SB 484

Senate Bill No. 484
  Public Act No. 26-120
AN ACT CONCERNING DISTRACTED DRIVING AND THE SAFE
OPERATION OF A MOTOR VEHICLE IN A HIGHWAY WORK ZONE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
  Section 1. Section 14-296aa of the general statutes is amended by
adding subsection (l) as follows (Effective October 1, 2026):
   (NEW) (l) No person shall be subject to the prosecution for a violation
of the provisions of this section and subparagraph (D) of subdivision (1)
of subsection (a) of section 14-222, as amended by this act, because of
the same offense.
   Sec. 2. Section 14-222 of the 2026 supplement to the general statutes
is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective
October 1, 2026):
   (a) (1) (A) No person shall operate any motor vehicle upon any public
highway of the state, or any road of any specially chartered municipal
association or of any district organized under the provisions of chapter
105, a purpose of which is the construction and maintenance of roads
and sidewalks, or in any parking area for ten cars or more or upon any
private road on which a speed limit has been established in accordance
with the provisions of section 14-218a or section 14-307a or upon any
school property recklessly, having regard to the width, traffic and use
  Senate Bill No. 484
of such highway, road, school property or parking area, the intersection
of streets and the weather conditions.
   (B) The operation of a motor vehicle upon any such highway, road or
parking area for ten cars or more at such a rate of speed as to endanger
the life of any person other than the operator of such motor vehicle, or
the operation, downgrade, upon any highway, of any motor vehicle
with a commercial registration with the clutch or gears disengaged, or
the operation knowingly of a motor vehicle with defective mechanism,
shall constitute a violation of the provisions of this subsection.
   (C) The operation of a motor vehicle upon any such highway, road or
parking area for ten cars or more at a rate of speed greater than eighty-
five miles per hour but not greater than one hundred miles per hour
shall constitute a violation of the provisions of this subsection.
   (D) The operation of a motor vehicle in a highway work zone, as
defined in section 14-212d, while engaged in any activity prohibited by
section 14-296aa, as amended by this act, shall constitute a violation of
the provisions of this section.
   (2) Any person who violates any provision of subdivision (1) of this
subsection shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more
than three 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 six hundred dollars or
imprisoned not more than one year or be both fined and imprisoned.
   (b) (1) No person shall operate any motor vehicle upon any public
highway of the state, or any road of any specially chartered municipal
association or of any district organized under the provisions of chapter
105, a purpose of which is the construction and maintenance of roads
and sidewalks, or in any parking area for ten cars or more or upon any
private road on which a speed limit has been established in accordance
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  Senate Bill No. 484
with the provisions of section 14-218a or 14-307a or upon any school
property at a rate of speed greater than one hundred miles per hour.
   (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
one year or be both fined and imprisoned.
   (3) Any police officer who arrests a person for a violation of
subdivision (1) of this subsection, who has previously been convicted of
a violation of subdivision (1) of this subsection, shall cause the motor
vehicle such person was operating at the time of the current offense to
be impounded for a period of forty-eight hours after such arrest. The
owner of such motor vehicle may reclaim such motor vehicle after the
expiration of such forty-eight-hour period upon payment of all towing
and storage costs.
   (c) No person shall be subject to prosecution because of the same
offense for a violation of both (1) subsection (a) or (b) of this section, and
(2) subsection (a) of section 14-219.
 Governor's Action:
 Approved June 4, 2026
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