Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

67th Legislature                                                                                                      HB 326.1
                                                     HOUSE BILL NO. 326
                                                 INTRODUCED BY B. USHER
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   A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: “AN ACT GENERALLY REVISING BICYCLE LAWS; DISTINGUISHING
   BICYCLES FROM OFF-HIGHWAY VEHICLES AND MOPEDS; AND AMENDING SECTIONS 23-2-801, 61-1-
   101, AND 61-8-102, MCA.”
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   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:
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              Section 1. Section 23-2-801, MCA, is amended to read:
              "23-2-801.    Definition. (1) As used in this part, "off-highway vehicle" means a self-propelled vehicle
   used for recreation or cross-country travel on public lands, trails, easements, lakes, rivers, or streams. The term
   includes but is not limited to motorcycles, quadricycles, dune buggies, amphibious vehicles, air cushion
   vehicles, and any other means of land transportation deriving motive power from any source other than muscle
   or wind.
              (2)   Off-highway vehicle does not include:
              (a)   vehicles designed primarily for travel on, over, or in the water;
              (b)   snowmobiles; or
              (c)   bicycles as defined in 61-8-102; or
              (c)(d)   except as provided in 23-2-804, vehicles otherwise issued a certificate of title and registered
   under the laws of the state, unless the vehicle is used for off-road recreation on public lands."
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              Section 2. Section 61-1-101, MCA, is amended to read:
              "61-1-101.    Definitions. As used in this title, unless the context indicates otherwise, the following
   definitions apply:
              (1)   (a) "Authorized agent" means a person who has executed a written agreement with the
   department and is specifically authorized by the department to electronically access and update the
   department's motor vehicle titling, registration, or driver records, using an approved automated interface, for
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   specific functions or purposes on behalf of a third party.
              (b)   For purposes of this subsection (1), "person" means an individual, corporation, partnership, limited
   partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, state agency, local government unit, another
   state government, the United States, a political subdivision of this or another state, or any other legal or
   commercial entity.
              (2)   "Authorized agent agreement" means the written agreement executed between an authorized
   agent and the department that sets the technical and operational program standards, compliance criteria,
   payment options, and service expectations by which the authorized agent is required to operate in performing
   specific motor vehicle or driver-related record functions.
              (3)   "Autocycle" means a three-wheeled motorcycle that is equipped with safety belts, roll bars or roll
   hoops, a steering wheel, and seating that does not require the operator to straddle or sit astride it.
              (4)   "Bus" means a motor vehicle designed for carrying more than 10 passengers and used for the
   transportation of persons and any other motor vehicle, other than a taxicab, designed and used for the
   transportation of persons for compensation.
              (5)   (a) "Business entity" means a corporation, association, partnership, limited liability partnership,
   limited liability company, or other legal entity recognized under state law.
              (b)   The term does not include an individual.
              (6)   (a) "Camper" means a structure designed to be mounted in the cargo area of a truck or attached
   to an incomplete vehicle for the purpose of providing shelter for persons. The term includes but is not limited to
   a cab-over, half cab-over, noncab-over, telescopic, and telescopic cab-over.
              (b)   The term does not include a truck canopy cover or topper.
              (7)   "CDLIS driver record" means the electronic record of a person's commercial driver's license status
   and history stored as part of the commercial driver's license system established under 49 U.S.C. 31309.
              (8)   "Certificate of title" means the paper record issued by the department or by the appropriate agency
   of another jurisdiction that establishes a verifiable record of ownership between an identified person or persons
   and the motor vehicle specifically described in the record and that provides notice of a perfected security
   interest in the motor vehicle.
              (9)   "Commercial driver's license" means:
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67th Legislature                                                                                                     HB 326.1
              (a)   a driver's license issued under or granted by the laws of this state that authorizes a person to
   operate a class of commercial motor vehicle; or
              (b)   the privilege of a person to drive a commercial motor vehicle, whether or not the person holds a
   valid commercial driver's license.
              (10) (a) "Commercial motor vehicle" means a motor vehicle or combination of motor vehicles used in
   commerce to transport passengers or property if the vehicle:
              (i)   has a gross combination weight rating or a gross combination weight of 26,001 pounds or more,
   whichever is greater, inclusive of a towed unit with a gross vehicle weight rating of more than 10,000 pounds;
              (ii) has a gross vehicle weight rating or a gross vehicle weight of 26,001 pounds or more, whichever is
   greater;
              (iii) is designed to transport at least 16 passengers, including the driver;
              (iv) is a school bus; or
              (v)   is of any size and is used in the transportation of hazardous materials.
