Vermont Statutes Title 23 Sec. 601
Terms Used In Vermont Statutes Title 23 Sec. 601
- Commissioner: shall mean in this title only the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles. See
- Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
- Conviction: means an unvacated final adjudication of guilt, or a final determination that a person has violated or failed to comply with the law in a court of original jurisdiction or an authorized administrative tribunal, an unvacated forfeiture of bail or collateral deposited to secure the person's appearance in court, the payment of a fine or court cost, or violation of a condition of release without bail, regardless of whether or not the penalty is rebated, suspended, or probated. See
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- following: when used by way of reference to a section of the law shall mean the next preceding or following section. See
- Junior operator: shall include only such persons as are 16 and 17 years of age. See
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Motor vehicle: includes all vehicles propelled or drawn by power other than muscular power, except farm tractors, vehicles running only upon stationary rails or tracks, motorized highway building equipment, road making appliances, snowmobiles, tracked vehicles, motor-assisted bicycles, electric bicycles, or electric personal assistive mobility devices. See
- Motor-driven cycle: means any vehicle equipped with two or three wheels, a power source providing up to a maximum of two brake horsepower and having a maximum piston or rotor displacement of 50 cubic centimeters if a combustion engine is used, which will propel the vehicle, unassisted, at a speed not to exceed 30 miles per hour on a level road surface, and that is equipped with a power drive system that functions directly or automatically only, not requiring clutching or shifting by the operator after the drive system is engaged. See
- Motorcycle: means any motor vehicle having a seat or saddle for the use of the rider and designed to travel on not more than three wheels in contact with the ground, and includes autocycles but excludes motor-driven cycles, motor-assisted bicycles, electric bicycles, golf carts, track driven vehicles, tractors, and electric personal assistive mobility devices. See
- Nonresident: shall include any person who does not come under the definition of a resident. See
- Operator: shall include all persons 18 years of age or over properly licensed to operate motor vehicles. See
- Person: includes any natural person, corporation, association, co-partnership, company, firm, or other aggregation of individuals. See
- Resident: as used in this title only, means any person living in the State who intends to make the State his or her principal place of domicile either permanently or for an indefinite number of years. See
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States may apply to the District of Columbia and any territory and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See
§ 601. License required
(a)(1) Except as otherwise provided by law, a resident shall not operate a motor vehicle on a highway in Vermont unless he or she holds a valid license issued by the State of Vermont. A new resident who has moved into the State from another jurisdiction and who holds a valid license to operate motor vehicles under section 208 of this title shall procure a Vermont license within 60 days of moving to the State. Except as provided in subsection 603(d) of this title, licenses shall not be issued to nonresidents.
(2) In addition to any other requirement of law, a nonresident as defined in section 4 of this title shall not operate a motor vehicle on a Vermont highway unless:
(A) he or she holds a valid license or permit to operate a motor vehicle issued by another U.S. jurisdiction; or
(B) he or she holds a valid license or permit to operate a motor vehicle from a jurisdiction outside the United States and:
(i) is at least 18 years of age, is lawfully present in the United States, and has been in the United States for not more than one year; and
(ii) he or she possesses an international driving permit.
(b) All operator‘s licenses issued under this chapter shall expire, unless earlier cancelled, at midnight on the eve of the second or fourth anniversary of the date of birth of the license holder following the date of issue. Renewed licenses shall expire at midnight on the eve of the second or fourth anniversary of the date of birth of the license holder following the date the renewed license expired. All junior operator‘s licenses shall expire, unless earlier cancelled, at midnight on the eve of the second anniversary of the date of birth of the license holder following the date of issue. A person born on February 29 shall, for the purposes of this section, be considered as born on March 1.
(c) At least 30 days before a license is scheduled to expire, the Commissioner shall mail first class to the licensee or send the licensee electronically an application for renewal of the license; a cardholder shall be sent the renewal notice by mail unless the cardholder opts in to receive electronic notification. A person shall not operate a motor vehicle unless properly licensed.
(d) The Commissioner may, in his or her discretion, determine that certain types of motor vehicles require that an operator possess specialized skill or knowledge to operate those vehicles so that the public safety may not be endangered. If the Commissioner so determines, he or she may prescribe different classes of licenses for the operation of particular types of vehicles. The Commissioner is authorized to make rules prescribing forms and procedures for applications, license classifications, restrictions, endorsements, examinations, driver training requirements, and disqualifications consistent with this title as necessary to carry out the provisions of this section.
(e) A motor-driven cycle may be operated only by a licensed driver at least 16 years of age.
(f) Operators of autocycles shall be exempt from the requirements to obtain a motorcycle learner’s permit or a motorcycle endorsement. The Commissioner shall offer operators of three-wheeled motorcycles that are not autocycles the opportunity to obtain a motorcycle endorsement that authorizes the operation of three-wheeled motorcycles only.
(g) A person who violates this section commits a traffic violation, except that a person who violates this section after a previous conviction under this section within the prior two years shall be subject to imprisonment for not more than 60 days or a fine of not more than $5,000.00, or both. An unsworn printout of the person’s Vermont motor vehicle conviction history may be admitted into evidence to prove a prior conviction under this section. (Amended 1966, No. 38 (Sp. Sess.), § 1; 1967, No. 86, § 1; 1977, No. 20, § 10; 1981, No. 130 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1989, No. 51, § 34; 1989, No. 239 (Adj. Sess.), § 3; 1991, No. 88, § 2; 2003, No. 56, § 71, eff. June 4, 2003; 2003, No. 154 (Adj. Sess.), § 4; 2005, No. 188 (Adj. Sess.), § 3; 2007, No. 153 (Adj. Sess.), § 40; 2007, No. 188 (Adj. Sess.), § 5; 2009, No. 152 (Adj. Sess.), § 19e, eff. Sept. 1, 2010; 2013, No. 189 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 33, 35; 2015, No. 147 (Adj. Sess.), § 17; 2015, No. 158 (Adj. Sess.), § 63; 2017, No. 71, § 10, eff. June 8, 2017; 2017, No. 206 (Adj. Sess.), § 17; 2019, No. 60, §§ 8, 13.)