Montana Code 61-6-302. Proof of compliance
61-6-302. Proof of compliance. (1) The registration receipt required by 61-3-322 must contain a statement that unless the vehicle is eligible for an exemption under 61-6-303, it is unlawful to operate the vehicle without a valid motor vehicle liability insurance policy, or a certificate of self-insurance, as required by 61-6-301.
Terms Used In Montana Code 61-6-302
- Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
- Department: means the department of justice acting directly or through its duly authorized officers or agents. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Highway patrol officer: means a state officer authorized to direct or regulate traffic or to make arrests for violations of traffic regulations. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- 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: means :
(i)a vehicle propelled by its own power and designed or used to transport persons or property on the highways of the state;
(ii)a quadricycle if it is equipped for use on the highways as prescribed in chapter 9; or
(iii)a golf cart only if it is equipped for use on the highways as prescribed in chapter 9 and is operated pursuant to 61-8-391 or by a person with a low-speed restricted driver's license. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Operator: means a person who is in actual physical control of a motor vehicle. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Owner: means each person who holds the legal title to a vehicle. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Peace officer: has the meaning as defined in 46-1-202. See Montana Code 1-1-207
- 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. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Registration receipt: means a paper record that is produced and issued or, if authorized by the department, an electronic record that is transmitted by the department, its authorized agent, or a county treasurer to the owner of a vehicle that identifies a vehicle, based on information maintained in the electronic record of title for the vehicle, and that provides evidence of the payment of all fees required to be paid for the registration of the vehicle for the registration period indicated in the receipt. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Vehicle: means a device in, on, or by which any person or property may be transported or drawn on a public highway, except devices moved by animal power or used exclusively on stationary rails or tracks. See Montana Code 61-1-101
(2)(a) Each owner or operator of a motor vehicle shall carry in the motor vehicle as proof of compliance with 61-6-301 either:
(i)an insurance card approved by the department but issued by the insurance carrier to the motor vehicle owner; or
(ii)an electronic device on which an electronic document issued by the insurance carrier showing proof of compliance with 61-6-301 may be displayed.
(b)If the insurance card or electronic document is issued under a commercial automobile insurance policy or a self-insured fleet, the insurance card or electronic document must indicate the status as “commercially insured” or “fleet”.
(c)A motor vehicle owner or operator shall exhibit the insurance card or display the electronic document on demand of a justice of the peace, a city or municipal judge, a peace officer, a highway patrol officer, or a field deputy or inspector of the department.
(d)A person commits an offense under this subsection if the person fails to carry in the motor vehicle the insurance card or an electronic device on which the electronic document may be displayed or fails to exhibit the insurance card or display the electronic document on demand of a person specified in subsection (2)(c).
(e)For the purposes of this subsection (2), “insurance card” includes an electronic representation or equivalent of a documentary insurance card that the insurer delivers by electronic means, as defined in 33-15-601, to satisfy the requirements of this subsection (2).
(3)In lieu of charging an operator who is not the owner of a vehicle with violating subsection (2), the officer may issue a complaint and notice to appear charging the owner with a violation of 61-6-301 and serve the complaint and notice to appear on the owner of the vehicle:
(a)personally; or
(b)by certified mail, return receipt requested, at the address for the owner listed on the registration receipt for the vehicle or, following query through available law enforcement systems, at the address maintained for the vehicle’s owner by the jurisdiction in which the vehicle is titled and registered, or both.
(4)An owner or operator charged with violating subsection (2) may not be convicted if:
(a)the arresting or issuing officer or another person authorized to access information from the online motor vehicle liability insurance verification system under 61-6-309 submits to the system, when implemented, a request that provides proof of insurance valid at the time the alleged violation took place; or
(b)when the system under 61-6-157 is not available, the person produces in court or the office of the arresting or issuing officer proof of insurance valid at the time the alleged violation took place.