HB 7132 — AN ACT CONCERNING NON-SAFETY-RELATED TRAFFIC STOPS, DRIVING WHILE CONSUMING CANNABIS AND EXCESSIVE RECKLESS DRIVING.

[(b)] (2) Any person who violates any provision of [this section] subdivision (1) of this subsection shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more than three hundreddollars or imprisoned not sHB7132more /than Filethirty No.days or be both fined and imprisoned for the first offense and for each subsequent offense shall be fined not more than six hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than one year or be both fined and imprisoned.

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909 more than thirty days or be both fined and imprisoned for the first offense and for each subsequent offense shall be fined not more than six hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than one year or be both fined and imprisoned.

(2) Any person who violates subdivision (1) of this subsection shall be fined not less than two hundred dollars nor more than six hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than thirty days or be both fined and imprisoned for the first offense and for each subsequent offense shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than onePublic yearAct orNo. be both fined and imprisoned.

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7132 one year or be both fined and imprisoned.

sHB7132(d) /No Fileperson No.shall be subject to prosecution because of the same offense for a violation of both (1) subsection (a) of this section, and (2) subsection (a) or (b) of section 14-222, as amended by this act.

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909 (d) No person shall be subject to prosecution because of the same offense for a violation of both (1) subsection (a) of this section, and (2) subsection (a) or (b) of section 14-222, as amended by this act.

The term "brake disc" as used in this section, means the parallel faced circular rotational member to which motor vehicle wheels are each attached and against whose exterior surface, brake lining pressure is applied to effect stopping, holding or control of forward or backwardPublic movement.Act No.

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7132 backward movement.

For a first violation of subsection (a) or subdivision (1) of subsection (b) of section 14-224 or section 14-110, 14-215 or 53a-119b, for a period of sHB7132not /less Filethan No.one year and, for a subsequent violation thereof, for a period of not less than two years;

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909 not less than one year and, for a subsequent violation thereof, for a period of not less than two years;

(2)Public NotwithstandingAct theNo. provisions of section 14-111b and except as provided in subdivision (3) of this subsection, whenever the holder of any motor vehicle operator's license or youth instruction permit who is less than eighteen years of age or whenever a person who does not hold an operator's license who is less than eighteen years of age has been convicted or has forfeited any bond taken or has received a suspended judgment or sentence for any of the following violations, the commissioner shall suspend such person's operator's license or privilege to obtain an operator's license as follows:

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7132 (2) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 14-111b and except as provided in subdivision (3) of this subsection, whenever the holder of any motor vehicle operator's license or youth instruction permit who is less than eighteen years of age or whenever a person who does not hold an operator's license who is less than eighteen years of age has been convicted or has forfeited any bond taken or has received a suspended judgment or sentence for any of the following violations, the commissioner shall suspend such person's operator's license or privilege to obtain an operator's license as follows:

sHB7132(3) /The Filecommissioner No.shall suspend the motor vehicle operator's license of any youth adjudged a youthful offender for a violation of section14-215 or 14-222, asamendedby thisact,subsection(b)ofsection 14-223 or subdivision (2) or (3) of subsection (b) or subsection (c) of section 14-224 for six months for a first offense and one year for a second or subsequent offense.

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909 (3) The commissioner shall suspend the motor vehicle operator's license of any youth adjudged a youthful offender for a violation of section14-215 or 14-222, asamendedby thisact,subsection(b)ofsection 14-223 or subdivision (2) or (3) of subsection (b) or subsection (c) of section 14-224 for six months for a first offense and one year for a second or subsequent offense.

(A) The commissioner shall suspend such person's privilege to operate a motor vehicle,Public (B)Act suchNo. suspension shall remain in effect for a period of ninety days, and (C) the commissioner shall not issue an operator's license to such person under section 14-36 until such period of suspension has expired and all applicable requirements for such license have been satisfied by such person.

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7132 vehicle, (B) such suspension shall remain in effect for a period of ninety days, and (C) the commissioner shall not issue an operator's license to such person under section 14-36 until such period of suspension has expired and all applicable requirements for such license have been satisfied by such person.

sHB7132Governor's /Action: File No.

909Approved sHB7132June File9, 2025 Public Act No.

90925-19 This14 actof shall14 take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:

Section 1 October 1, 2025 14-18(a) to (c) Sec.

