(a) No motor vehicle shall be operated, towed or parked on any highway, except as otherwise expressly provided, unless it is registered with the commissioner, provided any motor vehicle may be towed for repairs or necessary work if it bears the number plates of a licensed and registered dealer, manufacturer or repairer and provided any motor vehicle which is validly registered in another state may, for a period of ninety days following establishment by the owner of residence in this state, be operated on any highway without first being registered with the commissioner. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, (1) a person commits an infraction if such person (A) registers a motor vehicle he or she does not own, or (B) operates, allows the operation of, parks or allows the parking of an unregistered motor vehicle on any highway, or (2) a resident of this state who operates or parks a motor vehicle such resident owns with number plates issued by another state on any highway shall be fined two hundred fifty dollars, except that the fine shall be suspended for a first time violator who presents proof of registration for the motor vehicle subsequent to the violation but prior to the imposition of a fine. If the owner of a motor vehicle previously registered with the commissioner, the registration of which expired not more than thirty days previously, operates, allows the operation of, parks or allows that parking of such a motor vehicle, such owner shall be fined the amount designated for the infraction of failure to renew a registration, but the right to retain his or her operator‘s license shall not be affected. No operator other than the owner shall be subject to penalty for the operation or parking of such a previously registered motor vehicle. As used in this subsection, the term “unregistered motor vehicle” includes any vehicle that is not eligible for registration by the commissioner due to the absence of necessary equipment or other characteristics of the vehicle that make it unsuitable for highway operation, unless the operation of such vehicle is expressly permitted by another provision of this chapter or chapter 248.

Terms Used In Connecticut General Statutes 14-12

  • another: may extend and be applied to communities, companies, corporations, public or private, limited liability companies, societies and associations. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-1
  • 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
  • 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
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • 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 §. 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
  • Number plate: means any sign or marker furnished by the commissioner on which is displayed the registration number assigned to a motor vehicle by the commissioner. 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
  • Owner: means any person holding title to a motor vehicle, or having the legal right to register the same, including purchasers under conditional bills of sale. 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
  • Registration: includes the certificate of motor vehicle registration and the number plate or plates used in connection with such registration. See Connecticut General Statutes 14-1
  • Registration number: means the identifying number or letters, or both, assigned by the commissioner to a motor vehicle. See Connecticut General Statutes 14-1
  • Semitrailer: means any trailer type vehicle designed and used in conjunction with a motor vehicle so that some part of its own weight and load rests on or is carried by another vehicle. See Connecticut General Statutes 14-1
  • Solid tires: means tires of rubber, or other elastic material approved by the Commissioner of Transportation, which do not depend on confined air for the support of the load. 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
  • Trailer: means any rubber-tired vehicle without motive power drawn or propelled by a motor vehicle. See Connecticut General Statutes 14-1
  • Truck: means a motor vehicle designed, used or maintained primarily for the transportation of property. See Connecticut General Statutes 14-1
  • United States: means the fifty states and the District of Columbia. 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) To obtain a motor vehicle registration, except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, the owner shall submit to the commissioner an application signed by such owner and containing such information and proof of ownership as the commissioner may require. The application shall be made in such form and contain such provisions and information as the commissioner may determine.

(c) (1) The commissioner may, for the more efficient administration of the commissioner’s duties, appoint licensed dealers meeting qualifications established by the commissioner pursuant to regulations adopted in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, to (A) issue new registrations for passenger motor vehicles, motorcycles, campers, camp trailers, commercial trailers, service buses, school buses, trucks or other vehicle types as determined by the commissioner, and (B) renew such registrations for such vehicle types. A person registering or renewing the registration of a motor vehicle or other vehicle type as determined by the commissioner from a dealer so appointed shall file an application with the dealer and pay, to the dealer, the registration fee in accordance with the provisions of § 14-49 and any other applicable fees. The commissioner may authorize such dealer to retain a service fee paid by the person registering or renewing the registration of a motor vehicle under this subsection. The commissioner shall establish the maximum service fee that such dealer may charge and prescribe the time and manner in which the application and fees, other than the service fee, shall be transmitted to the commissioner.

(2) The commissioner shall permit a licensed dealer appointed pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection to electronically register a motor vehicle that has a gross vehicle weight rating in excess of twenty-six thousand pounds and is used or operated in intrastate commerce. Such dealer shall pay all applicable registration and title fees for each such registration.

(d) A motor vehicle registration certificate issued upon an application containing any material false statement is void from the date of its issue and shall be surrendered, upon demand, with any number plate or plates, to the commissioner. Any money paid for the registration certificate shall be forfeited to the state. No person shall obtain or attempt to obtain any registration for another by misrepresentation or impersonation and any registration so obtained shall be void. The commissioner may require each applicant for a motor vehicle registration to furnish personal identification satisfactory to the commissioner and may require any applicant who has established residence in this state for more than thirty days to obtain a motor vehicle operator’s license, in accordance with the provisions of subsection (b) of § 14-36, or an identification card issued pursuant to § 1-1h. Any person who violates any provision of this subsection and any person who fails to surrender a falsely obtained motor vehicle registration or number plate or plates upon the demand of the commissioner shall be fined not more than two hundred dollars.

(e) The commissioner may register any motor vehicle under the provisions of this chapter, may assign a distinguishing registration number to the registered motor vehicle and may then issue a certificate of registration to the owner. A certificate of registration shall contain the registration number assigned to the motor vehicle and its vehicle identification number and shall be in such form and contain such further information as the commissioner determines.

