Connecticut General Statutes 14-34a – Reciprocal agreements apportioning the registration of commercial vehicles
(a) The Commissioner of Motor Vehicles is authorized to enter into reciprocal agreements or plans on behalf of the state of Connecticut with the appropriate authorities of any of the states, territories or possessions of the United States, the District of Columbia, or any state or province of any country providing for the registration of commercial vehicles on an apportionment or allocation basis, and may, in the exercise of this authority, enter into and become a member of the International Registration Plan developed by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators. Any such reciprocal agreement or plan may provide for, but shall not be limited to, the following: (1) Full reciprocity in accordance with such agreement or plan for commercial vehicles not based in Connecticut, operated solely in interstate commerce and of specified types or gross or unladen weights, in exchange for equivalent reciprocity for Connecticut based commercial vehicles; (2) reciprocal exchange of audits of records of the owners of such commercial vehicles by the states participating in any such agreement or plan; and (3) any other matters which would facilitate the administration of such agreement or plan, including exchange of information for audits, enforcement activities and collection and disbursement of proportional registration fees for other jurisdictions in the case of Connecticut based commercial vehicles.
Terms Used In Connecticut General Statutes 14-34a
- 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
- 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.
- 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
- 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
- Personal property: All property that is not real property.
- 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
- 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
- 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) Any reciprocal agreement, arrangement or declaration relating to commercial vehicles in effect between this state and any jurisdiction not a party to such reciprocal agreement or plan, or which relates to any matters not covered in such reciprocal agreement or plan shall continue in force and effect until specifically amended or revoked as provided by law.
(c) Notwithstanding any such agreement or plan, (1) any such commercial vehicle garaged at any fixed location or which leaves from and returns to one or more points within this state in the normal course of operations, shall be taxable in this state as personal property in the town where such vehicle is garaged; (2) registration shall be denied to any such vehicle if any personal property taxes are unpaid with respect to such vehicle, as provided in § 14-33; and (3) any such vehicle based in this state shall be subject to the provisions of sections 14-12, 14-15, 14-15a, 14-16a and chapter 247.
(d) At such time as the state of Connecticut may enter into and become a member of the International Registration Plan pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, the provisions of the plan, as it may be amended from time to time, which are concerned with the registration of any vehicle or the fees which relate to any such registration shall control whenever any special act or any provision of the general statutes, except subsection (c) of this section, conflicts with any provision of the plan. A copy of the plan, as it may be amended from time to time, shall be maintained on file by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles at the main office of the department, and shall be available for public inspection.
(e) If the International Registration Plan is entered into by this state pursuant to subsection (a) of this section and the plan requires that a member jurisdiction accept registration or other documents under the plan in electronic format, the registrant may show a legible electronic image of such registration or document to any person who is required or authorized, in connection with such person’s employment, to view such registration or document. If a registrant presents such registration or document by displaying an electronic image on a cellular mobile telephone or other electronic device, such person may not view, and offering such display shall not be construed to be consent for such person to view, any content on such telephone or electronic device other than such registration or document. No person who is required or authorized to view registrations or documents under the plan shall be liable for any damage to, or destruction of, a cellular mobile telephone or other electronic device provided to such person for the purpose of displaying an electronic image of a registration or document.
(f) Any commercial vehicle that is required to be registered in another jurisdiction shall not operate on any highway of the state without being so registered. Any commercial vehicle that is registered in any other jurisdiction and is eligible for registration on an apportionment basis shall not be operated on any highway without such registration or a seventy-two-hour trip permit registration issued by the commissioner. Any person who owns any motor vehicle operated in violation of this subsection shall be fined five hundred dollars for the first offense, and for each subsequent offense, not less than one thousand dollars nor more than two thousand dollars, except if the motor vehicle has a gross vehicle weight rating of more than sixty thousand pounds, such owner shall be fined one thousand dollars for the first offense, and for each subsequent offense, not less than two thousand dollars nor more than four thousand dollars.