2021 -- H 6054
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LC001513
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S TATE OF RHODE IS L A N D
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2021
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A N A CT
RELATING TO MOTOR AND OTHER VEHICLES -- SAFETY RESPONSIBILITY
ADMINISTRATION -- SECURITY
Introduced By: Representatives Knight, McEntee, Caldwell, Batista, and Speakman
Date Introduced: March 02, 2021
Referred To: House Judiciary
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
1 SECTION 1. Sections 31-31-4, 31-31-5, 31-31-6, 31-31-7, 31-31-8, 31-31-9, 31-31-10,
2 31-31-11, 31-31-12, 31-31-13, 31-31-14, 31-31-15, 31-31-16, 31-31-17, 31-31-18, 31-31-19, 31-
3 31-20 and 31-31-21 of the General Laws in Chapter 31-31 entitled "Safety Responsibility
4 Administration - Security Following Accident" are hereby repealed.
5 31-31-4. Application of chapter.
6 The provisions of this chapter requiring a deposit of security and suspensions for failure to
7 deposit security, subject to certain exemptions, shall apply to the driver and owner of any vehicle
8 of a type subject to registration under the motor vehicle laws of this state, which is in any manner
9 involved in an accident within this state, which accident has resulted in bodily injury to or death of
10 any person or damage to the property of any one person in excess of five hundred dollars ($500).
11 31-31-5. Determination of security required -- Notices.
12 (a) The division of motor vehicles, not less than twenty (20) days after receipt of a report
13 of an accident as described in § 31-31-4, shall determine the amount of security which shall be
14 sufficient in its judgments to satisfy any judgment or judgments for damages resulting from the
15 accident as may be recovered against each driver or owner. The determination shall not be made
16 with respect to drivers or owners who are exempt under succeeding sections of this chapter from
17 the requirements as to security and suspension.
18 (b) The division of motor vehicles shall determine the amount of security deposit required
1 of any person upon the basis of the reports or other information submitted. In the event a person
2 involved in an accident as described in this chapter fails to make a report or submit information
3 indicating the extent of his or her injuries or the damage to his or her property within ninety (90)
4 days after the accident, and the division of motor vehicles does not have sufficient information on
5 which to base an evaluation of the injuries or damage, then the division of motor vehicles, after
6 reasonable notice to the person, if it is possible to give notice, otherwise without notice, shall not
7 require any deposit of security for the benefit or protection of the person.
8 (c) The division of motor vehicles within ninety (90) days after receipt of report of any
9 accident referred to herein, and upon determining the amount of security to be required of any
10 person involved in the accident or to be required of the owner of any vehicle involved in the
11 accident, shall give written notice to the person of the amount of security required to be deposited
12 by him or her, and that an order of suspension will be made as provided in this chapter upon the
13 expiration of ten (10) days after the sending of the notice unless within the time security is deposited
14 as required by the notice.
15 31-31-6. Exceptions to requirement of security.
16 The requirements as to security and suspension in this chapter shall not apply:
17 (1) To the driver or owner if the owner had in effect at the time of the accident an
18 automobile liability policy or bond with respect to the vehicle involved in the accident, except that
19 a driver shall not be exempt under this subdivision if at the time of the accident the vehicle was
20 being operated without the owner's permission, express or implied;
21 (2) To the driver, if not the owner of the vehicle involved in the accident, if there was in
22 effect at the time of the accident an automobile liability policy or bond with respect to his or her
23 driving of vehicles not owned by him or her;
24 (3) To a driver or owner whose liability for damages resulting from the accident is, in the
25 judgment of the division of motor vehicles, covered by any other form of liability insurance policy
26 or bond;
27 (4) To any person qualifying as a self-insurer under § 31-33-9 or to any person operating a
28 vehicle for the self-insurer;
29 (5) To the driver or the owner of a vehicle involved in an accident if no injury or damage
30 was caused to the person or property of anyone other than the driver or owner;
31 (6) To the driver or owner of a vehicle if at the time of the accident the vehicle was stopped,
32 standing, or parked, whether attended or unattended except in the event that the division of motor
33 vehicles shall determine that any such stopping, standing, or parking of the vehicle was illegal, and
34 that the violation contributed to the cause of the accident;
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1 (7) To the owner of a vehicle if at the time of the accident the vehicle was being operated
2 without the owner's permission, express or implied, or was parked by a person who had been
3 operating the vehicle without permission;
4 (8) To the owner of a vehicle involved in an accident if at the time of the accident the
5 vehicle was owned by or leased to the United States, to this state or to a municipality of it, or to the
6 driver of the vehicle if operating the vehicle with permission; or
7 (9) To the driver or the owner of a vehicle in the event, at the time of the accident the
8 vehicle was being operated by or under the direction of a police officer who, in the performance of
9 his or her duties, shall have assumed custody of the vehicle.