              (b)   The following vehicles are not commercial motor vehicles:
              (i)   an authorized emergency vehicle:
              (A)   equipped with audible and visual signals as required under 61-9-401 and 61-9-402; and
              (B)   operated when responding to or returning from an emergency call or operated in another official
   capacity;
              (ii) a vehicle:
              (A)   controlled and operated by a farmer, family member of the farmer, or person employed by the
   farmer;
              (B)   used to transport farm products, farm machinery, or farm supplies to or from the farm within
   Montana within 150 miles of the farm or, if there is a reciprocity agreement with a state adjoining Montana,
   within 150 miles of the farm, including any area within that perimeter that is in the adjoining state; and
              (C)    not used to transport goods for compensation or for hire; or
              (iii) a vehicle operated for military purposes by active duty military personnel, a member of the military
   reserves, a member of the national guard on active duty, including personnel on full-time national guard duty,
   personnel in part-time national guard training, and national guard military technicians, or active duty United
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67th Legislature                                                                                                    HB 326.1
   States coast guard personnel.
              (c)   For purposes of this subsection (10):
              (i)   "farmer" means a person who operates a farm or who is directly involved in the cultivation of land
   or crops or the raising of livestock owned by or under the direct control of that person;
              (ii) "gross combination weight rating" means the value specified by the manufacturer as the loaded
   weight of a combination or articulated vehicle;
              (iii) "gross vehicle weight rating" means the value specified by the manufacturer as the loaded weight
   of a single vehicle; and
              (iv) "school bus" has the meaning provided in 49 CFR 383.5.
              (11) "Commission" means the state transportation commission.
              (12) "Custom-built motorcycle" means a motorcycle that is equipped with:
              (a)   an engine that was manufactured 20 years prior to the current calendar year and that has been
   altered from the manufacturer's original design; or
              (b)   an engine that was manufactured to resemble an engine 20 or more years old and that has been
   constructed in whole or in part from nonoriginal materials.
              (13) "Custom vehicle" means a motor vehicle other than a motorcycle that:
              (a)   (i) was manufactured with a model year after 1948 and that is at least 25 years old; or
              (ii) was built to resemble a vehicle manufactured after 1948 and at least 25 years before the current
   calendar year, including a kit vehicle intended to resemble a vehicle manufactured after 1948 and that is at
   least 25 years old; and
              (b)   has been altered from the manufacturer's original design or has a body constructed from
   nonoriginal materials.
              (14) "Customer identification number" means:
              (a)   a driver's license or identification card number when the customer is an individual who has been
   issued a driver's license or identification card by a state driver licensing authority;
              (b)   a federal employer or tax identification number when the customer is a business entity that has
   been issued a federal employer or tax identification number;
              (c)   the identification number assigned by the secretary of state to a business entity authorized to do
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67th Legislature                                                                                                        HB 326.1
   business in this state under Title 35 if the customer is a business entity that does not have a federal employer
   or tax identification number other than a social security number; or
              (d)   if the customer has not been issued one of the numbers described in subsections (14)(a) through
   (14)(c), a number assigned to the customer by the department when a transaction is initiated under this title.
              (15) (a) "Dealer" means a person that, for commission or profit, engages in whole or in part in the
   business of buying, selling, exchanging, or accepting on consignment new or used motor vehicles, trailers,
   semitrailers, pole trailers, travel trailers, motorboats, sailboats, snowmobiles, off-highway vehicles, or special
   mobile equipment that is not registered in the name of the person.
              (b)   The term does not include the following:
              (i)   receivers, trustees, administrators, executors, guardians, or other persons appointed by or acting
   under a judgment or order of any court of competent jurisdiction;
              (ii) employees of the persons included in subsection (15)(b)(i) when engaged in the specific
   performance of their duties as employees; or
              (iii) public officers while performing or in the operation of their duties.
              (16) "Declared weight" means the total unladen weight of a vehicle plus the weight of the maximum
   load to be carried on the vehicle as stated by the registrant in the application for registration.
              (17) "Department" means the department of justice acting directly or through its duly authorized
   officers or agents.