2 October 1, 2025 14-96a Sec.

3 October 1, 2025 14-96c Sec.

4 October 1, 2025 14-96y Sec.

5 October 1, 2025 14-99f Sec.

6 October 1, 2025 14-12(a) Sec.

7 October 1, 2025 53a-213a Sec.

8 October 1, 2025 53a-213b Sec.

9 October 1, 2025 14-222 Sec.

10 October 1, 2025 14-219(d) Sec.

11 October 1, 2025 14-81b Sec.

12 October 1, 2025 14-111(b) Sec.

13 October 1, 2025 14-219b Sec.

14 October 1, 2025 54-1q sHB7132 / File No.

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909 The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose.

In general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional knowledge.

Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note State Impact:

Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 26 $ FY 27 $ State Revenues Various - See Below See Below Potential Revenue Loss Judicial Dept.

(Probation) GF - Potential Minimal Minimal Cost Resources of the General Fund GF - Potential Minimal Minimal Revenue Gain Note:

Various=Various;

GF=General Fund Municipal Impact:

None Explanation The bill decreases the standard for what constitutes certain license plate, headlight, or windshield equipment violations, which results in a potential decrease in revenue to the state from fines.

1 The bill also allows officers to stop motor vehicles for violating laws against using cannabis in a vehicle which results in a potential cost to the Judicial Department for probation and a potential revenue gain to the General Fund from fines.

On average, the marginal cost for supervision in the community is less than $600 each year for adults and In FY 24, there were 2,732 charges recorded and $73,150 in associated revenue collected under CGS §§ 14-18(a)(2), 14-96y, and 14-99f.

2In FY 24, there were 5 charges recorded and $250 in associated revenue collected under CGS §§ 53a-213a and 53a-213b.

Probation marginal cost is based on services provided by private providers and only includes costs that increase with each additional participant.

This does not include a cost for additional supervision by a probation officer unless a new offense is anticipated to result in enough additional offenders to require additional probation officers.

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909 $450 each year for juveniles.

The bill creates an unclassified misdemeanor for driving above 100 mph which results in a potential cost to the Judicial Department for probation and a potential revenue gain to the General Fund from fines.

The bill makes various other changes to motor vehicle violations laws that are not anticipated to result in a fiscal impact to the state or municipalities.

House "A" alters the underlying bill by creating unclassified misdemeanors and making technical and conforming changes resulting in the impact described above.

The Out Years The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would continue into the future subject to the actual number of violations and infractions.

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909 OLR Bill Analysis sHB 7132 (as amended by House "A")* AN ACT CONCERNING NON-SAFETY-RELATED TRAFFIC STOPS AND DRIVING WHILE CONSUMING CANNABIS.

SUMMARY This bill makes several changes to motor vehicle violation laws.

First, the bill decreases the standard for what constitutes certain license plate, headlight, or windshield equipment violations.

Secondly, it sets enhanced penalties under the reckless driving law for violators who drive faster than 100 mph.

The bill also allows an officer to stop a motor vehicle for a violation of the laws against using cannabis in a vehicle if the officer sees the operator actively consuming cannabis and smells burnt cannabis.

Additionally, it extends, from 30 days to 60 days, the grace period after a motor vehicle registration expires during which a violation is considered “failure to renew” and subject to only an infraction penalty and not a potential driver’s license suspension (§ 6).

Lastly, the bill makes technical and conforming changes.

*House Amendment “A” adds the provisions on enhanced reckless driving penalties.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

October 1, 2025 VEHICLE EQUIPMENT VIOLATIONS License Plate Display By law, vehicles issued two license plates must display them in a conspicuous place on the vehicle’s front and rear.

The bill allows for the rear plate to be displayed in the rear window as long as the plate’s numbers and letters are plainly legible.

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909 The bill also lessens the standard for what is considered obscuring license plates.

Current lawrequiresplates to beentirely unobscuredand prohibitsplacinganythingonavehicleorlicenseplatethatobscuresany information on the plate.

The bill instead (1) requires that a plate be substantially unobscured, meaning that an obstruction does not significantly block or conceal it in a way that prevents a reasonable person or an electronic device that records data on or photographs a vehicle or its plate from reading the plate, and (2) prohibits placing anything that obscures the plate’s numbers and letters, rather than any information on the plate.

