Connecticut General Statutes 14-36a – Classification of operators’ licenses. Designations; endorsements. Penalty
(a) A commercial driver‘s license issued in accordance with section 14-44c shall be designated as class A, B or C, in accordance with the provisions of subsection (b) of section 14-44d. All other operators’ licenses shall be designated as class D. A license of any class that also authorizes the operation of a motorcycle shall contain the designation “M”, except that no such designation shall be required for the operation of an autocycle.
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 D misdemeanor | up to 30 days | up to $250 |
Terms Used In Connecticut General Statutes 14-36a
- Activity vehicle: means a student transportation vehicle that is used to transport students in connection with school-sponsored events and activities, but is not used to transport students to and from school. See Connecticut General Statutes 14-1
- Autocycle: means a motor vehicle that meets the requirements of a motorcycle under 49 C. See Connecticut General Statutes 14-1
- Commissioner: includes the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles and any assistant to the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles who is designated and authorized by, and who is acting for, the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles under a designation. See Connecticut General Statutes 14-1
- Driver: means any person who drives, operates or is in physical control of a commercial motor vehicle, or who is required to hold a commercial driver's license. See Connecticut General Statutes 14-1
- Employee: means any operator of a commercial motor vehicle, including full-time, regularly employed drivers, casual, intermittent or occasional drivers, drivers under contract and independent owner-operator contractors, who, while in the course of operating a commercial motor vehicle, are either directly employed by, or are under contract to, an employer. See Connecticut General Statutes 14-1
- Employer: means any person, including the United States, a state or any political subdivision thereof, who owns or leases a commercial motor vehicle, or assigns a person to drive a commercial motor vehicle. See Connecticut General Statutes 14-1
- Motor bus: includes any motor vehicle, except a taxicab, as defined in section 13b-95, operated in whole or in part on any street or highway in a manner affording a means of transportation by indiscriminately receiving or discharging passengers, or running on a regular route or over any portion of a regular route or between fixed termini. 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
- Motorcycle: means (A) an autocycle, as defined in this section, or (B) a motor vehicle, with or without a side car, that has (i) not more than three wheels in contact with the ground, (ii) a saddle or seat which the rider straddles or a platform on which the rider stands, and (iii) handlebars with which the rider controls the movement of the vehicle. See Connecticut General Statutes 14-1
- Operator: means any person who operates a motor vehicle or who steers or directs the course of a motor vehicle being towed by another motor vehicle and includes a driver. 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
- Public passenger endorsement: means an endorsement issued to an individual, which authorizes such individual to transport passengers, including, but not limited to, passengers who are students in accordance with subsection (b) or (c) of section 14-36a. See Connecticut General Statutes 14-1
- School bus: means any school bus, as defined in section 14-275, including a commercial motor vehicle used to transport preschool, elementary school or secondary school students from home to school, from school to home, or to and from school-sponsored events, but does not include a bus used as a common carrier. See Connecticut General Statutes 14-1
- Service bus: includes any vehicle except a vanpool vehicle or a school bus designed and regularly used to carry ten or more passengers when used in private service for the transportation of persons without charge to the individual. See Connecticut General Statutes 14-1
- Student: means any person under the age of twenty-one years who is attending a preprimary, primary or secondary school program of education. 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) A commercial driver’s license may contain any of the following endorsements:
“P”- authorizes the operation of commercial motor vehicles designed to carry passengers;
“S”- in combination with “P”, authorizes the operation of a school bus or any vehicle described in subsection (c) of this section;
“H”- authorizes the operation of vehicles transporting hazardous materials;
“N”- authorizes the operation of tank vehicles;
“X”- authorizes both hazardous materials and tank vehicles; and
“T”- authorizes the operation of vehicles with up to three trailing, nonpower units.
The commissioner may establish one or more restrictions on commercial driver’s licenses of any class, in regulations adopted in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54. Subject to the provisions of subsection (b) of section 14-44d, a commercial driver’s license of any class authorizes the holder of such license to operate any motor vehicle that may be operated by the holder of a class D operator‘s license.
(c) A commercial driver’s license or a class D license that contains any of the following public passenger endorsements, as defined in section 14-1, evidences that the holder meets the requirements of section 14-44:
“V”- authorizes the transportation of passengers in a student transportation vehicle, as defined in section 14-212, or any vehicle that requires an “A” or “F” endorsement;
“A”- authorizes the transportation of passengers in an activity vehicle, as defined in section 14-1, or any vehicle that requires an “F” endorsement; and
“F”- authorizes the transportation of passengers in a taxicab, motor vehicle in livery service, service bus or motor bus.
The commissioner may establish one or more endorsements or restrictions on class D licenses, in accordance with regulations adopted in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54.
(d) A license of any class that contains the designation “Q” indicates eligibility to operate fire apparatus. A “Q” endorsement shall signify that the holder has been trained to operate fire apparatus in accordance with standards established by the Commission on Fire Prevention and Control. No such endorsement shall be issued to any person until he or she demonstrates personally to the commissioner, or the commissioner’s designee, including the Connecticut Fire Academy, any regional fire school or the chief local fire official of any municipality as defined in section 7-323j, by means of testing in a representative vehicle that such person possesses the skills necessary for operation of fire apparatus.
(e) No person shall operate a motor vehicle in violation of the classification of the license issued to such person.
(f) No employer shall knowingly require or permit an employee who is acting within the scope of such employee’s employment to operate a motor vehicle in violation of the classification of such employee’s license.
(g) (1) Any person who violates any provision of subsection (e) of this section shall, for a first offense, be deemed to have committed an infraction and be fined fifty dollars and, for a subsequent offense, be guilty of a class D misdemeanor.
(2) Any employer who violates subsection (f) of this section shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than one thousand dollars for a first violation and not more than two thousand five hundred dollars for a second or subsequent violation.
(h) The revocation, suspension or withdrawal of, or refusal to issue or renew an “S” endorsement, or any endorsement described in subsection (c) of this section, shall prohibit the licensee from operating any public passenger vehicle for which an endorsement described in said subsection (c) is required. During the period of such revocation, suspension or withdrawal of, or after a refusal to issue or renew an “S” endorsement, or any endorsement described in said subsection (c), the commissioner shall not issue any other public passenger endorsement to such licensee.