HB 388

                SPONSOR:
                Rep. Morrison & Sen. Hansen
                Reps. Osienski, K. Johnson, Burns, Romer, Lambert; Sens. Sokola, Walsh
        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
        153rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY
        HOUSE BILL NO. 388
        AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 21 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE LOSS OF DRIVERS' LICENSES DUE TO MEDICAL ISSUES.
        BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:
        Section 1. Amend § 2724, Title 21 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:
        § 2724. Medical evaluation of drivers; suspension; review.
        (d) After review, each member of the Medical Advisory Board and the vision consultants shall report their recommendations to the Secretary. The members of the Board and the vision consultants shall not meet as a group unless such a meeting is called by the Chairperson, but rather each member and consultant shall arrive at an opinion independently and shall inform the Secretary of the member’s or consultant’s recommendations. These recommendations may involve any of the following by way of illustration but not of limitation:
        (1) No action against driver or
         applicant;
         applicant.
        (2) Periodic medical or optometric
         evaluation;
         evaluation.
        (3) Specific license
         restrictions;
         restrictions.
        (4) Further medical or optometric
         evaluation;
         evaluation.
        (5) Driver improvement activity, including
         retesting;
         retesting.
        (6) License
         suspension.
         suspension or cancellation.
        (e) The Secretary shall make the final decision on whether the driver or applicant for a license should be licensed, refused, issued a restricted
        license
        license,
        or have the license
         suspended.
         suspended or cancelled.
        (h) Upon the Secretary’s decision to suspend or cancel a license, the holder of the license may either physically surrender the license or sign documentation required by the Department to affirm the holder’s understanding that the holder is prohibited from driving during the period of suspension or cancellation and that retention of the physical license does not authorize the holder to operate a motor vehicle.
        (i) At the end of a period of suspension or cancellation and provided that the physical license expiration date has not passed, driving privileges must be reinstated for a non-surrendered license and no reinstatement fee may be required.
        Section 2. Amend § 2737, Title 21 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:
        § 2737. Fee for return of suspended license and/or driving privileges.
        Any
        A
        person whose license
        and/or
        or
        driving privileges
        has been
        is
        suspended or disqualified
        , except a person whose license or driving privileges were suspended or canceled due to a physical, visual, or mental disqualification for licensure under § 2724 of this title,
        shall
        must
        pay a fee of $50 at the end of such suspension or disqualification for the return of the person’s license and/or the reinstatement of the person’s driving privileges.
        Section 3. Amend § 2751, Title 21 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:
        § 2751. Unlawful application for or use of license or identification card.
        (c)
        Display of canceled licenses.  —
         A person shall not display, cause or permit to be displayed, any canceled
        license.
         license except as permitted under § 2724(h) of this title.
        (e)
        Display of suspended licenses.  —
         A person shall not display, cause or permit to be displayed, any suspended
        license.
         license except as permitted under § 2724(h) of this title.
        (h)
        Possession of canceled license.  —
         A person shall not possess any canceled
        license.
         license except as permitted under § 2724(h) of this title.
        (j)
        Possession of suspended license.  —
         A person shall not possess any suspended
        license.
         license except as permitted under § 2724(h) of this title.
        (o)
        Failure or refusal to surrender license or identification card.  —
         A person
        shall
        may
        not fail or refuse to surrender to the Department on its lawful demand any license or identification card that has been suspended, revoked, canceled,
        altered
        altered,
        or otherwise fraudulently obtained.
        The Department may establish alternative means for the surrender of a license or identification.
        SYNOPSIS
        This Act seeks to address the undue burden placed on individuals who are required to surrender their driver's license due to a medical condition. Under current law, individuals must physically surrender their license, often during already traumatic circumstances, and are then, in some cases, required to purchase a separate identification card to maintain a valid form of ID during the suspension period. This Act allows a medically disqualified individual to retain the individual's physical driver’s license for identification purposes by signing an affidavit acknowledging the individual is prohibited from operating a motor vehicle. This approach balances public safety with compassion, streamlines administrative processes, and eliminates unnecessary costs for affected individuals.
        This Act also makes technical corrections to existing law to conform to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.