It also eliminates the specific infraction penalty for failing to illuminate the rear license plate with a white light that makes it clearly legible from 50 feet away.

Vehicles with these violations may still be stopped and issued a warning for defective equipment, which by law requires the vehicle owner to have the vehicle taken to an inspection station and restored to safe operating condition within the next 10 days (CGS § 14-103).

Headlights and Other Required Lights Existing law requires motor vehicles other than motorcycles to have two working headlights, one on each side of the vehicle’s front, when being driven at certain times (e.g., nighttime or when it’s raining or foggy).

Not doing this is an infraction.

But under the bill, if the vehicle has one working headlight, the operator must receive a defective equipment warning for a first offense (subsequent offenses remain infractions).

It also requires violations of laws on the number, placement, and intensity of lights or other technical specifications included in the equipment laws that would also be a violation of the use of lights while driving statute (CGS § 14-96a) to be enforced under the equipment statutes and not under the use of lights law.

Windshield Obstructions Current law generally prohibits (1) operating a motor vehicle when sHB7132 / File No.

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909 the condition of its windshield interferes with an unobstructed view of the road and (2) attaching, placing, or hanging a device, sticker, or ornamentonorinavehicleinawayorlocationthatobstructsthediver’s view or distracts the driver.

The bill specifies that, in these cases, the windshield’s condition or obstruction must significantly block or conceal the driver’s view, as measured by what a reasonable person could see.

By law, these violations are infractions.

ENHANCED RECKLESS DRIVING PENALTIES Under current law, driving faster than 85 mph is considered a reckless driving violation.

The bill sets enhanced penalties under the reckless driving law for violators who drive faster than 100 mph (see table below).

Table:

Reckless Driving Penalties Under Bill Driving Faster Than 85 mph and up to 100 mph (Existing Law) First offense $100-$300 fine, up to 30 days imprisonment, or both Subsequent offense Up to $600 fine, up to 364 days imprisonment, or both Driving Faster Than 100 mph First offense $200-$600 fine, up to 30 days imprisonment, or both Subsequent offense Up to $1,000 fine, up to 364 days imprisonment, or both Under thebill,ifa police officer arrestssomeonefor arecklessdriving violation of driving faster than 100 mph who was previously convicted of this violation, the officer must impound the driver’s vehicle for a 48- hour period.

After this period, the vehicle owner may reclaim it upon paying all related towing and storage costs.

The bill also specifies that a person cannot be prosecuted for both speeding and reckless driving for the same offense.

As under the existing reckless driving law, the bill’s prohibition on driving faster than 100 mph applies to (1) public roads;

(2) roads of specially chartered municipal associations or districts organized under the laws for special taxing districts, a purpose of which is building and sHB7132 / File No.

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909 maintaining roads and sidewalks;

(3) parking areas for at least 10 cars;

(4) private roads with speed limits established by the local traffic authority according to law;

and (5) any school property.

CANNABIS USE IN VEHICLES By law, it is a class C misdemeanor to smoke, otherwise inhale, or ingest cannabis while driving a motor vehicle on certain roads or properties, and a class D misdemeanor to do these things as a motor vehicle passenger.

However, current law prohibits peace officers (e.g., state andlocalpolice)fromstopping avehiclesolely for these violations.

The bill allows them to do so if the officer sees the driver actively consuming cannabis and smells burnt cannabis odor.

AclassCmisdemeanorispunishablebyuptothreemonthsinprison, a fine of up to $500, or both, and a class D misdemeanor is punishable by up to 30 days in prison, a fine of up to $250, or both.

BACKGROUND Infractions Infractions are punishable by fines, usually set by Superior Court judges, of between $35 and $90, plus a $20 or $35 surcharge and an additional fee based on the fine’s amount.

There may be other added charges depending upon the type of infraction.

For example, certain motor vehicle infractions trigger a Special Transportation Fund surcharge of 50% of the fine.

An infraction is not a crime, and violators can generally pay the fine by mail without making a court appearance.

Related Bill sHB 7260 (File 787), reported favorably by the Judiciary Committee, has similar provisions on driving faster than 100 mph (“excessive reckless driving”) and setting higher penalties for violators.

COMMITTEE ACTION Judiciary Committee Joint Favorable Substitute Yea 40 Nay 1 (04/07/2025) sHB7132 / File No.

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