(f) (1) The commissioner may refuse to register or issue a certificate of title for a motor vehicle or class of motor vehicles if the commissioner determines that the characteristics of the motor vehicle or class of motor vehicles make it unsafe for highway operation. The commissioner may adopt regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, to implement the provisions of this subsection and the provisions of subsection (h) of this section.

(2) The commissioner shall not register a motor vehicle if the commissioner knows that the motor vehicle’s equipment fails to comply with the provisions of this chapter, provided nothing contained in this section shall preclude the commissioner from issuing one or more temporary registrations for a motor vehicle not previously registered in this state or from issuing a temporary registration for a motor vehicle under a trade name without a certified copy of the notice required by § 35-1.

(3) The commissioner shall not register any motor vehicle, except a platform truck the motive power of which is electricity, or a tractor equipped with solid tires, if it is not equipped with lighting devices as prescribed by this chapter. The registration of any motor vehicle which is not equipped with such prescribed lighting devices is void and money paid for the registration shall be forfeited to the state. Nothing in this subdivision shall prevent the commissioner, at the commissioner’s discretion, from registering a motor vehicle not equipped with certain lighting devices if the operation of the vehicle is restricted to daylight use.

(4) The commissioner shall not register any motor vehicle or a combination of a motor vehicle and a trailer or semitrailer that exceeds the limits specified in § 14-267a.

(5) No motor vehicle registration shall be issued by the commissioner for any motorcycle unless the application for registration is accompanied by sufficient proof, as determined by the commissioner, that the motorcycle is insured for the amounts required by § 14-289f.

(6) The commissioner shall not register any motor vehicle which is subject to the federal heavy vehicle use tax imposed under Section 4481 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, or any subsequent corresponding internal revenue code of the United States, as from time to time amended, if the applicant fails to furnish proof of payment of such tax, in a form prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States.

(g) The commissioner may elect not to register any motor vehicle which is ten or more model years old and which has not been previously registered in this state until the same has been presented, as directed by the commissioner, at the main office or a branch office of the Department of Motor Vehicles or to any designated official emissions inspection station or other business or firm, authorized by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles to conduct safety inspections, and has passed the inspection as to its safety features as required by the commissioner. When a motor vehicle owned by a resident of this state is garaged in another jurisdiction and cannot be conveniently presented at an office of the Department of Motor Vehicles, an authorized emissions inspection station or other facility, the commissioner may accept an inspection made by authorities in such other jurisdiction or by appropriate military authorities, provided the commissioner determines that such inspection is comparable to that conducted by the Department of Motor Vehicles. If the commissioner authorizes the contractor that operates the system of official emissions inspection stations or other business or firm to conduct the safety inspections required by this subsection, the commissioner may authorize the contractor or other business or firm to charge a fee, not to exceed fifteen dollars, for each such inspection. The commissioner may authorize any motor vehicle dealer or repairer, licensed in accordance with § 14-52 and meeting qualifications established by the commissioner, to perform an inspection required by this section or to make repairs to any motor vehicle that has failed an initial safety inspection and to certify to the commissioner that the motor vehicle is in compliance with the safety and equipment standards for registration. No such authorized dealer or repairer shall charge any additional fee to make such certification to the commissioner. If the commissioner authorizes any such dealer or repairer to conduct safety inspections, such licensee may provide written certification to the commissioner, in such form and manner as the commissioner prescribes, as to compliance of any motor vehicle in its inventory with safety and equipment standards and such certification may be accepted by the commissioner as meeting the inspection requirements of this subsection.

(h) The commissioner shall not register any motor vehicle unless it meets the equipment related registration requirements contained in sections 14-80, 14-100, 14-100a, 14-100b, 14-106a and 14-275.

(i) The commissioner or any city, town, borough or other taxing district authorized under subsection (f) of § 14-33 may issue a temporary registration to the owner of a motor vehicle. The application for a temporary registration shall conform to the provisions of this section. A temporary registration may be issued for a period of time determined by the commissioner and may be renewed from time to time at the discretion of the commissioner. The fee for a temporary registration or any renewal thereof shall be as provided in subsection (n) of § 14-49.

(j) The commissioner may issue a special use registration to the owner of a motor vehicle for a period not to exceed thirty days for the sole purpose of driving such vehicle to another state in which the vehicle is to be registered and exclusively used. The application for such registration shall conform to the provisions of subsection (b) of this section. The commissioner may issue special use certificates and plates in such form as the commissioner may determine. The special use certificate shall state such limitation on the operation of such vehicle and shall be carried in the vehicle at all times when it is being operated on any highway.

(k) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a), (b) and (e) of this section, the commissioner shall issue to a municipality, as defined in § 7-245, or a regional solid waste authority comprised of several municipalities, upon receipt of an application by the municipality or regional solid waste authority, a general distinguishing number plate for use on a motor vehicle owned or leased by such municipality or regional solid waste authority.

(l) Not later than January 1, 2018, the Department of Motor Vehicles shall record the number of electric vehicles, as defined in § 16-19eee, registered in the state. This data shall be publicly available on the department’s Internet web site and shall include (1) the number of electric vehicles registered in the state each year, and (2) the total number of electric vehicles registered in the state. The department shall update this information every six months.

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