10 31-31-7. Requirements as to policy or bond.
11 (a) No policy or bond shall be effective under § 31-31-6 unless issued by an insurance
12 company or surety company authorized to do business in this state, except as provided in subsection
13 (b) of this section, nor unless the policy or bond is subject, if the accident has resulted in bodily
14 injury or death, to a limit, exclusive of interest and costs, of not less than twenty-five thousand
15 dollars ($25,000) because of bodily injury to or death of one person, in any one accident and subject
16 to the limit for one person, to a limit of not less than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) because of
17 bodily injury to or death of two (2) or more persons in any one accident, and if the accident has
18 resulted in injury to, or destruction of, property to a limit of not less than twenty-five thousand
19 dollars ($25,000) because of injury to or destruction of property of others in any one accident.
20 (b) No policy or bond shall be effective under § 31-31-6 with respect to any vehicle which
21 was not registered in this state or was a vehicle which was registered elsewhere than in this state at
22 the effective date of the policy or bond or the most recent renewal thereof, unless the insurance
23 company or surety company issuing the policy or bond is authorized to do business in this state, or
24 if the company is not authorized to do business in this state, unless it shall execute a power of
25 attorney authorizing the administrator of the division of motor vehicles to accept service on its
26 behalf of notice or process in any action upon the policy or bond arising out of the accident.
27 (c) The division of motor vehicles may rely upon the accuracy of the information in a
28 required report of an accident as to the existence of insurance or a bond unless and until the division
29 of motor vehicles has reason to believe that the information is erroneous.
30 31-31-8. Form and amount of security.
31 (a) The security required under this chapter may consist of an insurance company policy
32 or bond, cash, a savings bank deposit, marketable securities, or a recorded bond with individual
33 surety having sufficient equity in real estate within this state scheduled in the bond, and shall be in
34 a form and in an amount that the division of motor vehicles may require, but in no case in excess
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1 of the limits specified in § 31-31-7 in reference to the acceptable limits of a policy or bond.
2 (b) Every depositor of security shall designate in writing every person in whose behalf the
3 deposit is made, and may at any time change the designation, but any single deposit of security
4 shall be applicable only on behalf of persons required to furnish security because of the accident.
5 31-31-9. Failure to deposit security -- Suspensions.
6 (a) In the event that any person required to deposit security under this chapter fails to
7 deposit the security within ten (10) days after the division of motor vehicles has sent the notice as
8 provided in this chapter, the division of motor vehicles shall suspend:
9 (1) The license of each driver in any manner involved in the accident;
10 (2) The registrations of all vehicles owned by the owner of each vehicle of a type subject
11 to registration under the laws of this state involved in the accident;
12 (3) If the driver is a nonresident, the privilege of operating within this state a vehicle of a
13 type subject to registration under the laws of this state;
14 (4) If the owner is a nonresident, the privilege of the owner to operate or permit the
15 operation within this state of a vehicle of a type subject to registration under the laws of this state.
16 (b) The suspensions shall be made in respect to persons required by the division of motor
17 vehicles to deposit the security who fail to deposit the security, except as otherwise provided under
18 succeeding sections of this chapter.
19 31-31-10. Relief from security requireme nts.
20 (a) A person shall be relieved from the requirement for deposit of security for the benefit
21 or protection of another person injured or damaged in the accident in the event he or she is released
22 from liability by the other person.
23 (b) A covenant not to sue shall relieve the parties to it as to each other from the security
24 requirements of this chapter.
25 (c) In the event the division of motor vehicles has evaluated the injuries or damage to any
26 minor in an amount not more than two hundred dollars ($200) the division of motor vehicles may
27 accept, for the purpose of this chapter only, evidence of a release from liability executed by a natural
28 guardian or a legal guardian on behalf on the minor without the approval of any court or judge.
29 (d) The division of motor vehicles may accept evidence of a payment to an operator or to
30 the owner of a vehicle involved in an accident by the insurance carrier of any other person involved
31 in the accident on account of damage to property or to bodily injury, as effective to relieve the
32 operator or owner from the security and suspension provisions of this chapter in respect to any
33 claim for property damage or bodily injury arising out of the accident by the person on whose
34 behalf the payment has been made. A payment to the insurance carrier of an operator or owner
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1 under its right of subrogation shall be the equivalent of a payment to the operator or owner.
2 31-31-11. Adjudication of nonliability.
