 
  2.31  to: 
  2.32     (1) the effect of alcohol consumption on highway safety and 
  2.33  on the ability of drivers to safely operate motor vehicles and; 
  2.34     (2) a summary of the laws of Minnesota on operating a motor 
  2.35  vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or a controlled 
  2.36  substance; and 
  3.1      (3) the legal penalties and financial consequences 
  3.2   resulting from violations of laws prohibiting the operation of a 
  3.3   motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. 
  3.4      (b) This chapter shall also include information on the 
  3.5   dangers of driving at alcohol concentration levels below the 
  3.6   legal limit for alcohol concentration, and specifically state 
  3.7   that: 
  3.8      (1) there is no "safe" level or amount of alcohol that an 
  3.9   individual can assume will not impair one's driving performance 
  3.10  or increase the risk of a crash; 
  3.11     (2) a driver may be convicted of driving while impaired 
  3.12  whether or not the driver's alcohol concentration exceeds the 
  3.13  legal limit for alcohol concentration; and 
  3.14     (3) a person under the legal drinking age may be convicted 
  3.15  of illegally consuming alcohol if found to have consumed any 
  3.16  amount of alcohol, and if that person was driving during or 
  3.17  after the consumption of alcohol is subject to driver's license 
  3.18  suspension. 
  3.19     Sec. 4.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  3.20     Sections 1 to 3 are effective July 1, 1995.