(a) The Commissioner of Motor Vehicles shall adopt regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, concerning the licensing of persons with health problems. Such regulations shall (1) include basic standards for licensing decisions with respect to the most common and recurrent health problems, such as visual and neurological impairments, (2) include procedures for the referral of individual cases to the medical advisory board, and (3) specify vision standards that are necessary for a person to operate a motor vehicle safely.

      (b) Prior to issuing a motor vehicle operator’s license to a person who has not previously been issued a license in this state or has not operated a motor vehicle within the preceding two years, the commissioner may require such person to pass a vision screening to determine if the person meets vision standards specified in the regulations adopted pursuant to subsection (a) of this section.