(a) No person shall be denied issuance or renewal of a commercial driver license nor be deemed medically unqualified to operate a motor vehicle based on the failure to meet motor carrier safety regulations adopted pursuant to § 65-15-111 relative to:

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 55-50-411

  • Commerce: means :
    (A) Trade, traffic, and transportation within the jurisdiction of the United States. See Tennessee Code 55-50-102
  • Commercial motor vehicle: means a motor vehicle or combination of motor vehicles used in commerce to transport passengers or property if the motor vehicle:
    (i) Has a gross vehicle weight rating or gross combination weight rating of twenty-six thousand one (26,001) or more pounds. See Tennessee Code 55-50-102
  • Commissioner: means the commissioner of safety. See Tennessee Code 55-50-102
  • Department: means the department of safety acting directly or through its duly authorized officers and agents. See Tennessee Code 55-50-102
  • Driver: means every person who drives or is in actual physical control of a motor vehicle upon a highway or who is exercising control over or steering a vehicle being towed by a motor vehicle. See Tennessee Code 55-50-102
  • Driver license: means a license issued by the department to an individual that authorizes the individual to operate a motor vehicle on the highways. See Tennessee Code 55-50-102
  • Hazardous materials: means any material that has been designated as hazardous under 49 U. See Tennessee Code 55-50-102
  • Motor vehicle: means a vehicle, low speed vehicle or medium speed vehicle as defined in this section, machine, tractor, trailer or semitrailer propelled or drawn by mechanical power used on highways or any other vehicle required to be registered under the laws of this state, but does not include any vehicle, machine, tractor, trailer or semitrailer operated exclusively on a rail. See Tennessee Code 55-50-102
  • Person: means every natural person, firm, copartnership, association or corporation. See Tennessee Code 55-50-102
  • State: means :
    (A) For the purposes of commercial driver licenses, a state of the United States and the District of Columbia. See Tennessee Code 55-50-102
  • Traffic: means pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, streetcars and other conveyances either singly or together while using any highway for purposes of travel. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
  • Vehicle: means every device in, upon, or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a public highway, excepting devices moved by human power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks. See Tennessee Code 55-50-102
  • Violation: means a conviction except as otherwise provided in §. See Tennessee Code 55-50-102
(1) Distant visual acuity, if the person has only one (1) eye but the distant visual acuity in the eye meets the requirements of 49 CFR § 391.41(b)(10);
(2) A medical history or clinical diagnosis of diabetes mellitus currently requiring insulin, but whose medical history indicates that the insulin controls the diabetes to the extent that the condition is not likely to cause any loss of ability to control a motor vehicle;
(3) Classification as an American Heart Association functional Class I or II heart patient, according to the American Heart Association functional classification system; or
(4) Implantation of an automated implantable cardiac defibrillator due to:

(A) A sudden death event; provided, that the person submits to the department a certified statement from a physician duly licensed to practice medicine that the defibrillator has not fired within the six-month period prior to the date of the statement; or
(B) A prophylactic reason;

if the driver satisfies all other applicable state and federal requirements for the issuance of a commercial driver license, and the conditions of subsection (b) are met.

(b) In addition to the requirements of subsection (a), the following conditions shall also be met:

(1) The driver shall operate a commercial motor vehicle only in intrastate commerce in this state; and
(2) The driver shall not transport hazardous materials required to be placarded under applicable federal law except as provided by 49 CFR § 391.41(b) nor operate a common carrier motor vehicle for the transporting of passengers for hire.
(c) Any driver who, after issuance of a commercial driver license under this section, fails to meet the conditions imposed by this section, shall be subject to the suspension provisions of § 55-50-405. The commissioner may suspend for life the commercial driver license of any driver found to have committed a serious traffic violation or reportable accident related to the driver’s medical condition as provided in this section.
(d) This section shall not be valid if enforcement of this section would result in the loss of or the disqualification for federal funding for any state agency or program.
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