              (18) "Dolly or converter gear" means a device consisting of one or two axles with a fifth wheel and
   trailer tongue used to support the forward end of a semitrailer, converting a semitrailer into a trailer.
              (19) "Domiciled" means a place where:
              (a)   an individual establishes residence;
              (b)   a business entity maintains its principal place of business;
              (c)   the business entity's registered agent maintains an address; or
              (d)   a business entity most frequently uses, dispatches, or controls a motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer,
   or pole trailer that it owns or leases.
              (20) "Downgrade" means the removal of a person's privilege to operate a commercial motor vehicle, as
   maintained by the department on the individual Montana driving record and the CDLIS driver record for that
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67th Legislature                                                                                                    HB 326.1
   person.
              (21) "Driver" means a person who drives or is in actual physical control of a vehicle.
              (22) "Driver's license" means a license or permit to operate a motor vehicle issued under or granted by
   the laws of this state, including:
              (a)   any temporary license or learner license;
              (b)   the privilege of any person to drive a motor vehicle, whether or not the person holds a valid
   license;
              (c)   any nonresident's driving privilege;
              (d)   a motorcycle endorsement; or
              (e)   a commercial driver's license.
              (23) "Electric personal assistive mobility device" means a device that has two nontandem wheels, is
   self-balancing, and is designed to transport only one person with an electric propulsion system that limits the
   maximum speed of the device to 12 1/2 miles an hour.
              (24) "For hire" means an action performed for remuneration of any kind, whether paid or promised,
   either directly or indirectly, or received or obtained through leasing, brokering, or buy-and-sell arrangements
   from which a remuneration is obtained or derived for transportation service.
              (25) (a) "Golf cart" means a motor vehicle that is designed for use on a golf course to carry a person
   or persons and golf equipment and that has an average speed of less than 15 miles per hour.
              (b)   Except as provided in 61-3-201, a golf cart is exempt from titling, registration, and mandatory
   liability insurance requirements under this title.
              (26) "Gross vehicle weight" means the weight of a vehicle without load plus the weight of any load on
   the vehicle.
              (27) "Hazardous material" means:
              (a)   any material that has been designated as hazardous under 49 U.S.C. 5103 and is required to be
   placarded under 49 CFR, part 172; or
              (b)   any quantity of a material listed as a select agent or toxin in 42 CFR, part 73.
              (28) "Highway" or "public highway" means the entire width between the boundary lines of every
   publicly maintained way when any part of the publicly maintained way is open to the use of the public for
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67th Legislature                                                                                                     HB 326.1
   purposes of vehicular travel.
              (29) "Highway patrol officer" means a state officer authorized to direct or regulate traffic or to make
   arrests for violations of traffic regulations.
              (30) "Implement of husbandry" means a vehicle that is designed for agricultural purposes and
   exclusively used by the owner of the vehicle in the conduct of the owner's agricultural operations.
              (31) "Kit vehicle" is a motor vehicle assembled from a manufactured kit either as:
              (a)   a complete kit, consisting of a prefabricated body and chassis, to construct a new motor vehicle;
   or
              (b)   a kit with a prefabricated body to be mounted to an existing motor vehicle chassis and drivetrain,
   commonly referred to as a donor vehicle.
              (32) "Light vehicle" means a motor vehicle commonly referred to as an automobile, van, sport utility
   vehicle, or truck having a manufacturer's rated capacity of 1 ton or less.
              (33) "Low-speed electric vehicle" means a motor vehicle, on or by which a person may be transported,
   that:
              (a)   has four wheels;
              (b)   has a maximum speed of at least 20 miles an hour and no greater than 40 miles an hour as
   certified by the manufacturer;
              (c)   is propelled by its own power, using an electric motor or other device that transforms stored
   electrical energy into the motion of the vehicle;
              (d)   stores electricity in batteries, ultracapacitors, or similar devices, which are charged from the power
   grid or from renewable electrical energy sources;
              (e)   has a wheelbase of 40 inches or greater and a wheel diameter of 10 inches or greater;
              (f)   exhibits a manufacturer's compliance with 49 CFR, part 565, or displays a 17-character vehicle
   identification number as provided in 49 CFR, part 565; and
              (g)   is equipped as provided in 61-9-432.
              (34) "Low-speed restricted driver's license" means a license limited to th