(a) The director may establish a program to evaluate the traffic safety and other effects of renewing driver‘s licenses by mail. Pursuant to that program, the department may renew by mail driver’s licenses for licensees not holding a probationary license, and whose records, for the two years immediately preceding the determination of eligibility for the renewal, show no notification of a violation of subdivision (a) of former Section 40509, a total violation point count not greater than one as determined in accordance with Section 12810, no suspension of the driving privilege pursuant to Section 13353.2, and no refusal to submit to or complete chemical testing pursuant to Section 13353 or 13353.1.

(b) The director may terminate the renewal by mail program authorized by this section at any time the department determines that the program has an adverse impact on traffic safety.

Terms Used In California Vehicle Code 12814.5

  • Department: means the Department of Motor Vehicles except, when used in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 2100) of Division 2 and in Divisions 11 (commencing with Section 21000), 12 (commencing with Section 24000), 13 (commencing with Section 29000), 14 (commencing with Section 31600), 14. See California Vehicle Code 290
  • driver: is a person who drives or is in actual physical control of a vehicle. See California Vehicle Code 305
  • Person: includes a natural person, firm, copartnership, association, limited liability company, or corporation. See California Vehicle Code 470
  • traffic: includes pedestrians, ridden animals, vehicles, street cars, and other conveyances, either singly or together, while using any highway for purposes of travel. See California Vehicle Code 620
  • vehicle: is a device by which any person or property may be propelled, moved, or drawn upon a highway, excepting a device moved exclusively by human power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks. See California Vehicle Code 670

(c) A renewal by mail shall not be granted to any person who is 70 years of age or older.

(d) The department shall notify each licensee granted a renewal by mail pursuant to this section of major changes to the Vehicle Code affecting traffic laws occurring during the prior five-year period.

(e) The department shall not renew a driver’s license by mail if the license has been previously renewed by mail two consecutive times for five-year periods.

(Amended (as added by Stats. 2021, Ch. 254, Sec. 7) by Stats. 2022, Ch. 800, Sec. 12. (AB 2746) Effective January 1, 2023.)

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