Connecticut General Statutes 14-106b – Properly functioning odometer required. Tampering with odometer prohibited
(a) Each self-propelled motor vehicle registered in this state that is designed and manufactured with an odometer shall at all times while operating on the highway be equipped with a properly functioning odometer. Any person who violates any provision of this section shall be issued a warning for defective equipment under the provisions of subsection (c) of section 14-103.
Attorney's Note
Under the Connecticut General Statutes, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:| Class | Prison | Fine |
|---|---|---|
| Class A misdemeanor | up to 1 year | up to $2,000 |
Terms Used In Connecticut General Statutes 14-106b
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Dealer: includes any person actively engaged in buying, selling or exchanging motor vehicles or trailers who has an established place of business in this state and who may, incidental to such business, repair motor vehicles or trailers, or cause them to be repaired by persons in his or her employ. See Connecticut General Statutes 14-1
- Highway: includes any state or other public highway, road, street, avenue, alley, driveway, parkway, place or dedicated roadway for bus rapid transit service, under the control of the state or any political subdivision of the state, dedicated, appropriated or opened to public travel or other use. See Connecticut General Statutes 14-1
- Manufacturer: means (A) a person, whether a resident or nonresident, engaged in the business of constructing or assembling new motor vehicles of a type required to be registered by the commissioner, for operation upon any highway, except a utility trailer, which are offered for sale in this state, or (B) a person who distributes new motor vehicles to new car dealers licensed in this state. See Connecticut General Statutes 14-1
- Motor vehicle: means any vehicle propelled or drawn by any nonmuscular power, except aircraft, motor boats, road rollers, baggage trucks used about railroad stations or other mass transit facilities, electric battery-operated wheel chairs when operated by persons with physical disabilities at speeds not exceeding fifteen miles per hour, golf carts operated on highways solely for the purpose of crossing from one part of the golf course to another, golf-cart-type vehicles operated on roads or highways on the grounds of state institutions by state employees, agricultural tractors, farm implements, such vehicles as run only on rails or tracks, self-propelled snow plows, snow blowers and lawn mowers, when used for the purposes for which they were designed and operated at speeds not exceeding four miles per hour, whether or not the operator rides on or walks behind such equipment, motor-driven cycles, as defined in section 14-286, special mobile equipment, as defined in section 14-165, mini-motorcycles, as defined in section 14-289j, electric bicycles, electric foot scooters and any other vehicle not suitable for operation on a highway. See Connecticut General Statutes 14-1
- Person: includes any individual, corporation, limited liability company, association, copartnership, company, firm, business trust or other aggregation of individuals but does not include the state or any political subdivision thereof, unless the context clearly states or requires. See Connecticut General Statutes 14-1
- State: means any state of the United States and the District of Columbia unless the context indicates a more specific reference to the state of Connecticut. See Connecticut General Statutes 14-1
- Vehicle: includes any device suitable for the conveyance, drawing or other transportation of persons or property, whether operated on wheels, runners, a cushion of air or by any other means. See Connecticut General Statutes 14-1
(b) No person or such person’s agent shall remove, turn back or change the reading on the odometer of any motor vehicle required under the provisions of subsection (a) of this section or subsection (a) of section 14-106a to be equipped with an odometer, except in connection with the repair of such odometer either while installed in or removed from such motor vehicle and unless such person is licensed as a new car dealer, used car dealer or repairer pursuant to section 14-52. Each odometer repaired and each new or used odometer installed in any motor vehicle required to be equipped with an odometer shall display mileage at least equal to the mileage displayed by the odometer in such motor vehicle immediately prior to such repair or replacement.
(c) No person shall sell, offer for sale, use, install or cause to be installed any device which causes the odometer in any motor vehicle required under the provisions of subsection (a) of this section or subsection (a) of section 14-106a to be so equipped to register any mileage other than the true mileage driven. For purposes of this section, the true mileage driven is that mileage driven by the vehicle as registered by the odometer within the manufacturer‘s designed tolerance.
(d) Any person violating the provisions of subsections (b) or (c) of this section shall be guilty of committing a class A misdemeanor. Any person violating the provisions of said subsections shall be liable for damages equal to three times the amount of actual damage or one thousand five hundred dollars, whichever is greater, court costs and reasonable attorney’s fees and shall pay a civil penalty of not more than one thousand dollars for each violation. A violation of the provisions of said subsections shall be deemed to be an unfair trade practice within the provisions of chapter 735a. Any person licensed as a new car dealer, used car dealer or repairer pursuant to section 14-52 shall, in addition to the penalties imposed by this section, be subject to the suspension or revocation of such person’s license as provided in section 14-64.