3 A person shall be relieved from the requirement for the deposit of security in respect to a
4 claim for injury or damage arising out of the accident in the event the person has been finally
5 adjudicated not to be liable in respect to the claim.
6 31-31-12. Agreements for payment of damages.
7 (a) Any two (2) or more of the persons involved in or affected by an accident as described
8 in § 31-31-4 may at any time enter into a written agreement for the payment of an agreed amount
9 with respect to all claims of the persons because of bodily injury to or death or property damage
10 arising from the accident. This agreement may provide for payment in installments, and may file a
11 signed copy of it with the division of motor vehicles.
12 (b) The division of motor vehicles, to the extent provided by the written agreement filed
13 with it, shall not require the deposit of security and shall terminate any prior order of suspension.
14 If security has previously been deposited, the division of motor vehicles shall immediately return
15 the security to the depositor or the depositor's personal representative.
16 (c) In the event of a default in any payment under the agreement and upon notice of the
17 default, the division of motor vehicles shall take action suspending the license or registration of the
18 person in default as would be appropriate in the event of failure of the person to deposit security
19 when required under this chapter.
20 (d) The suspension shall remain in effect and the license or registration shall not be restored
21 unless and until:
22 (1) Security is deposited as required under this chapter in the amount that the division of
23 motor vehicles may then determine, or
24 (2) When, following the default and suspension, the person in default has paid the balance
25 of the agreed amount, or
26 (3) Three (3) years have elapsed following the date of the accident and/or occurrence, and
27 evidence satisfactory to the division of motor vehicles has been filed with it that during the period
28 no action at law upon the agreement has been instituted and is pending.
29 31-31-13. Release upon payment of judgment.
30 The payment of a judgment arising out of an accident or the payment upon the judgment
31 of an amount equal to the maximum amount which could be required for deposit under this chapter
32 shall, for the purposes of this chapter, release the judgment debtor from the liability evidenced by
33 the judgment.
34 31-31-14. Termination of security requirement.
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1 The division of motor vehicles, if satisfied as to the existence of any fact which under §§
2 31-31-10, 31-31-11, 31-31-12, or 31-31-13 would entitle a person to be relieved from the security
3 requirements of this chapter, shall not require the deposit of security by the person so relieved from
4 the requirement and shall terminate any prior order of suspension in respect to the person. If security
5 has previously been deposited by the person, the division of motor vehicles shall immediately return
6 the deposit to the person or to his or her personal representative.
7 31-31-15. Duration of suspension.
8 Unless a suspension is terminated under other provisions of this chapter, any order or
9 suspension by the division of motor vehicles under this chapter shall remain in effect and no license
10 shall be renewed for or issued to any person whose vehicle registration is suspended until:
11 (1) The person shall deposit or there shall be deposited on his or her behalf the security
12 required under this chapter;
13 (2) Three (3) years shall have elapsed following the date of the accident and/or occurrence,
14 and evidence satisfactory to the division of motor vehicles has been filed with it that during the
15 period no action for damages arising out of the accident resulting in the suspension has been
16 instituted; or
17 (3) Eight (8) years have elapsed following the date from which an action at law has been
18 filed in any court in this state, provided there does not exist any unpaid judgment.
19 31-31-16. Drivers not licensed in state -- Unregistered vehicles -- Out of state
20 accidents.
21 (a) In case the driver or the owner of a vehicle of a type subject to registration under the
22 laws of this state involved in an accident within this state has no license or registration in this state,
23 then the driver shall not be allowed a license, nor shall the owner be allowed to register any vehicle
24 in this state, until the owner has complied with the requirements of this chapter to the same extent
25 that would be necessary if, at the time of the accident, he or she had held a license or been the
26 owner of a vehicle registered in this state.
27 (b) When a nonresident's operating privilege is suspended pursuant to § 31-31-9, the
28 division of motor vehicles shall transmit a certified copy of the record of the action to the official
29 in charge of the issuance of licenses and registration certificates in the state in which the nonresident
30 resides, if the law of the other state provides for action similar to that provided for in subsection (c)
31 of this section.
32 (c) Upon receipt of certification that the operating privilege of a resident of this state has
33 been suspended or revoked in any other state pursuant to a law providing for its suspension or
34 revocation for failure to deposit security for the payment of judgments arising out of a motor vehicle
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1 accident, under circumstances which would require the division of motor vehicles to suspend a
2 nonresident's operating privilege had the accident occurred in this state, the division of motor
3 vehicles shall suspend the license of the resident if he or she was the driver, and all of the resident's
4 registrations if he or she was the owner of a motor vehicle involved in the accident. The suspension
5 shall continue until the resident furni